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thebomb-thebird-andtheburntbitch · 4 months

Text

2.3k words- wanderer comes with you on a job. things are likely to go up in smoke.

"this. was such a stupid idea." wanderer hisses from his spot beside you. back pushed against a well-aged stone wall, his hat in his hands since the obscenely round headwear makes hiding behind a wall a very convoluted endeavor.

you, who was standing nearest to the corner of the wall, peaking around it every so often swiveled your chin towards him and brought your finger up to your mouth to harshly shush him.

"i didn't ask for you to come. you invited yourself!" you hiss quietly back at him. the veins in his forehead from your return fire felt like they were around to fry and malfunction.

"no," he rebuttals, "buer insisted." which was... half true.

nahida had caught wind of a very interesting commission posted on behalf of the adventurers' guild on treasure street. something involving old books or scripts and she took a liking to it. 'you already know all of whatever's in those dusty tomes,' he had told her. still, nothing beat recovering the physical wisdom she already had so she could hold it in her small hands and fawn over it... so she claims. that's why he was here in the first place.

going along with whoever decided to take on the job beat out over having to endure her pressing gaze that lit his back on fire. the problem was that you were the one who took the commission.

while he tolerated your presence and didn't dislike you being around or yapping even if he was in a sour mood, when you were working out on the field- even he knew you were a reckless lost cause. did you bring results? yes. but you always found the most ludicrous ways to get there. if he took his eyes off you for a second, who knows what trouble you'd get yourself into.

presently, you and he had successfully snuck into the hideout of which the lost books were rumored to be. an old stone building that once stood as a small manor. the books were rumored to be in the last remaining tower on the east side of the main building; or so says the suspiciously detailed commission. of course, this hideout wasn't without its squatters. treasure hoarders infested the place like worker bees in a hive.

you both had gotten lucky so far. reckless as you are, he was half convinced you'd storm the place, guns blazing and just bull doze yourself all the way through.

as for what was going on around the corner, you were currently listening for the small group of treasure hoarders to pass by; or you would be if your hat wearing companion would stop nagging. shushing him between your teeth once more, you swirl your head away from him. annoyance bit at the back of his neck, still he obliged you by staying silent. one of his feet propped up against the wall behind him as he idled.

the chatter between the men you were both sneaking around faded into a murmur as he watched the back of your head from the corn of his eyes. the adventure's uniform was always tacky to him. apparently you thought so do, if all the changes you've made to yours was anything to go by.

"okay," you whisper. wanderer kicks himself off the wall before placing his hat back on his head with practiced grace. "coast is clear, let's go before someone else comes back around." as you take off around the corner his eyes roll before he's chasing after you.

for all his moaning, the previous nomad had no reason to doubt your skills. you were good as what you did. it was just always more trouble than it's worth sometimes.

with the same tactic of wait, listen, dash and repeat, you both managed to get to the tower and pushed past an old, domed wood door. the spiral of stone steps leading higher into the tower was so visibly unsafe, one wrong step on the wrong piece of rock would send a typical person tumbling all the way back down. of course, if that did happen, wanderer would just latch onto your collar and fly you the rest of the way up by your fabric scruff.

after an annoyingly long trip up in upward circles, you come to another door identical to the one at the bottom. wooden, domed and built with iron latches. twisting the handle and releasing the latch, the door opened, and the scent of dust hit your nose.

you step into the old room that looked like a small library once a upon a time and waved your hand in front of your face to stave off all the dust in the air. you coughed on it as wanderer watched you with crossed arms.

"you're so dramatic," he sassily told you before walking further into the library. a perk of not needing to breath was not caring about dust apparently. your lungs were currently envious of his mechanical innards.

"oh... shu-t up-" you choked, following after him.

the library itself wasn't grand. it was obviously old. cobwebs on the ceilings and in all corners, layers of dust that could easily create a thick quilt if it was all gathered in one place. the room of shelves held so many books draped in peeling covers and age-damage. still, somewhere among them was the books you needed to find.

it took a long time, longer than you wished, and more battles between dust clouds, spiders, and cobwebs that you care to admit, but you had finally found what you were looking for. placing any loose pieces of paper into your satchel on your hip, you take the book and wrap it up in cloth before also tucking it away.

"i think that just about does it." you say, latching your satchel up securely. "let's get out of here before-"

the sound of echoed, rushed footsteps stomping their way up the stairs behind the cracked door of the library interrupted you. spinning around, you faced the door as wanderer clicked his tongue.

"you just had to go and say something dumb."

"why are you blaming me?!" you screech.

"there's someone up here alright!"

one of the owners of the rushing feet shouted. wanderer's glare towards you made you look away quickly with sweat running down your cheek. you were guilty of nothing that he can prove. he stomped over to you and pulled on that cheek, his fingers pinching the flesh as his insides whirled in irritation. "you loudmouth!" through your squinted eyes did you see steam puffing from his mouth?

the cracked door blew open and behind it came rushing in three treasure hoarders. a knife thrower, a burly man with a shovel, and an excentric looking fellow in a red overcoat. 'oh great,' you think.

wanderer releases your cheek as the three men rush in. he grabs your arm and shoves you away from him and kicks starts your legs for you. you duck between the bookshelves as they give chase. the knife throwing man tries his luck, his projectiles lodging into the bookcase just as you find safety behind it. skidding to a swift turn, you counter with your own throwing skills- although with a stray rock on the floor inside of a knife.

a satisfied thunk sounded among the scuffle as the rock struck him on the head and he soon followed it to the floor. he deserves the headache he'll wake up with. your small victory was short as you yelp when the burly man with a shovel swings it and you just barely managed to duck under the woosh of its motion. rolling away from him you run, leading him towards a bookshelf you noticed was unstable earlier. once he was in place, you shoved the shelf with your shoulder, toppling it over the man.

books pelt him before the wooden encasement pins him to the floor. it was just heavy enough to keep him down long enough for an escape. stepping on the fallen shelf, you hear the treasure hoarder groan at your added weight on his back before you were rushing around the library back to the front.

"hey, [wanderer]! we've really gotta go!" you stood still in the library and wonder where the third guy had ran off to. he was the one you were most worried around. the last thing you needed was a molotov being thrown at you. "[wand]-" your second shout was cut off by a blast of wind swishing at your side. once the wind blew past, the sound of shattering glass echoed in the once tidy- but dusty- library. followed by a plume of fire.

"stop shouting! you're just giving yourself away!" you found wanderer at your back the moment you recovered from the sudden burst of air. there was a rumble in the floor caused by his vision as a blast of air sprang up from below the third attacker's feet. it violently burst from below, lifting him off his feet and onto his back.

three knocked down treasure hoarders. nice.

soon, the stairwell begin to fill with more noise. more shouting and stomping just like earlier. as you look over wanderer's shoulder, your voice chokes at the remnants of the flame-fueled molotov he had blasted away from your earlier. this library was the best fire starter in the books! dust, paper, wood. it checks all the boxes. and now you'd have to deal with more treasure hoarders.

"oh, come on!" you groan. wanderer looks behind his shoulder at you. he wonders if you realize that you've grabbed onto his arm or how close your nose was to his cheek at this angle. he clicks his tongue again before looking behind your head.

with his vision against his chest, he lifted his free arm, flinging a slice of air through a small window. the glass shatters, falls outside to the ground and the open air invisibly floods the room. it only adds to fan the flames that were now beginning to eagerly eat anything around it to grow.

moving, and dragging your wrist with him, he jumps up onto a nearby desk just under the now empty window frame.

"don't bite your tongue," he tells you. you look at him like he's nuts before he's shoving you out the window back first. shoving his palms against the front of your shoulders. your arms flail before the view of the library and wanderer, spin and flip to the outside stone of the tower and then the sky. there's a second of skirmishing noise before the sound of wind deafens you.

wanderer is quick to fly out of the window after you. diving down in the air, he swoops his arm under your stomach, securing you to his side. your body folds inwardly due to be stopped at free fall and wanderer takes a full few seconds of levitation before blasting off away from the scene.

"are you crazy?! why did you do that?!" you complain. rightfully so.

"did you want to stay and get burnt to a crisp?!" how he found the audacity to argue with you, you don't know. "we got what we needed anyway!"

"how about a little warning next time?!"

"stop shouting! you'll bite your tongue! don't you listen!"

"I have to shout so you hear me!"

the way he is holding you was backward; your legs were at his front with your arms clutching onto the flapping fabric that dangled on his person. clinging onto him, you watch the tower disappear behind the clearly strategic retreat. observing as smoke begins billowing up in the sky and you wonder if you'd have to include 'the result of the job was a massive fire' in your commission report.

it would break poor nahida's heart to know that so many books were lost to a reckless treasure hoarder who though a fire molotov in an old library was a good idea.

when you finally return to sumeru city and write up your report, your prompt in delivering it to katheryn. you glance over to the puppet who still hadn't dismissed himself back to the sanctuary of surasthana to do his own report back to the dendro archon herself with questioning eyes. was part of his task also to wait until you had submitted a report? what was keeping him?

walking over to his side, you dig the book out of your satchel along with the pieces of loose parchment. you offer them to him.

"do you need to take these back to lesser lord kusanali?" his arms remain crossed along his chest and he makes no move to uncross them to take your items. your chin juts up a fraction as if to tell him 'are you going to take these or?'

without so much as a word, he spins his back towards you. you're about to give him a piece of your mind, when he talks. "give them to her yourself." starting off, he walks further up treasures street, and you were left there flabbergasted. was he going to make you finish this job alone? "are you coming or not?" his voice called from up the slopped roads. he was waiting for you.

'guess he isn't.'

you jog to catch up to him, book clutched to your chest, and he waits until you were beside him to start walking again. just before he moved to open the door to the sanctuary, you stopped him.

"thanks for helping me out earlier." he turned to look at you quizzically. "you know? for deflecting that flaming bottle? it would've sucked if it caught the job items on fire."

"it wasn't a big deal." he turns away again.

"i also appreciate that you didn't let me get hurt."

there was a silence. then, "you're welcome." it was a genuine statement. not a hint of sass. it made you feel pretty proud. "come on." he told you before he's walking inside with you in tow, but not before opening the door for you.

nahida was pleased at the newfound items she could safely store away after thoroughly studying them. but when you informed her that the rest of the library you ventured to in search of those items went up in smoke? lesser lord kusanali wasn't the happiest archon in teyvat about that.

a/n: you'll never guess which scene i rly wrote all this for was- also yes i put [wander] in brackets when reader was speaking bc he's obvious named differently, so its more or less a name placeholder lol

#wanderer #wanderer x reader #wanderer fluff #wanderer x y/n #wanderer x you #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact wanderer #genshin impact #genshin wanderer #wanderer humor #wanderer comfort #scaramouch #scaramouche x reader #scaramouche fluff #scaramouch x y/n #scaramouche x you

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tempest-toss · 2 years

Text

The Closet

Reference to what Dragon meant here.

"I now understand why Bastardverse thought we weren't mature during our first interactions." One spoke aloud as she sipped her coffee, watching as Ten used a screwdriver and bobby pin on a standard lock.

"This is a mechanic in Fallout 4, I'm sure it works," The Gamer spoke as his pin snapped, prompting One to roll her eyes.

"Why do you even want in Three's on-site closet?" One asked, snark beginning to show. Ten was about to make a remark when a 6'5" man in a white coat and blue hair and a small little girl in a pink attire strode into the room. "Ah, Dragon, Child. What do you need?"

"They're here for moi," Ten said with smugness. "Now, if you two would please do the honors?" Six, not in his Dragon form, blew out some air that hit the lock and almost instantaneously froze it. Then Five strode forward and pointed made a finger gun motion at it, lining up her "shot". She then made a simple "pew" sound as she mimicked her "gun" going off, as the lock shattered into pieces. With that, she instantly giggled before bolting into the door and opening up the newly unlocked closet. Six, Ten, and One shared a look of varying emotions before joining Five.

The first thing one noticed was how deceptively large the interior was. The floor plan dictated a standard closet space, but here it was the largest walk-in closet she had seen, with the place seemed to be stretching longer than any corridor she'd seen. Along the walls were mannequins, each one wearing a complete outfit, from headwear to accessories to jewelry.

"Three wasn't lying when he said he was a Noble from an 'Anthropologist Fashionista' family," Ten noted aloud. "He even has them arranged by culture and time period. Perfect!"

One turned towards Six. "And why did you agree to this act of trespassing" Six shrugged. "I'm getting my teeth painted." Six turned to leave as Five suddenly ran after him, asking him about genetic experiments. One sighed as she felt a headache coming on from the coffee. "Whatever, I have papers to write. Don't trash the place okay Ten?" She asked as she left.

Ten gave a thumbs-up before heading to the 19th-century section.

#[Ten can now visit Founding #Also Six can now visit Teeth!]

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xx-superstar · 3 years

Note

maybe short reader x onaf characters lol

ONAF Cast X Short Reader

FLUMPTY BUMPTY -

-Personally, the egg finds it really cute that you’re much shorter than him. Flumpty is a big egg, anyway. Lots of people are shorter than him.

-He’ll sometimes pick you up and place you on the top of his head, just so that you could feel tall.

-It’s easier for him to kiss your cute little face, at least.

-He’s separated you lot into two categories. Short, cute and funny, or short, chaotic and angry.

-He’s scared of the latter.

-Our boy can also alter his height, though. Sometimes his legs would look really long(unnatural, but he’s a cartoon egg. everything about his existence is unnatural.) Just so that he could tower over you.

-He can be a little scary, though he at least has enough decency to stop if you are genuinely frightened. He may like seeing people scared, but for his sweet and lovable better half?

-Flumpty would never pull anything like that.

-In conclusion, his opinion on you does not change. Even if he likes to tease sometimes.

BIRTHDAY BOY BLAM -

-“AHAHAHAHAHAH HOW ARE YOU THAT SMALL”

-HOW ARE YOU SHORTER THAN HIM

-All jokes aside, he considers it a personal achievement that you’re smaller than he is.

-Your friendship seemed to kick off really easily, just because you two are short.

-He shows you all of the small crevices in the cabin, big enough for the two of you to climb into.

-Just the two of you, alone together.

-If you wear any sort of headwear, you bet Blam will ask to trade for the day.

-“It’s nice to have someone just like me..”

GRUNKFUSS THE CLOWN -

-Being the tallest in the group, the two of you together looked pretty silly.

-His long limbs and your short build.. It’s a good thing you both get along just fine. You two look like polar opposites!

-He likes to chat with those who are just like him. Get anxious easily, doesn’t like being photographed, and an introvert for sure. Sometimes, if the two of you are in a crowd he’ll take the two of you someplace else.

-He doesn’t like crowds, knowing his S/O doesn’t either is very comforting indeed.

-Sometimes, he’ll let you onto his back and climb onto the walls. He seemed to defy gravity when he did this..

-Your giggling makes the anxious clown smile.

BEAVOWL THE.. THING.

-Oho? What’s this?

-Another short one?

-They don’t pay you much attention at first, though your persistence made them give in.

-Boy, were they glad you did!

-You two had so much in common!

-If you were deemed trustworthy enough, maybe Beavowl will let you in on why they don’t trust Flumpty, and about how they were forced into this.. abomination of a body.

-Squawking and chittering noises could be heard from them, as well as sniffling. Were they.. crying?

-They would be head-over-heels for you after you’ve decided to comfort them. Beavowl hadn’t noticed just how much they talked about you, and they are very observant.

-They have a crush~

THE REDMAN

-He emerged out of the furnace to be face to face with.. you.

-OMFG SHORT?? CUTE???

-He loves you. Short as that.

-He’ll scoop you into his arms..? Ribs?? for a hug. He often chittered and trilled in your presence.

-Kind of was a “love at first sight” type ordeal. He likes being the tall one in the relationship.

-The Redman will sometimes hack out pieces of coal and give them to you. The gagging and sputtering of his lungs is kind of funny.

-You have heaps and heaps of coal.

-Well, it’s the thought that counts..?

#my writing #garcello onaf #onaf #grunkfuss onaf #grunkfuss the clown #one night at flumpty’s x reader #one night at flumpty's #flumpty x reader #onaf flumpty bumpty #flumpty #birthday boy blam onaf #blam onaf #the beavowl #the redman #my headcanons #egg-giver

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fuck-you-i-am-spiderman · 3 years

Note

jayvie pls ❤️

@daggery My loves!!! They’re who my mind goes to when I think about being domestic, they give off such married vibes and it makes me so soft 🥺 (side note: I want to write something that is more of a focus on Jayvie. I wrote my one with Carvie at the forefront, my one with Jal finding chicken nuggets and I feel like my Marlos energy just radiates in most of my works so if we have any Jayvie ideas I'm all ears 😉)

Who buys flowers for the other

Jay buys Evie flowers and other gifts a lot. They're not always expensive, just something to make Evie feel special. Jay's kind of like magpie, he collects things that make him think of the people closest to him. Evie really likes romantic gestures and Jay loves doing them, so it's kind of perfect for them. Jay goes for these rare beautiful flowers on days Evie is stressed and when she goes to her locker there's a small bouquet or a single flower with a hand-written note. Sometimes it's Evie's favourite candy or surprising her with a pastry in the morning. He's very into surprising Evie because she loves the gestures and it's his way of making her feel special and showing his love.

Who makes the other coffee/tea

They alternate making the coffee. They go to coffee shops a lot, Jay likes trying new drinks or turning up to give Evie an iced coffee during her break between classes. He writes little message on her cup, usually really cheesy pick-up lines to make her smile. Evie indulges Jay with making him fancier drinks, she's naturally good at preportions and has a really good knack for picking the right flavours to try. And Jay likes to make Evie coffee when she's busy working, he'll come in with fresh fruit and her favourite coffee.

They're both on similar schedules, Jay is up for his morning run and Evie is already getting ready so they make one another smoothies. Evie is the only one who's willing to try Jay's protein shakes. They're very domestic in the mornings, their routines work well together. Whilst one is getting ready, the other is preparing their drinks.

However, when Evie is annoyed at Jay being a nuisance she'll bring him a cup of hot water and hide the teabags, or switch the sugar in his coffee for salt.

Who eats the most candy on Halloween

Carlos 😂 Evie likes sour candies but she definitely stops Jay from eating a bunch all in one go. They have Halloween candy until the summer because Evie rations it and because Jay has a dragon's hoard of candy he doesn't mind so much. He can ration if it means getting to flirt with Evie by offering her Hersheys kisses randomly.

But jokes on both of them, Carlos knows where they "hide" it, so of course Carlos (and his all too willing partner in crime Mal) give the candy a new home...in their bellies.

Who genuinely likes pineapple on pizza

Evie. Jay is still so confused about Evie's taste in pizza and he's constantly teasing her about it.

Jay (dramatically feeling Evie's forehead): usually your judgement is perfect Princess...but...are you sure you're feeling okay? Maybe I should take you to the doctor

Evie (rolls her eyes flicks pieces of pineapple at him): you're just jealous you've got a boring palette"

Evie pouts and flutters her eyelashes until Jay tries her pizza and she's forever smug because Jay admits 'it's not terrible' - which is Jay-speak for he likes it but is too stubborn to admit he was wrong.

Who wears hats on special occasions

Neither, their hair is too good to be hidden. Occasionally they'll wear hats, like when they go to the beach and Jay tries on Evie's sunhat and Evie steals Jay's snapback and they all proceed to lose their shit over how good she looks in it. Jay can easily be convinced to wear silly headwear for festivities such as an antler headband or a Santa's hat. But neither are big into hats unless it's Jay's beanie, and Evie will confiscate it so he doesn't try to wear it to fancy events. If she can get Jay to sit still for 2 seconds she will braid his hair for events.

Who buys wacky picture frames

Jay buys wacky frames and it drives Evie absolutely insane. She hates it and it's a constant competition of how many times Evie will put them in the trash, and then Jay will have them back up in 10 minutes. Jay really likes taking photos, he loves taking candid ones and super silly ones (like the one of Carlos with his cheeks puffed like a hamster). Evie is the best model so her and Jay are always posing together and their walls are clustered with photos of them looking like they're on Auradon's red carpet.

#Descendants #Jayvie #jay son of jafar #evie grimhilde #Rotten four #I'm sorry but they just radiate married couple to me #Like when they're tossing things to one another in d3 I just 🥺🥺🥺🥺#But also like Jay is so soft but also so cheeky and they're both so flirty #They're sooooooo flirty whether it's serious or not #This was very fun to fill out #Spideysdaggery ❤️#ship ask game

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madsthewordclown · 4 years

Text

Fire Lily | Pt. 9

warnings: violence, angst, mentions of r*pe. seriously y'all, this chapter gets kind of heavy. take care of yourselves.

a/n: this chapter is very long because wow. Crossroads of Destiny. It’s over 5k, so you’ll have to bear with me and power through.

Also, yes. I am posting this at midnight in my time zone. Yes, my hair is looking some type of way, and yes, I'm wearing Christmas pants. All of this is irrelevant but I want you to know my vibes for whatever reason. And just so you know, my taglist is open!

Enjoy!

Fire Lily Masterlist

“Let him go!” Y/N almost never yelled—it hurt her throat.

“Y/N,” Bihun looked into her eyes, calm overtaking his voice, “go back inside.” The Fire Nation soldiers had hold of his arms.

“But you didn’t do anything.” Y/N’s chest heaved, and she looked at the soldiers. All she felt was rage.

Bihun didn’t steal. She knew he didn’t. He was careful, collected, thought things through. They were arresting him because he was from the Earth Kingdom, and he was there. Bihun’s heel left an indent in the dirt as the soldiers starting to drag him away.

They were just trying to go home. Their front door was only a few feet away, but the soldiers had followed them.

“Let him go!” Y/N repeated, eyes on the soldiers. She could feel it—the fire. But she didn’t stop it. She wasn’t Bihun. She wasn’t careful.

“Y/N,” Bihun pleaded. The soldiers were still pulling him away. “I need you to calm down. Breathe.”

“No!”

“Y/N, we need to go,” Lee urged, already on his way out the door.

They were serving tea at the palace today, she remembered. She had her apron, and her pack on her back. She didn’t need it, but it was nice to have. She didn’t like leaving home without a weapon, especially after that night. Jet’s hook swords were secured inside. It had nearly burned to touch them, but her knife was long gone. And he told her to protect herself.

---

The palace was greater than Y/N could have ever imagined. It was so big—bigger than her entire home village, she guessed. She couldn’t imagine having to walk up the stairs, though. She was greater for their earthbender escorts, pulling them up the incline on a stone slab.

Mushi hadn’t been able to stop smiling. Y/N wasn’t sure that she should go to the palace. She felt like a traitor even now, staring at it. A firebender in the Earth King’s palace was unthinkable. But Mushi had been so excited, and insisted she come along.

“You’ve played a great part in my success, Y/N,” he had said. “It is only fair that you get to witness the results.”

Y/N carried the tray with the best tea set that they had. She had been careful in arranging the cups in neat rows and tried to keep it as level as possible on the journey. Luckily, the way up to the palace was smoother than she had imagined. These benders were precise, and they had so much control. Y/N was envious. Mushi hadn’t mentioned the burns on the table, but he and Lee had come home with a new one the day before. She wasn’t sure what they did with the other one.

“Many times, I imagined myself here, at the threshold of the palace,” Mushi mused, leaning in to whisper something in Lee’s ear. Y/N only caught his final statement. “Destiny is a funny thing.”

“It sure is,” Lee agreed, reaching and lightly touching Y/N’s elbow.

Destiny was a funny thing, Y/N thought. She was destined to be a disaster, and she knew it. But here she was, at the palace, with someone who knew the truth and hadn’t run away. Someone who would keep her secret safe.

An Earth Kingdom guard let them in the ginormous palace doors. Y/N had to appreciate the décor. Everything looked green, but still somehow managed to look royal. Y/N had to crane her head to see the ceiling, it was so high up.

They ended up sitting on the carpet at a small tea table in another room, waiting. The throne sat empty. Y/N wasn’t sure how long they’d been waiting, and despite his newfound cheery attitude, Y/N could tell Lee was getting impatient.

“What’s taking so long?” Lee asked out loud. She wasn’t sure if she was meant to answer.

“Maybe the Earth King overslept?” Y/N suggested in an attempt to put him at ease. His hand was gripping the table tightly—she put hers over it.

Finally, the door opened. Y/N felt her heart stop as Dai Li agents filed in, one after the other until they had the table surrounded. Y/N grew cold.

“Something’s not right,” Lee grumbled, eyes downcast. Y/N almost wanted to shout. Obviously. But any words she could have said would get stuck in her throat as she felt her nerves go haywire. She was ready to jump and run. Her fingers tapped random, quick rhythms on the back of Lee’s hand.

The Dai Li agents said nothing as the final member of their crew walked in. Y/N realized with shock that it was a girl, who couldn’t have been much older than her. She had her black hair pulled up with two perfect strands falling to frame her face. She seemed to have foregone the usual Dai Li headwear for a green hairpiece. Y/N saw something familiar in her face.

“It’s teatime,” she cooed, sounding amused.

“Azula!” Lee shot up like a fire rocket. Y/N turned to look up at him. It was clear he recognized her. How did he know this girl?

“Have you met the Dai Li?” The girl, whom Y/N assumed to be called Azula, mused. Y/N’s hands felt clammy. She was tapping on the table now, since Lee had stood and pulled his hand away.

“They’re earthbenders,” Azula continued with a sharp grin, “but they have a killer instinct that’s so firebender. I just love it.” Y/N’s hand stilled as Azula’s gaze finally landed on her. It seemed to be the first time she noticed that Y/N was there.

“I wasn’t expecting you to bring a girlfriend, Zuzu,” Azula smiled, eyeing Lee.

“Who’s Zuzu?” Y/N hated how small her voice sounded.

“Oh, Zuzu,” Azula sighed, giving a mocking frown. “You haven’t told her your little secret?”

Y/N looked to Lee. He didn’t look at her—he kept his golden eyes trained on Azula. She hadn’t seen him this angry before. Not even in the fight with Jet. What was he hiding from her, and what did this girl have to do with it? And why was her face so familiar?

“Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. It’ll be easy to take care of the spare.”

“Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname, ‘The Dragon of the West’?” Mushi asked suddenly. Y/N realized he was pouring a cup of tea. She almost wanted to laugh. How much did tea really matter right now? This girl had just called her a spare, and Y/N didn’t like the knot in her stomach that grew tighter at every moment.

Y/N slipped a hand under the strap of her pack slowly, ready to swing it off of her shoulder. She thanks Spirits that she’d thought to bring her hook swords, but she had a sinking feeling that they wouldn’t be any help in whatever fight was coming her way.

“I’m not interested in a lengthy antidote, Uncle,” Azula brushed him off. Uncle.

“It’s more of a demonstration, really,” Mushi smirked, lifting a cup of tea to his lips. Uncle. Did that mean…

Before Y/N could even identify the million thoughts she felt stampeding through her brain, Lee was smiling and pulling her off the ground to stand behind Mushi.

“Lee, what’s—” Y/N started, but then the world lit up.

Fire was spraying towards the Dai Li agents, and for a split second, Y/N thought it was her. Maybe she’d lost control again without even noticing. But she blinked again, and no, there were no flames spewing from her hands.

Mushi was breathing fire. Actual fire, extending outward like a fan. The Dai Li soldiers recoiled. Lee had a tight grip on Y/N’s arm as Mushi turned in a circle, and Lee started pulling Y/N toward the back wall under Mushi’s cover. Lee lifted his arm, sending a blast of fire through the wall.

Y/N’s world shattered when she watched the light leap from his hands. Everything was a lie. The whole new life she had built in Ba Sing Se was a lie. Lee and Mushi probably weren’t their real names, and she was the fool who had relied on them. She had helped them, lived under the same roof. Suddenly, Lee’s acceptance of her secret made a lot more sense.

Y/N was under the lake all over again. Head pounding, legs feeling weak. But she let Lee pull her out through the gaping hole in the wall and kept her feet moving, because she couldn’t just stop. Stopping would mean she’d be the spare, left to Azula’s predetermined fate for her.

Stopping would mean that she’d never go home. She knew she was kidding herself—there was no chance of that. But if she could make it through today, through tomorrow, then maybe one day she’d send her father a letter. Maybe she could apologize.

She was under the lake again, Lee showing her what to do and where to go. He was still wearing a mask. While it didn’t have horns or fangs, Y/N knew what it was. Or maybe the mask was finally off.

Mushi ran ahead of them, blasting a hole through the wall leading to the outside. Stone was pummeling into the walls and floor, just barely missing them as the Dai Li gained ground. Y/N pulled the hook swords out of her pack. She could make it. Jet taught her to protect herself.

Y/N watched Mushi leap out of the hole in the wall, into the sunlight, an animal-shaped hedge breaking his fall. Y/N guessed they were about a story up—not too terrible, but she couldn’t say she was stoked about the idea.

“Come on!” Mushi called from his spot on the ground. “You’ll be fine!” Lee didn’t move as Y/N leaned down to stab the end of her hook sword into the wall. She could use it to swing herself closer to the next hedge to break the fall.

“No!” Lee yelled back. “I’m tired of running! It’s time I faced Azula.” Lee looked at her for what felt like the first time in forever. “Go,” he mouthed, before turning to face Azula and the agents who now far too close.

Y/N caught Mushi smacking himself in the head in exasperation before he turned and began to run, motioning for her to follow. Y/N cautiously slung one leg over the edge.

“You’re so dramatic,” Azula drawled. “What? Are you going to challenge me to an Agni Kai?”

The Fire Nation soldiers in her hometown had talked about Agni Kai. Something about honor. Y/N’s father said there was no honor in fighting your own.

“Yes! I challenge you!” Lee replied brashly, squaring his shoulders towards the girl.

Y/N quickened her pace, easing herself out the ledge, hoping to slip out unnoticed. She tested her hook sword’s hold as she finally dropped her lower half off of the ledge, digging the other sword into the wooden floor to be safe.

“No thanks,” Y/N heard Azula say. She doesn’t dare look as she heard the sound of stone heading in Lee’s direction.

“Oh,” Y/N heard Azula add, almost as an afterthought. “Get that girl that’s right outside. I think I might want her to stay.”

Y/N didn’t have time to let go of her swords before the Dai Li had stone hands around her arms, lifting her back inside. She managed to yank her swords out of the stone and wood, keeping a firm grip on them as the Dai Li brought her away, just like before. They didn’t bother to confiscate her weapons. She knew when she’d lost.

She didn’t look at Lee as he was dragged along beside her. She could feel his gaze burning a hole in the back of her head. Y/N didn’t care. She hoped he burned.

---

Azula couldn’t even be bothered to imprison them separately. Echoes of Y/N’s head injury resurfaced when the Dai Li sent them tumbling down into the crystal catacombs under the palace. The landing had been rough. To Y/N’s surprise, they had company. Katara sat dejectedly on the ground and jumped up as Y/N and Lee landed.

“Zuko!” Katara squinted a him accusingly.

“Is that your name?” Y/N said, fighting back tears as she got her bearings. Her hands were warming up. She willed them to stop, tightening her grip on the sword handles.

“What?” Lee asked, bewildered.

“Is that your name?” Y/N repeated, slower. “I’d think that after everything you’d at least owe me that.”

Lee looked hurt, but he answered. “Yes.”

“Zuko,” Y/N whispered to herself. She wouldn’t burn a handprint into the sword handles. She wouldn’t.

She knew that name. Zuko. Whispers of it floated around in the colonies. Banished, they’d say. The Fire Lord’s only son.

“Why did they throw you in here?” Katara asked Zuko. “Let me guess, it’s a trap. So that way when Aang comes to help me you can finally have him in your Fire Nation clutches.”

Katara continued to rant while Zuko tried to ignore her. “You’re a terrible person, you know that? Always following us, hunting the Avatar! Trying to capture the world’s last hope for peace! But what do you care? You’re the Fire Lord’s son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood. And now you’ve somehow dragged Y/N into your mess. She doesn’t deserve that.”

Y/N slowly moved to Katara’s side and was grateful when the girl didn’t back away.

“Are you okay?” Katara whispered, taking a break from the ranting for a moment. Y/N managed a light nod. She was not okay, not by a long shot, but she was at least in one piece.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zuko replied, not getting up from where he was sitting on the ground.

“I don’t?!?” Katara yelled back. “The Fire Nation took my mother from me!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Zuko whispered, getting up to move closer. Y/N lifted her swords protectively. She didn’t know Katara well, but they did have a common enemy, it seemed. “That’s something we have in common.”

Y/N paused. She didn’t know that. She supposed she didn’t know anything. She could tell Katara was crying, and she allowed Zuko to move a little closer as she pulled the other girl into a hug.

“Thank you,” Katara mumbled into Y/N’s ear. “And I’m sorry I couldn’t save him.”

Y/N pulled away as Katara wiped the tears from her face. She finally turned to face Zuko and look him in the eye for the first time knowing his real name. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was,” Lee—no, Zuko—insisted. “I was going to tell you when I figured out how. I,” he shuffled a hand through his hair. “I thought you’d be happy when you found out.”

“What?”

Katara looked equally as confused as Y/N felt. She and this girl were practically strangers, but she had shown her kindness before. Y/N was tired of lying, but she needed answers.

“I mean, maybe not about the prince thing, but,” Zuko took a step toward her. Y/N held up the swords. “That you’re not alone. We’re the same.”

“I am nothing like you,” Y/N seethed, stepping toward him. Zuko managed to be smart enough to back off. “Never suggest that again.”

“But,” Zuko held up his hands in surrender, “we’re from the same nation. We both left, started a new life.”

“I am not from your nation. The Fire Nation has done nothing but take from me, from my family. From my nation.” How dare he suggest that she was like him? She wasn’t Fire Nation. She wasn’t a colonizer, a tyrant, a murderer…

“What do you mean?” Zuko asked, looking legitimately confused.

Y/N couldn’t hold back a hollow laugh. “You know what the Fire Nation gave me? A curse. Thanks to them I can’t even be accepted by my own people. If someone sees what I can do… ” Y/N’s eyes squeezed shut and she shook her head. “My parents are both Earth Kingdom. Did you know that?”

“But…”

“They’re both Earth Kingdom. The people who raised me, at least. My mother is my mother. But my father…” Y/N laughed again, and Zuko looked a little scared. He should have, she thought. “The Fire Nation invaded my village when my brother was a baby. Expanding the colony into our land. Soldiers broke into our house. My father, my real father, was gone, here, on business with the King.

“They found my mother. My older brother was asleep in his crib.” Y/N let the tears fall from her face. She didn’t care anymore. She would make it out of here, but Zuko would never see her again. She was sure of that. “I was born nine months later. Looked just like my mother. Wasn’t until later that they found out what I was.”

“No—” Zuko started, but Y/N lifted a sword to silence him. She felt Katara’s hand on her shoulder.

“And I thought it was a cool trick, at the time. I didn’t know. I was so excited to show my father what I had learned.” Y/N finally lowered her swords and the world swayed. She slowly sunk down to the floor. “I lit a candle, just with my hand. I thought it was so cool.

“My father turned down a council spot here in the city, you know. Because he was afraid that someone would find out.” Y/N sniffed, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. It was gross, but she didn’t care. “He should’ve taken it and left me there for the soldiers to find.”

Zuko didn’t respond. He slunk down to the ground a few feet away, his face downturned so his hair hung in front of his eyes. Y/N tried to slow her shaky breathing.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. I didn’t know,” Zuko said after a long moment of silence.

“I thought I’d built something here, Zuko. Something with Lee. I could’ve been happy, you know. A tea shop in the city was more than enough for me.” Y/N leaned in to Katara, who had sat down next to her. She had expected Katara to leave her be, now that she knew the truth. But she was here, at least for the moment. Y/N felt like she understood. The Fire Nation had taken something irreplaceable from each of them.

The three of them sat in silence for a moment, and Y/N’s nerves finally calmed. The knot in her stomach began to untwist, and the dread of their situation was taking its time sinking in. If they got out, they’d have to fight their way there. And the Dai Li were good fighters. Y/N had a feeling that Azula was better.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you before,” Katara said, finally breaking the silence. Y/N didn’t say anything, but she met Zuko’s gaze. She couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed. He had lied to her, yes, but she had lied to him to. She supposed it was far from unreasonable for him to assume she was from the Fire Nation. It didn’t make everything right, but it did make her feel a bit better.

“It doesn’t matter.” Zuko shook his head. He was right.

“It’s just that for so long now, whenever I would imagine the face of the enemy, it was your face.”

“My face?” Zuko’s hand lightly traced the outline of his scar. “I see.”

Y/N still felt sick looking at it. Not because of how it looked, or anything. But because for the past few weeks, she’d look at it and see herself. She could do that to someone if she lost control. Someone like her had done that to him. She knew she wouldn’t be that person. She tried to shake the thought that Zuko could be that person.

“No, no, that’s,” Katara stood, moving closer to where Zuko was now standing. “That’s not what I meant.”

“It’s okay. I used to think my scar marked me. As a banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar.” Zuko looked Y/N in the eye. “But I’ve realized that I can choose my own destiny, even if I’m never free of the mark.”

Y/N’s heart swelled a bit. She had told him that the tea shop was enough, and maybe one day she’d be able to forgive him. He could choose that destiny.

“What if…” Katara looked down at a small vial that hung on a string around her neck. Y/N hadn’t noticed it before, but the vial was ornate. Not Earth Kingdom crafted. “…you could be free of it?”

“What?” Y/N stood, moving over to join them. Zuko seemed surprised that she was willing to get so close to him. She surprised herself. She could feel the heat radiating from him as she stood by his side. She supposed that that part about him made a lot more sense now.

“I have healing abilities,” Katara explained. Y/N vaguely remembered Katara’s hands on Jet’s chest from that blurry night.

“Did you use them on me?” Y/N couldn’t help but ask. Mushi—or, whatever his name really was—had said that she had recovered remarkably quickly.

“Yeah, you hit your head pretty bad. I hope you rested up. You kept mumbling about a tea shop, so we dropped you off there,” Katara confirmed. Zuko shot Y/N a look that she couldn’t quite read, but his eyes were sympathetic.

“It’s a scar, it can’t be healed,” Zuko argued.

“I have water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I’ve been saving it for something important,” Katara elaborated, holding up the vial. “I don’t know if it would work, but…”

Katara gingerly lifted a hand to touch Zuko’s scar. Zuko’s eyes fluttered shut and there was an unpleasant tenseness to his face. Almost like he was reliving a memory, Y/N thought.

Suddenly, the wall behind them broke, sending shards of crystal flying. Y/N raised her swords.

“Aang!” Katara cried, rushing to wrap Aang in a tight hug. Y/N remembered him, from the lake. There was something important about him that she couldn’t remember that night…

“You’re the Avatar,” Y/N stated dumbly, staring with an open mouth. Of course he was. He had airbender tattoos. The Avatar was an airbender.

Suddenly, Mushi came rushing in, wrapping both Y/N and Zuko in a tight hug. Y/N wasn’t sure how to feel about it. She heard Zuko grumble a complaint under his breath. It was almost like old times.

“Aang, I knew you’d come!” Katara cried jubilantly, wrapping Aang in yet another hug. Y/N noticed that Aang seemed quite pleased as Mushi-whatever-his-name-was let her go.

“Uncle, what are you doing with the Avatar?” Zuko’s voiced sounded grated and irritated.

“Saving you, that’s what,” Aang replied snarkily. Y/N giggled a little but bit it back when Zuko took an aggressive step forward.

“Zuko,” Not-Mushi said, “it’s time we talked.” He turned to Y/N, Katara, and Aang. “Go, find your friends. Y/N, go with them. We’ll catch up.”

As angry as she was, as absolutely furious as she was, Y/N didn’t want to leave them. She wished they could stay, go back to the Jasmine Dragon and pretend this all never happened. But that couldn’t happen, and Not-Mushi and Aang seemed to have somewhat of a plan, so that was good enough for her.

Y/N followed Katara and Aang out of the tunnel that Aang had created in the wall, catching one last glance back at Zuko. He didn’t meet her eyes; he was already immersed in a conversation with his uncle.

The way through the tunnel was short, and Y/N was grateful. The tunnel felt like the halls under the lake. The whole palace did. Y/N did not like the Earth King’s palace, she decided, bad experiences notwithstanding.

They came to a large open room, with stone walls and what looked like doorways and windows carved into them. It was like a tiny piece of an underground city, Y/N realized. She had heard that earthbenders once carved cities into the earth, but it was another thing to see it. It would’ve been beautiful if they weren’t under constant threat of attack.

Y/N didn’t think that fire had a sound. Crackling logs had a sound, and water on coals had a sound. But suddenly there was a fire burning behind them that was so fast and so powerful that Y/N could hear it. Aang quickly turned, lifting stone from the ground to block the flames.

When the smoke cleared, Y/N recognized Azula, standing with one arm extended, poised after the strike. Katara ran out from the behind the cover of stone, drawing water from the canal running through the center of the giant space. Y/N had never seen such a powerful waterbender before. She hadn’t seen any waterbender before.

Katara swept the water up and brought it down on Azula, hard. Azula countered with a flash of blue flame, and the water turned to steam with a hiss. Y/N decided that waterbenders, or at least Katara, were scary.

Y/N watched Azula emerge from the cloud of dust and steam, almost floating through the air. Azula launched blue fire and where Katara was standing. Aang rushed out to help Katara bend more water from the canal.

Y/N didn’t let up her grip on her hook swords despite knowing they were no help here. Azula was no joke. Azula was in it to win, and Y/N knew what winning would mean for them.

Azula landed on the ground lightly, arms poised to strike as she faced down Aang and Katara. Y/N slowly emerged, swords in hand. She wouldn’t cower.

Azula was outnumbered three to one. Well, two to one, Y/N supposed, since her hook swords could be burned to bits at any moment. The odds weren’t good for her here. Not a lot of environmental features for her to use. Jet had taught her about that. If she didn’t bend, she’d be at an automatic disadvantage. The lack of useful surroundings made it worse.

Y/N caught movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see Zuko, a look of determination set in his face. But he wasn’t looking at her. Zuko punched forward, flames sprouting from the movement. Y/N waited to Azula to react, but she never did.

Aang barely missed getting burnt. Zuko had aimed for him.

“Zuko!” Y/N yelled desperately. He surely hadn’t meant to. Surely, he had changed, and something Not-Mushi said had gotten to him. But Zuko reared up to fire again, his aggressive expression turned toward the Avatar.

“Go find Sokka and Toph, Y/N,” Katara yelled at her. Katara’s face looked panicked. Y/N felt the reality sink in further. This was very, very bad. Y/N nodded and sprinted away, feeling the heat from Zuko’s next strike at the Avatar hit her back.

Y/N went through the nearest tunnel, turning on passageways that began to look less like tunnels and more like hallways as she went. She kept a hand along the wall as she went—rough stone turned smooth, and then eventually, she found herself in the halls of the palace. She willed herself to keep going. Find Sokka. Find Toph. Even though she wasn’t sure exactly who they were, she figured she could figure it out.

Y/N finally came across other people when she reached the throne room. A girl with black hair in matching buns atop her head sat on the steps looking bored, and another girl was in a rather uncomfortable backbend, her hands and feet bound to the floor by earth. Over them stood a boy in blue and a small Earth Kingdom girl, along with a bespectacled man in a rather fancy robe and a… bear, Y/N realized, wearing a shirt. Not a platypus bear. Just… a bear.

Y/N brushed off the strangeness of the moment.

“Y/N?” The boy—Sokka, Y/N realized—blurted. “What are you doing here?”

“Where’s your bison?” Y/N managed to get out, huffing. Sokka and Toph’s faces fell. Everything was wrong. “We have to leave.”

Sokka and Toph led the way. The palace felt unusually quiet. It gave Y/N a bad feeling, knowing what could have been happening in the catacombs. Katara and Aang were outnumbered, surely. Azula had the Dai Li.

They wandered through the halls and out of the palace. Y/N thought it wasn’t the best time to be asking questions about the bear, but she noticed that Toph wasn’t wearing shoes.

“Don’t your feet hurt?” Y/N asked. Maybe it would lighten the mood, if only for a moment.

“I’m blind,” Toph said simply, as if that explained it. Y/N didn’t ask any more questions as they continued along.

Finally, Y/N saw the bison. Appa, if she remembered right. She almost wanted to cry. She wanted out of this city, if they’d take her. She could leave Ba Sing Se behind, along with all of the unpleasant memories. Sokka gave her and the other man a hand.

“Thank you, young man,” the man said.

“You’re welcome, your Majesty.”

“Wait, you’re King Kuei?” Y/N asked incredulously. “Your Majesty, I’m—”

“There they are!” Sokka shouted suddenly, pointing back toward the palace. Katara rose on a twisting beam of water. Aang was in her arms. He wasn’t moving.

“Appa, yip yip!” Sokka commanded, bringing the bison in closer. Katara let the water fall away as she landed on Appa’s head, laying Aang down softly in front of her.

Y/N watched as Dai Li agents began emerging from the palace. “Guys…”

“I can’t see to hit them,” Toph said. Sokka lifted a boomerang, but that wouldn’t be enough, Y/N knew. And Katara was…

Y/N looked over. Katara was leaning over Aang, tears in her eyes. Katara was busy.

Y/N took a breath. She thought for a moment, of Zuko, and her parents, her brother. She let the feeling build. The anger, towards Zuko for lying, towards Azula. The rocks were already flying their way. Toph didn’t know, and Sokka’s face was riddled with worry. King Kuei leaned into the bear’s fur.

Y/N let herself lose control. Only for a moment. But it was enough. The fire was bright and strong and accurate enough, hot enough to break the flying rocks apart. And oddly enough, she didn’t feel like she was freefalling. She didn’t feel like she was observing an explosion.

But she still felt relieved when Sokka and Toph decided not to mention it for now. Katara lifted the vial of Oasis water, the liquid shining in the dark.

They were going to take her brother away, and she wouldn’t let that happen. She let go. She showed them what she was capable of.

But they had taken him anyway. They’d sent more soldiers to the house, looking for the general’s ‘stolen daughter.’ Bihun was off in a prison somewhere, and they were coming for her next. For her parents.

The servants had seen. Their loyal, Earth Kingdom servants whom they’d been so careful around. They had run off almost immediately, and word would spread. Her own nation would be looking for her. The Fire Nation girl who posed as one of them for years, and her traitorous family.

Y/N went into their library. It was her favorite room in the house. It was small, but cozy. She had read most of the books there. But they were easy. Flammable.

When the Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom soldiers arrived, whichever came first, they’d find that burned library. They’d see her parents and know that the girl who did that couldn’t have been any daughter of theirs, destroying the most valuable room in their home. Stealing the cup that sat on the mantle.

Maybe it would buy them time, at least. They were smart. They could run with a story. Say that she must’ve been a spy, or that they never knew she was a firebender until that day. They thought she was theirs.

She left on foot, her pack slung over her shoulders, its only contents being the cup and the purse full of coins she had found in her father’s study. No real plan, but the Earth Kingdom was big. And Ba Sing Se was a big, populous city. It would be easy to hide there. She could disappear there.

She had thought about leaving a note for her parents. They’d been home, but she had locked them out of the library and left through the window. But a note would leave evidence, and she wouldn’t put them at risk. Even if it meant breaking their hearts by leaving without a goodbye.

Fire Lily Masterlist

Taglist: @kaylove12, @akariblue, @wolfiemichele, @aquatickanye

#atla fanfic #zuko x reader #zuko x y/n #atla angst #crossroads of destiny #katara #avatar aang #kataang #iroh #lee from the tea shop

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reshinless · 2 days

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Hear me out..Jealous!kinich x reader smut...also I love your writing style it makes me wanna explode🤭

──── bet you feel it now, baby

⠀ ۪ ⠀✧ synopsis. you didn't have to laugh that hard at his joke. it wasn't even that funny. he's better, it's fine, he'll just show you how much better he is.

⠀ ۪ ⠀✧ pairings. kinich x gn!afab!reader, !!NSFW CONTENT AHEAD!!

⠀ ۪ ⠀✧ director's notice. posting wip list in a bit plus brief overview of 800 special fic (it'll probably be genshin/hsr :3)

۪ ⠀✧ warnings. possessive behavior (kinich), jalosi /j, kinda ass/pussy eating (see to it however you like, i used no real specific term, reader is blindfolded for some parts, jealous behavior, rough sex, sex itself, y'all get walked in on (be ready for this to be implied into more of my kinich works LOL), establish relationship

"ahhn- kinich i said 'm sorry.. pleasef- slow down!" your face in the pillows, your words muffled and long gone into the night. the black-haired man's raspy voice spoke from behind— your boyfriend, kinich, of course. "he wasn't all that entertaining, why laugh like how you do with me?"

it was torture to him, seeing how it went from an awkward laugh, a polite smile, to a more genuine appearance to the stupid guy that just had to come up to you while he was busy getting a little snack for ajaw— even ajaw wouldn't comment on how his face looked this time, keeping his own silence as he ate the delicious candy.

"fffuck- he was an old classmate i had at the akademiya- 'm sorry, i-i really am kin-!" he almost laughed at your words. classmate? doesn't mean you should be playfully hitting shoulder like that. or teasing him like that. it's all his, no one else should be able to have it.

you shuddered, what felt like cumming again for the umpteenth time in a row, he hadn't stopped pinning you against the wall, and making you see stars over and over again ever since you saw your "classmate".

"doesn't matter." he groans, finishing inside you once more, your eyes were blindfolded by his headwear, previously on his forehead. he carries you onto the mattress, laying you down a little roughly. "w- what are you doing?"

you shivered once more, feeling warm exhales near your entrance, his cheek resting suddenly on one of your thighs. "all mine, right?" the blunt tone present in his tone definitely made it out as if you couldn't tell him anything other than yes (because it was true). his lips start to scatter a plethora of glossy little kisses all over your thighs, the sensation of getting him to cover every inch of your legs felt like a fever dream.. was this really a punishment?

you could feel his other hand snake to one of yours, which was somewhere on the bed. holding it tight as he started to place wet pecks over your hole. "hhnnn.. kin stop- ... stop teasing me.." you felt yourself moan into his touch, your other hand reaching out for wherever his head was. your fist grabbing at his hair, almost trying to push him into you further.

you felt him groan into you, you could sense he was whipped for your taste. the way you moaned his name. his.. name. "ahh- ahhh fffuck!— kin it's all yours, i promise!" his hand left yours, and stopped lapping at your hole for a moment- you heard a small grunt, and two things landing on the floor.. was he taking his gloves off?!

you could feel him sitting you up with one of his other hands, arms setting you down onto his face, arms locking around your thighs. straddling you over his mouth, as he started to devour what was his. no other guy could do this to you, not without making you feel as good as he did.

shit and he definitely did, the way he made you feel wasn't like the stupid losers who'd try to hook up with you back in the akademiya. or tried to pick you up in the streets. they can't make you feel turned on as much as you did when kinich blindfolded your eyes with something he doesn't usually take off and hear his belt buckle start to come off- ahhh nothing was better!

oh you felt yourself almost creaming on his face just thinking about it. not to mention how good he worked his tongue into you, definitely tasting every little bit, every little nook & cranny his tongue could reach.

he made a small sound, looking up to see you slowly riding his face as is, trying to rub yourself near against his nose. his authorative hold was more than enough to stop you from moving again, one of his palms moving over your stomach to feel the way his tongue moved inside you.

his head busily buried itself more into your scent, glossing his tongue so carefully, making sure you feel it. you started to feel something pool in your stomach- ssshit you were gonna cum again! your hands trail back down to his hair, gripping it harshly again, him seeing signs that you're close, he fastens his pace, licking as much as he could, no longer concentrating on the taste, more on your facial expression.

"ahhn- kin i'm g'na-!" "mmm there it is, such a good kitty." were the words he moaned into your hole, as he gladly lapped up every inch of your delicious juice/cum.

as he placed a kiss onto your entrance once more, he places more than just one kiss onto your lips, making out with you for a bit. letting him taste what he's been tasting for the past hour, the shared, mix of both of your cum.

your lips finally parting from his, your eyes still shut close 'till you feel a fist of your hair being gripped, "not done yet." is all kinich whispers, his voice a little coarse as he continues to kiss you. "all.. yours," you feel him take your hand, putting it over his heart while you both pull away from the kiss, a string of saliva being created. "and all mine, please?" he points to where your heart is in your chest.

his blunt attitude could only make you laugh, planting a kiss onto his head, and nodding to an agreement. "mmm- yeah. all yours."

"you guys are reaaaaaaalll corny! you're lucky i like your partner this time!" ajaw butts in as you laugh, while kinich simply scoffs- looking the other way and burying his face into your chest.

not as cool as my other works, and it's more cringe if i keep looking back on it, cute request tho !!!!<3333

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famouskittychild · 3 years

Text

Star Wars Fun in the Sun

vol 2 - At the pool

This is my gift (vol2) for @milfsyndullas in the Fun in the Sun gift exchange (hosted at @starwarsfandomfests). Some poolside fun during a break away from the war with the trio of Obi-wan, Anakin and Ahsoka.

AO3

The small skiff that had carried them down to the planet was a welcome sight. It was the first civilian craft they had been in for a while, and the unusual colours, shapes and interior kept them occupied during the descent.

“What a nice little ship this is” expressed Ahsoka what all three of them were thinking. Obi-wan answered with his usual serenity.

“Yes, it was acquired for the Grand Army not long after the beginning of the war. The planet we are heading to is on a supply line, so many of their infrastructure is now helping the war effort.”

Anakin’s mood darkened a bit though if anyone would’ve asked why, he couldn’t have answered. Ahsoka did find the problem for him.

“So… they had to give up their livelihood to the Republic…”

“... and the Republic uses it so they can go back to live their lives undisturbed by war as soon as possible.” Obi-wan nodded.

The skiff banked and they had a great view at the land under them. Green forests, white dwellings and small blue lakes were the dominant features under the patchy cover of rainclouds. The craft straightened out, bringing the landscape slowly out of view. The pilot’s voice came through the on-board comm system.

“We will be landing in five minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts and prepare for landing.”

The facility that was chosen as housing for the visiting officers was a sprawling complex of low, simple buildings nestled in a valley between gently rising hills. The person who took them over from the clerk at the front desk told them about the place after Obi-wan asked about it. Lilac Crescent was a holiday resort, with the attractions of forest walks, multiple lakes and wildlife reserves nearby.

“Soon after the war started, the ‘Crescent was acquired for the war effort. The tourism dried up anyways, what with all the blockades and restrictions. We usually host training sessions here, or provide housing for all kind of personnel, from troopers to clerks to maintenance workers. Most recently we had a conference for medical personnel. This way please.”

They reached a pair of glass doors on the corridor. It opened onto a spacious square that had a large enough space in the middle for every resident to gather there. Outside of the open area, the lawn was dotted with benches, tidy bushes and picnic tables. Small pathways led to the white walled cabins strewn around the premises, trees giving shade to them here and there.

Their building was off from the main one somewhat. Behind the cabins there were clusters of larger houses with two stories.

“Those have apartments, as we were told we can expect some of your colleagues to join you later. We had prepared an apartment with three bedrooms for you; if there is any request or you would like a different one, please let us know and we can make the necessary adjustments.”

“Thank you” Obi-wan answered for all three of them. They knew they wont be asking for anything.

There were differently coloured doors for each of the separate apartments on the outside of the building, but their guide led them to a widest, double door in the middle. It opened into an alcove cutting straight through the building, walls lined with ferns and other shadow tolerant plants. As they rounded the corner and stepped into the inner courtyard, they all drew to a stop. Their guide grinned at them, no doubt expecting their reaction from experience with other visitors. Ahsoka’s jaw dropped, Anakin broke into a grin, and even Obi-wan’s smile grew wider.

“A swimming pool?” Ahsoka breathed.

“With parasols!” Anakin pointed out, which made Ahsoka snap around to look at him. She didn’t expected him to single those out when there was a small slide at one corner.

“And a slide!” she pointed it out to him.

“This is very nice.” Obi-wan turned to their guide. “Thank you.”

Their guide smiled.

“You are very welcome. Your unit will be just over there” they pointed towards the corner on their right, at one of the transparent wide doors. “Communal rooms on the ground floor, bedrooms and fresher upstairs. The shed over there contains pool equipment. There’s instructions for everything that needs instructions, and the rest is safe to use as is.”

They gave the keycards to Anakin who stood closest.

“The main building has meals all through the day, and we have a delivery service too, accessible from your datapads, both for groceries and meals. Just use the comm in the lounge if you need anything, any time.”

They thanked them for their help, smiling and looking forward to spending a few days there, then the employee left and they went to settle into their rooms. The glass double doors opened to the lounge, with low sofas in cheerful colours. Other transparent sliding doors separated the kitchen and dining areas, with windows set high on the walls that looked outside, for privacy. They opened all of them and enjoyed the breeze crossing the house.

Ahsoka run upstairs then yelled down telling them she had found her room.

“Its the one with the blue curtains!”

Anakin was inspecting the taps and Obi-wan was reading the safety guide posted on the hallway wall. Ahsoka grabbed their bags and carried them upstairs, leaving them in the middle of the foyer on the landing, thinking the other two can choose their rooms later. They were still inspecting the place when she got back downstairs. Anakin was now looking at the kettle, flipping the switch on and off on it. It was an old, almost entirely mechanical model, nothing like the automated appliances they were used to. She plopped down onto a sofa and relaxed.

“Don’t get too comfortable, we will have to leave for the briefing soon.” Obi-wan told her, as she expected he would, and she sighed. They might have come here for training and other official stuff, not even knowing for exactly how many days, but at least their surrounding were nice. She looked out at the pool. Very nice.

If only the weather would cooperate.

After returning at the end of their official schedule later that day, Ahsoka went to the top floor straight away, leaving the other two downstairs. There was a large closet on the corridor, right by the stairs, that she wanted to investigate. She wondered what would be stored there; not bedlinen or bathing towels, as those were supplied with each room in their own closets. She opened the large doors and her jaw dropped. The contents of the spacious storage were so colourful, it reminded her of a toyshop.

“What are these? Circus tent accessories?” She mused, than looked closer. The neat piles were sorted by type it seemed. There were some that looked like towels, in several sizes. Others seemed to have tailoring and hems - cloaks, probably; and then there were thin shawl-looking pieces, and simple carrier bags in several sizes, and an assortment of hats. She pulled out one of the clothes-looking things: it was a loosely shaped yellow and blue striped dress. It was probably meant to fit many sizes and shapes with its wide sleeves, overlapping panels and ties at the waist and hems.

The corners of her mouth turned upwards. This closet was here probably for the same reason the shed down by the pool was: to be used by guest who didn’t bring their own things, or just needed a spare of something. She could choose for herself, yes. But she could also choose for all three of them.

Just to spare the bother for the others.

Fifteen minutes later, she hopped down the stairs, with a pile for the two jedis on her arm.

Anakin looked up at the sound of her barrelling down the stairs and stopped in his tracks as she came into view.

“Where did you got those?”

Ahsoka stopped in the middle of the room and looked down at herself as if just noticing that something is out of the ordinary.

“Oh. These. I found them in the closet upstairs. I’ve got some for you, master, and for Master Kenobi.” She lifted her arm with the suspicious pile. Anakin raised an eyebrow at her.

“Thank you for your effort”, he said cautiously. If her current look and the cascade of colours and patterns he could see where any indication, they weren't in for anything good.

Over her clothes she was wearing a cheerful lilac wrap-dress with a pattern of small blue flowers. She had a large towel thrown over her shoulder in a riot of greens, yellows and purples. The most unusual was the wide brimmed yellow hat she had over her montrals, the top of them sticking out of it.

She must’ve noticed his gaze as she glanced up at her headwear.

“I even found hats for non-round-heads. This will be good against the sun, isn’t it?” She addressed the question for both of them, as Obi-wan had moved closer too.

“What had you chosen for us?” he asked her in his usual light tone. Anakin braced himself, and his padawan’s exited grin just further spurred his suspicions.

He was right. She got them a similarly riotous assortment of shirts, dressing gowns, towels and even hats. Obi-wan seemed happy with her choices, but Anakin felt a bit uncomfortable.

“These are so… colourful.” He tried to put it into words. He wasn’t sure it was right for them, or for him, to wear things like these.

Ahsoka shrugged with a mischievous grin.

“That was my intent, master. Usually we have plain clothes, but we are on holiday. I thought we might enjoy our clothes for once, not just use them.”

Anakin looked at her, and realized he had to make a choice. She was right, there was nothing wrong with letting their hair down a bit. On the other hand, he also realized that his padawan had probably chosen the most outrageously coloured and patterned and maybe even tailored things she could find.

Out of habit, he glanced over to his former master. Obi-wan looked back from the corner of his eye, lips in a half smirk, and Anakin knew he had came to the same conclusion. But Anakin was the teacher here; it had to be his choice how to handle this.

“Make sure to take some holo recordings whilst we are wearing these, as you already went to the trouble of selecting the most outrages ones for us.”

Ahsoka opened her mouth to dispute some of what he said, then wisely changed her mind.

The weather, as it often happens, did not cooperate. It rained through the next day, but at least they were busy with their schedule. They were also told to have a rest for another four days. Their troopers were back on Kamino, getting their usual update courses and evaluations. They could expect the officers showing up sometime the last day or two, depending on other factors. Until then, they were free to relax.

They talked about maybe going back to Coruscant, but Obi-wan cut that idea short.

“We haven’t had any time away either from the battlefields or the operation planning on Coruscant. Rest is important, too. Let’s recharge in the next few days.”

“Then when the boys get here we can dive straight back into action.” Anakin added, already on board. Ahsoka looked between the two of them, then shot a pointed look towards the courtyard.

“Swimming pool?” she asked. So far they had no time to try it out.

“Not in this weather” Anakin looked out through the doors. Over the low roofs of the building, the clouds were grey. It was raining intermittently.

“Not exactly pool weather,” Obi-wan was still cheerful despite it, “but good for a barbecue.”

The other two met his enthusiasm with doubt.

“Master Kenobi, it’s raining.” Ahsoka stated, just in case he missed the obvious. She could find no other explanation.

“Thank the Force for whoever had invented the umbrella, than.” He smiled at them once more before getting up from the sofa and getting ready to head out.

Off to the side of the lounge doors in front of every apartment was a small enclosed area with tiled floor, surrounded with low walls and small shrubs. There was enough room for a table and four chairs on one side and a pair of sunbeds opposite. It also had a built in grill with a cover over it at about shoulder height but no roof for whoever was standing in front of it.

Ahsoka and Anakin decided to stick to the lounge, reading their datapads and watching holos. They occasionally looked outside at Obi-wan, grilling away in his purple shirt decorated with palm leaves. He was using one hand to hold whatever utensil he needed and the other to hold the colourful umbrella. He even twirled it once in a while.

They thought him a bit silly, standing outside in the gloomy weather and messing with the smoky grill when they had a very well equipped and rain-free kitchen. Until he came back indoors with a pile of grilled meats and vegetables.

“Get those salads we ordered earlier, please. Time for dinner.”

Ahsoka retrieved the stack of dishes they had ordered from the Crescent’s own kitchen. Obi-wan piled up a plate for her with meats, and shared out the veggies between Anakin and himself, then they all had their pick from the salads. Anakin pestered Ahsoka light heartedly about her not eating her veggies, and she showed her carnivore canines to him as answer. But they both thanked Obi-wan for making the majority of the food, and for making it delicious.

“Lets hope the weather turns soon” he answered before tucking in.

The colourful wooden building the opposite of their apartment on the other side of the pool, turned out to be a shed housing treasures, at least according to Ahsoka. When they had woken up to clear skies and sunshine the that morning, it was all she could do to wolf down her breakfast porridge before she raced outside.

On their third day, it finally did, and they broke out the pool equipment.

Anakin followed her.

“I think I should supervise. I don’t want the pool to end up with rainbow bubbles.” He got up, and Obi-wan stopped with the spoon halfway to his mouth. That was something that didn’t occur to him before. Than he reminded himself that they were on officially mandated holiday, and the employees of the Crescent assured them that everything is safe that was stored around the pool for guests to use. He hoped safe didn’t mean skin coloured to purple and teal patches that takes weeks of three rounds of daily sonic use to fade away.

The sun was still low but started to rise above the rooftops surrounding the courtyard. It made him remember another thing he had learned the hard way. He gathered the dishes but left the washing up for later, then he followed his former padawan and their current padawan outside.

The sun had already dried up any remnants of puddles on the tiled courtyard. He did spot some dew on the patches of lawns between the poolside and the individual terraces but only where there was till shadow. He knew the last reminders of the past few rainy days will vanish before noon and the meteorology service promised sunshine with a bit of breeze for the coming days. Perfect poolside weather.

He caught up with the younger ones and peaked over their shoulders. They were combing through the contents of the pool shed, at the moment inspecting the second shelf from the left. It had colourful boxes on the top shelves and some larger containers at the bottom.

“What are those?” He asked, and the other two jumped. “Sorry.”

Anakin waved him to not worry about it, and shoved him one of the boxes.

“Inflatables. There’s an airpump over there,” he pointed at a small machine in the corner, “and we are trying to choose.”

“I want the thranta. They are adorable.” Ahsoka said, showing the box already in her hand. Anakin raised an eyebrow.

“Those are aiwhas, obviously. The shape of the head…”

Ahsoka leaned forward, ready to argue with him. Obi-wan threw his palms up, stopping them.

“Argue later, please. For now, I want to remind you two to a very important thing.”

They both turned to him and showered him with guesses.

”Not to drown in the pool?” ”Not to pee in the pool?””Anakin! Where did you get that idea?!””The boys, obviously…”No eating in the pool!””No datapads, they aren’t actually waterproof.””Wear haircaps!””Not me!””Wear goggles?“

“Stop, please.” Obi-wan sighed, and the other two calmed down a bit. “I meant sunscreen. Plenty of sunscreen.” He paused, then looked at each of them in turn. “Learned that the hard way.”

“I smell a good story” grinned Ahsoka.

“I smell a funny story” Anakin added. Obi-wan rolled his eyes.

“If you want to know, yes, at one time I gut a sunburn so bad after a mere afternoon outside that I needed medical care. My face was red for two weeks and I needed to slather enough cooling lotion on myself that it would’ve covered a grown thranta. Or an aiwha.”

The other two tried not to laugh. Obi-wan was so pale, it was hard to imagine him all red, but they managed it of course. And it was hilarious. Only their respect for him stopped them to laugh at him, at least whilst he was standing in front of them.

“I haven’t seen any in the house, I guess people bring their own with them when they come here. I’ll put on a delivery request for them. Until that arrives, you two stay out of direct sunlight.” Again he looked at each of them in turn. It must have been really important to him if he was putting so much emphasis on it. “You don’t want to end up all red like I did back then.”

“Well that would be terrible” Ahsoka deadpanned, looking at her arms. Obi-wan smiled.

“I apologize. I should have worded that differently.”

“Like ‘burned like a crispy stuffed tomato’ for example?” Anakin volunteered. Obi-wan shot him a look but there was humour behind it. He left them to continue their exploration and went back to the lounge to put the order in on his datapad.

The shed was a treasure throw. Neither of them had ever been to a place like this. They did swim at the temple’s pool but that was for learning and training. They never had the opportunity yet to just have fun with some water. It was extra nice that it wasn’t a beach - no sand. Anakin could never get used to having sand around water. Sand was desert, aridity, and water was everything the desert wasn’t. He could also never wrap his mind around the fact that the larger the body of water the more sand it’s shores tended to have.

Or that people went there willingly not just to swim but to play in the sand. For him, that substance was hard, gritty life, and when having fun, he didn’t wanted to be reminded of that.

Ahsoka had no such qualms, although she knew about her master’s aversion and she sympathised with him.

By the time Obi-wan had arrived with the sunscreen sometime later, the other two had a competition going on. The airpump stood unused by their side and they were trying to inflate their respective pool floats using only their own lung capacities.

“That’s futile but a valiant effort” Obi-wan commented, and the other two threw him the annoyed look of the young. “I also have the sunscreen here, if you two need a break.”

They didn’t, of course, and they continued their strenuous competition. Watching the other two getting more and more winded whilst their floats where still barely more than colourful limp piles at their feet, Obi-wan sat down at one of the sunbeds around the pool with his yellow-green-red spotted towel and started to put lotion on his skin methodically.

“Do you need help, master?” Anakin asked some time later. Obi-wan looked up to see that they had stopped - and barely made progress - and were both looking at him. He shook his head, a bit confused about the question.

“No, I can manage, thank you Anakin.”

The other two exchanged looks than turned back to him. Than he realized. He was finished with the front of his torso and his shoulders; next would be his back. Which they thought would be a problem for poor old Obi-wan, obviously.

“Don’t worry I can reach my own back.” He turned around so they could see, and hooked his hands together behind his back, one arm over his shoulder the other reaching up from below. “See?”

He turned around and the other two had the grace to look a bit embarrassed. He didn’t blame them. He might’ve had similar thoughts about others at their age.

“Now how are those floats going?” he asked while his hands were working on his back.

“Abysmal.” “Hopeless.” “Futile.” “They are faulty.” “Yes, I bet they have holes on them.”

Obi-wan shot a look at them that made them stop.

“Well, I guess, we should admit defeat…”Anakin conceded, “and just use the machine.”

“Yes, I think that’s a good idea, master” agreed Ahsoka too.

They went over to the machine and in a few minutes they had two colourful, vaguely air-whale shaped mattresses. Ahsoka’s one was teal and turquoise and gray, while Anakin had a pink-blue-yellow one for himself.

“Would you like one too, master?” They already started to walk towards the shed.

“No thank you Anakin, I’ll chose one later after I finished.”

“It’s not a problem” and they already vanished. Obi-wan sighed, wondering what will he get. Between his shirts that Ahsoka cheerfully picked out for him every morning - he had a pink one on with tiny porgs all over it today- and his towels - those he choose himself, but the selection for both ranged from “cheerfully bright” through “interesting pattern” to “what where they on when they designed this”- he probably wore more colour in this past few days than usually did in a standard year, disguises included. He decided to wait to see what they chose for him, than he’d just have make his own choice if he doesn't like their selection.

He didn’t liked it. It was some large bird, green and purple, and unlike theirs, wasn’t flat but shaped like a very awkward chair. So he went and rummaged around, settling on a large torus shaped something in all the colours of the rainbow. He was already covered in colours, so he thought why not go all out.

They air-whales were already floating on the water. Anakin and Ahsoka were sitting at the edge of the pool near them, hanging their legs into the water, passing the sunscreen bottle back and forth between them. After inflating his own device, Obi-wan saw that they were taking the task of screening up seriously. He got hold of the doughnut firmly, took a two careful steps to speed up than jumped onto the water. As he landed, he splashed up a good deal of water - straight at the two younger ones.

“Master!” he heard the two indignant voices. He turned to look at them innocently.

“Yes my dears?”

They had water dripping all over them. He knew they’ll get back at him later. He padded away, looking for the small portable music device he remembered seeing somewhere beside the pool. Might as well have some music too.

Their attack was coordinated and well executed. Anakin floated in front of him, blocking his view and chatting with him. Under that cover, Ahsoka managed to round him unnoticed, then at a sign they both grabbed his doughnut and upturned it, tossing him into the water.

“Vengeance!” the yelled, laughing, as Obi-wan resurfaced spluttering, shaking his hair out of his eyers. Their alliance broke up almost immediately as their floats bumped into each other and they started to jostle.

“Hey, mind the thranta!” Ahsoka warned.

“It’s an aiwha.” Anakin pushed her, and her mattress wobbled heavily, threatening to throw her off.

“Yours maybe. This one isn't.”

They argued back and forth about the properties of the different air-whale species until they managed to knock each other off their respective float. All three in the water, the fight turned to everyone for themselves. Ahsoka was the shortest but also the most agile, and she swam around the other two like a fish. Anakin and Obi-wan was evenly matched, and they managed to push each other under the water and being pushed down by the other about equal frequency. Ahsoka won the battle when she remembered that she saw some long, straight foam rolls in the shed and whilst the other two was occupying themselves she sneaked out to get them Than she slapped them both on top of their heads, making them admitting defeat.

When they got too tired - and hungry - they climbed out of the water and wrapped up in their oversized towels. Ahsoka’s was so large it covered her like a tent, but she loved the one she had and kept in on: it had tookas all over it. Than they fired up the barbecue again. This time Obi-wan had help, mostly because the other two were really hungry. After eating, he pulled out a second box of deliveries, just when they were getting ready to get back into the water.

“What are those?”

The largish box was full with bottles and jars, their contents a rainbow of colours.

“This, dear Ahsoka,” Obi-wan checked his datapad, “ well, let me read out the official product designation. This is a ‘The starter box every pool party needs if you want to avoid your guests getting too rowdy, touchy or messing up your place in one way or another - Everything You Need to Make Your Own Mocktails, Starter pack for twelve guests’. This was the smallest package, the others were for 24, 30, 50 or even more guests.”

“That’s how they called their product?” Anakin dug into the box, pulling out a jar with small golden fruits in it. It harmonised with the shirt he had on, with songbirds. “And they are still in business…”

“Who has twelve guest?” was Ahsoka’s observation.

“Here are some recipes” Obi-wan handed a small puck to her. She pushed a button on the cheap plastic gadget and a cheery hologram of an assortment of colourful drinks in fancy glasses showed up. She scrolled to the next picture, and there was indeed a recipe for the simplest of drinks under it.

“Syrup, water, bubbles - where do we get bubbles?” she mused.

“I think there’s a gadget for that. All is supposed to be in the box.” Obi-wan shrugged.

They all choose from the supplied list than set to measure and shake and stir. The first round was a success.

“Let’s try some of the more complicated ones” Anakin suggested only halfway into his drink. Ahsoka scrolled through the recipes and they found one that they both liked.

“How about this one. ‘Chandrilla Sunrise’. Phew, long list, but doesn’t seem too complicated.”

Their first try failed, predictably.

“Focus, padawan. I think we’ll have to follow the instructions by the letter.” Anakin furrowed his brows.

“Oh dear, that’s terrible” commented Obi-wan, than he turned back to his own holopad quickly. “I’ll will just look up some more tricks and recipes while you two… brew.”

They messed up something again. The colours didn’t stay separate bands but blended together into a muddy mix. Obi-wan found the root of their problem.

“The recipe doesn’t mention it, but here it says you have to keep each syrup chilled before pouring them into the glass, than wait a bit for it to warm up to air temperature before adding the next one.” The other two made a ‘hmm, gotcha’ noise simultaneously. “Other advise is to chill the glass beforehand.”

“Let’s try those ideas.” Anakin’s enthusiasm renewed, they got back to work on their third glass. It was a success, finally. Then they had to repeat the process two more times so each of them had a glass for themselves. Decorating them with straws, paper shapes that went over the edge and extra candied fruits.

Ahsoka exchanged her towel to a blue dress with puffy pink clouds printed on it, then turned the volume up on the music player before picking up her glass again. The sun was shining, their bellies were full and no one was shooting at them. It was a great day.

The sun was slowly getting lower over the rooftops. Music was playing at an acceptable volume now after Ahsoka started to go a bit overboard before and they had to shout to hear each other. Some of the sunbeds were covered with towels and wraps and hats as they tossed them aside when not needed. They took turns on the slide, having a competition about who could make the biggest splash when crashing into the water. Anakin seemed to be in the lead.

“It’s not fair, you are just taller, that’s your advantage!” Ahsoka complained as they stood at the edge of the pool. Obi-wan agreed with her.

“Yes, he doesn’t use any technique aside of stretching out all limbs.”

Anakin grinned at them.

“You two are just sore losers.” Then he suddenly turned and with a single step, reached the edge of the pool and jumped. The other two barely had enough time to turn away before he smashed into the pool, splashing plenty of water at them.

After declaring Anakin the splasher champion, him and Ahsoka got back on their floats for another round of foam-noodle duel and general splashing about. Obi-wan had stuck to his datapad, still reading about drink-making tricks and flavour harmonization and fruit types. He floated around on his doughnut as far as possible from the ruckus the other two were making, sipping from his glass with an umbrella in it and a fruit rind over its edge. By the end of the day, he had made almost a dozen different drinks, and they never had to float around long without one in hand, or put aside at the edge of the pool.

“Don’t forget to visit the fresher if you need to, master” Ahsoka reminded Anakin, who shot her a look of mock offence.

“Now why would you say that?” He took a sip of his drink, than furrowed his brow. “Actually that's not that bad of an idea.”

It took him a while to paddle to the edge of the pool using only one hand.

“You can do it, master!” “Use your legs!” “Don’t drop the glass, I spent half hour on that one!” was just a few of the advice he had received.

He mock- growled back at them then laughed himself as he finally climbed up onto the tiles.

“I'm so proud of you” Obi-wan told him, and raised his glass, Ahsoka’s giggling behind him.

They stayed out after the sun had already set, than gathered up their their stuff and went to sleep tired but happy.

Just like the day before, Anakin and Ahsoka spent most of the day in the pool. They got very good at jumping in from the edge of the pool without their feet slipping on the wet tiles. When they got tired of that, they flopped onto their respective air-whales and padded about, occasionally bumping into each other and having a wrestling match. Obi-wan had joined them before, after the sun dipped a bit lower after the glare of the middle of the day. He even jumped in himself a few times, though he enjoyed the slide more. He was now making a late afternoon meal; the leftovers were all gone and he was happy to muck about the barbecue yet again.

He heard some noises from outside. It was quiet aside of the splashing coming from the pool and the noises made by the small portable music player. Maybe they were getting some neighbours before the officers arrived. They were expecting them the next day, no later than noon. Then the noises grew louder and he could tell that they were definitely made by sentients, and were getting closer. He stuck his head out around the barbecue’s wall and peaked towards the courtyard entrance, just in time to see the approaching group of clone officers step out into the sunshine. They burst into hollering upon seeing them, and when Ahsoka and Anakin noticed them they greeted them from the water with equal enthusiasm.

Obi-wan sighed. How lucky, he thought, that he spent the last afternoon studying how to make mocktails. He checked that everything that was on the grill could be left there for a little while, than he wiped his hands on his ‘Best chef in the sector’ apron and got his datapad.

As the officers gathered around the pool, chatting with Anakin and Ahsoka and no doubt planning to get in the water as soon as possible, he opened the delivery service on his datapad. He run through the items in his head that they’ll need to feed everyone. And the drink supplies too.

Maybe he can get some of them to help out with the food and drink preparations - if he can drag them from the pool first.

#sw fun in the sun #swfuninthesun #summer gift exchange #disaster trio #obi-wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #ahsoka tano #poolside #my writing

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clockworklozenges · 3 years

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So, my homebrew Dungeons and Dragons campaign has been going for 4 years, nearly five, and when asking my players of their favourite and most memorable moments, it isn't the fending off of vindictive gods, the liberation of countries or even the death and resurrection of NPCs that are as beloved as family members at this point which my players think of first. No, they think of the...

Giraffe Incident

...before anything else on this four year journey, and I can't lie, so do I.

To start with, this is around two-ish years ago, two-ish years into our adventure. The party, a group of five morally grey individuals who balance extreme cruelty with equally mind-boggling acts of random-only-to-the-casual-observer kindness, have ventured into Wizard Hell, a cursed domain where the runoff from the Nine Hells ends up, a landfill site for items as deadly, redundant, absurd or cursed in fact and concept as Wizard Hell itself. Classic examples of the items the party found and then, for some ungodly reason, decided to keep included:

The soul trap Tomato - a phylactery for Bernard the uncanny horse lich, which screams in horse anguish, pain and despair in many horse voices between 3am and 4am.

The Fish of Holding - a miraculous Bag of Holding which is enchanted with the same level of intelligence as a goldfish, looking like one as well. It believes it needs water to breathe, having panic attacks when not submerged, but will drown if held underwater. It is very sad.

Robe of Awkwardly Large Items - This robe can produce large and bulky items like a semi-inflated bouncy castle, seven slightly soiled pillows or a goat, all of which are difficult to carry and hard to explain. The wearer has no control over what comes out.

So, with this in mind, the party cleric, a dedicated healer who always erred on the side of kindness (a counterbalance to totalitarianism ranger) picks up a figurine of Wondrous Power, this one shaped like a giraffe in a wizard hat. Knowing (thanks to an okay Arcana roll) that Figurines of Wondrous Power summon the animal the figure depicts, the cleric, who avoided violence and conflict, decides to keep it, noting it down along with the advice on the bottom of the figurine: apply water to activate.

Fast-forward six real-world months and Wizard Hell is but a memory (or more accurately, the mental residue of a drug-addled fever dream), and the cleric of Life has been through some stuff. Going through a mirror to become a Death cleric, the lifespan of this mirror clone is at an end, and soon she is to die. Leaving behind an adopted daughter, who lost her once to the mirror door that made the mirror clone.

She sits in a chapel with the NPC, Brandine, and a solemn moment of reflection is had. Soon, she is to go meet the creature that will be her end, and take it down with her on the orders of Polybdos, an angel of her goddess. This is the last time she will see Brandine, and the last time Brandine will see her alive.

"Brandine, I... I'm sorry, but I'm going to be gone soon."

The child begins to cry, her sobs raspy and her tears bitter but unfortunately familiar to your memory.

"But you won't be alone! Never alone, but losing people is part of life...I know I've never been the best mum, but I...care about you. You'll always have me, our time together and the love I have for you."

Out of character, the player looks at me, asking "DM, can I give her something, like a memento to leave her with?" and, nonchalantly, after I confirm that she can do, but some gifts mean more than others, the cleric searches through her inventory for an appropriate gift, before settling on...the giraffe figurine. It seems like she's forgotten that it came from Wizard Hell, the inventors of Nothing Honey (honey that tastes of nothing and is just annoyingly sticky).

Now, as a dungeon master you sometimes have to make judgement calls. Because I know what the figurine does, and the party do not, thanks to them forgetting about this joke item for six months. I could tell them. Or, I could relish the reaping of what we have collaboratively sown and remain stony-faced and neutral.

I ask "okay, are you sure?" but the cleric's player nods, responding "I know it's magical but still, she needs something to remember me by." This is taking the wrong end of the stick and using it as a square peg for the purpose of jamming into a round hole. Regardless, we keep going.

"Here, Brandine, take this. When you look at this, you can think of me."

The young woman wipes her eyes, her hands soaked, the figurine shuddering and shaking as the water touches it before erupting outward, extending and growing into a full-size giraffe, complete with conical wizardly headwear. As it looks down, it rumbles:

"I AM A MAGICIAN. WOULD YOU CARE TO SEE A MAGIC TRICK?"

Before a chance to respond is given, the giraffe looks up, and says:

Observe.

The giraffe, abruptly, detonates its own head, showering you in blood and gore. Still spurting, the titanic corpse falls down in front of you, dead beyond all question. Delicately, small wisps of smoke coming from it, floats down the wizard's hat, landing on the corpse.

The player looks at me, before shouting "what?!" whilst both other players present are in shock, trying to either stifle uproarious laughter or to breathe through laughing. I narrate the gnome stood next to them sighing before beginning to clean the walls of the building now drenched in giraffe blood. Brandine is screaming in the foetal position, and in real life, we take a 15-minute break to recover from this. We return, and the cleric looks at the vast cadaver.

"Oh...so that's what that does."

And this is why my party always carry scrolls of Identify. And also, rain macs incase this happens again.

#dnd #dnd 5e #dungeons and dragons #cleric #giraffe #magic items #cursed #cursed items #dnd shenanigans #dnd campaign #Magic #If I'm honest #They did take better notes after this so what's a dead giraffe between friends right?#Would you like to see a magic trick? Observe

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magickedhat · 3 years

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Summary: Set in a pink, windowless room. Location unknown. A conversation over steaming tea. Part 2/2. (part one)

When Mr Booth awoke again, he was behind bars.

He had been in jail before. Dungeons, cells, grimy towers with hungry mice and hungrier security. This was nothing like he’d ever before experienced. The bars were thin and spread closely apart, painted cheap gold. They created a curve along the middle to meet at the very top.

It took him longer than it should’ve to realize he was in a birdcage.

Much to his surprise, Mr Booth was not angry. He wasn’t ashamed or humiliated. In fact, when his lips parted to draw a much-needed breath, all he could muster the wits to say was, “Fascinating.”

“Why, thank you very much.”

Startled, Mr Booth’s gaze shot up. The magician responsible for his current predicament sat roundly in a smooth velvet chair, her dark outfit a stark contrast to the pink wallpaper behind her. Mr Booth spotted her notable lack of headwear this time. She didn't look nearly as impressive without it; in fact, if Mr Booth did not fear for his life, he might've even said she appeared ordinary, with her loose brown curls and eyebags, the worry lines and faded lipstick that pieced together the form of an everyday woman who could’ve been seen crossing the road of any street in London. Now, he could see her for what she was: a human.

So why was he still so on edge?

Mr Booth's eyes snapped sideways, taking in the rest of the place in little chunks. They were no longer in his hotel, but the place could be mistaken for such: he found himself surrounded by cozy armchairs, a fluffy carpet, a bracket clock and a bronze mirror, a small table leaden with a sweet-smelling tea set. One might have found it favourable to overlook the window-less walls, or the Mr Booth-sized cage in the corner, but otherwise, the room was perfectly hospitable, as though he'd just been invited into someone's living room for tea and gossip.

Slowly, Mr Booth pushed himself up. "Where are we?"

"You’re in my hat,” responded the magician, so matter-of-factly that Mr Booth was briefly perplexed with himself for questioning it. She added another sugar cube into her steaming cup. “And if you still harbour any hope of seeing the light of day, you will answer some of my questions.”

The warmth in her voice had faded despite the tea, and her gaze pierced through him like a hawk's, so intense that Mr Booth feared it could peel his skin from his bones. It hit him, then: she'd been such a good actress, selling this image of a sweet lady searching for a job with a hatfull of rabbits and birds, that Mr Booth hadn't suspected her for a moment. Hidden compartments and pockets; misdirection. A role perfectly tailored for a magician indeed.

So, Mr Booth smiled. His lips stretched farther, tickled his cheeks in a grin, and he began to laugh.

"Oh, I adore this," he mused after some time. Sitting up straighter, Mr Booth crossed his feet on the cage floor, making himself comfortable. Electricity ran through him in jittery waves, stretching his mouth all the wider, feverish with the sort of energy he found himself chasing for months at a time. How wonderful is it, when they finally catch a whiff of him? When they stare with a hot pot of emotions that swirl between bitter triumph and striking disappointment, or even sadness?

The surprise that flashed across the magician's features filled him with such delight he dared reveal the thoughts running through his head. Mr Booth waved a hand. "Out with it, then! But please, before that, would you mind filling me in on how you made it this far? You're the only one who has figured me out. How did you do it?"

The magician huffed; shook her head. "You're not as elusive as you think you are, not-Booth." As she spoke, her spoon began performing small, circular trips inside her cup, jiggling where it met sparkling porcelain. What captured every ounce of Mr Booth's attention was that no hand was lifted to guide it. Proper magic. "Are you powerful? Perhaps. But other than that, you're just a devious little thief who never bothered to hide his footprints before he left the crime scene. How many names did you think you could steal before someone noticed?"

"Enough for someone to notice," declared Mr Booth, chin sticking defiantly. A strange sort of bravado had overrun him; or rather, the strangest need to challenge. "It’s suffocatingly boring when my presence goes by unnoticed, you see. And---for a while---every one of my plays seemed to fall into the same pitfall. Clueless individuals, surrounded by even denser family and friends.” He hummed, shrugged. “Terribly dull. I needed something big, this time. Something eye-catching. And what’s better than the hotel business, where names are so willingly entrusted to the facility?”

“Wait a moment,” sighed the magician. She leaned back and rubbed a temple, eyes fluttering shut. “Are you telling me that---of all the reasons something like you would have stolen a person’s identity---... you did it because you were bored?”

“And for the names! And the money,” Mr Booth pursed his lips. “And for the parties. But that correlates with money, yes?”

The magician’s movements were weary as she shook her head and brought her cup to her lips, the most frustrated of exhales leaving her nostrils. Mr Booth might have laughed.

“I’m not as surprised as I should be,” muttered the magician. Just disappointed, he could almost hear her saying. “Perhaps I should get that checked. But enough of that.” Her cup no longer steamed when she placed it on the table again. Her gaze pierced into him, pinning him on the gold-painted iron like a nail diving into feeble butterfly wings. “The original Ethelbert Booth. Where is he?”

Mr Booth whistled, bemused. He was impressed and jittery, yes, but that did not mean he was also planning to be cooperative. "Asking the hard questions, aren't you? I won't just tell you that." He clicked his tongue. "How would you feel about a deal?"

"Right," gloved fingers tapped on her knee impatiently. Her face hardened. "Let me ask again, then. Etherbert Booth. Where. Is. He?"

Mr Booth knitted his brows. Were they playing a game he hadn't caught onto yet? He didn’t have another second to ponder this, for something sharp scraped the inside of his mouth and caught the breath in his lungs. The terrible end of a fishing hook came to mind, agonizing and vivid---Mister Booth gagged, but he no longer had control of his mouth. Graceless and clumsy did his tongue move against unwilling teeth, and so his response formed, syllable by painful syllable. "In the garden," he coughed out, mouth numb. "He's in his garden! Get your name off of me, you wicked little---"

The wicked lady cut him off, elbows on her knees. "Do you mean he's buried alive in his garden?"

"No," the words pulled themselves out again one by one, like they were fish in the depthless ocean of his hidden truths. Restraining them had fared so well so far. Mr Booth had been proud, even, of conquering his tendency to overshare, but now they flowed out unbidden and silver-stained and utterly indifferent to his own efforts. He shuddered with repulsion, but raised his eyes to meet the magician’s.

"He is in his garden.” he croaked. “He's the air you'll breathe and the roses you will marvel at. He'll feel you with every step you take upon his freshly-cut lawn but that does not matter because you will never feel him or see him ever again. Do you understand?" A nasty laugh bounced off his abraded throat. "He's stuck. He's in a place worse than death."

Something flashed in the golden pool of her eyes. "Can anybody pull him out of it?" the words had a rushness to them; impatience and tension. Mr Booth thought she'd press her face against the bars if she leaned any closer.

"No one," he said, though through a world of pain he was instructed to add: "no one but me."

Silence stretched out. The magician laced her fingers on her lap, gaze distant. Mr Booth used the spare seconds to gasp a few breaths, expanding the lungs that he thought had been sliced open. What a horrible name. He'd owned names with side effects before. Some had been so irritable that he’d had to toss them back into faceless city crowds again, caring not for where they landed as long as they ceased to itch his skin. But this name was vile. This one had stuck to him like glue and had a mind of its own---or rather, it had a pioneer, nudging its strings, snapping him around and punching holes through his gut when it searched for secrets. He couldn't even tell if it was a real name.

His glower through the bars must've been intense, because the magician scoffed. "Oh, don’t look at me like that. Does it anger you that you are controlled by a name instead of the other way around? You must have seen this coming."

"I'm not going to free Etherbert for you."

Her brows raised. "I never asked you to." Gloved hands reached for her kettle once more and poured steaming sweet liquid into her cup. "In fact, you've done me quite a favor. I've wanted that man halfway across another realm for decades." a snort, another glance his way; her lips quirked at his expression. It must've been a sight indeed. "You've created a few complications, of course, a very rude dent in my plans, but it isn't anything I can't work around. The fact that you're acting so much unlike him, however… that, we must work on."

Minster Booth faltered. His jaw felt so numb he wondered whether her name had gripped it open again. "I-- what?"

She sipped her tea. Mr Booth suddenly realized that his mouth was uncomfortably dry, and then even drier when her golden gaze rose on him again. Things shimmered beneath, thoughts and schemes rolling by so fast he grew dizzy just watching the shadow of them. She set her teacup on the table, and presented him with a terrible grin. "You're going to help me, New Booth," she told him, "just as I am going to help you. Do you know what kind of man you've decided to impersonate? Rather poorly, if I may add."

"You may not," Mr Booth failed not to sound injured.

"Then, I shall not. But it's no secret that others will catch on like I have, love, and it isn't going to end well for you. So: earlier, you asked for a deal." She raised her chin. "This is what I'm offering you. Your safety for my plans."

"And what if i just leave?"

Her smile was a thin line of pearl white teeth. "I believe you might find yourself as stuck as the old Booth, then."

Bitter realization struck. Her name. Just how easily could these stings pull and twist him into knots? He wasn’t inclined to find out. He narrowed his eyes, staring through the bars. "What is your personal vendetta against Booth? Why do you want him dead?"

"Dead?" a scoff left her. Mr Booth didn't miss the amusement behind it. "I would never do something so savage, heavens no!" Her shoulders rose and fell in a devious little laugh. However, Mr Booth saw no warmth in that droopy pair of eyes: only cold, hard-earned gold. Her smile became thinner, voice sharper. "I just want his pockets emptied of every single penny he has stolen, New Booth. Simple as that. Now, you coming along and trapping him in his garden---as I said, it complicates things, but as long as you're in possession of his face, there will be ways to work everything out."

“So,” Mr Booth felt lightheaded, confused, and sore all over, but he managed to pull himself into a respectable sitting position anyway, if only to feign a sliver of composure. His throat still throbbed as he spoke. “Let me get this straight. You want to use my disguise in order to rob Ethelbert Booth, whom you hate for reasons you refuse to disclose.”

“As I should. But yes, that’s a splendid summary.”

“And you claim he has relations that will prove dangerous to my… wellbeing?”

“Enemies,” she corrected, stirring her tea. Spoon in hand, this time. “He has enemies that will prove dangerous to your wellbeing. Not everyone will be as kind as to let you go once they’re through---” she shrugged, smiling--- “unlike me.”

“How do I know that?”

“I’ll give you my word.”

And a word given to someone like him ought to be kept. He knitted his brows. “You know what I am.”

“I’ve made an educated guess, but you’re a curious case. Either way, I don’t… care.” A tilt of her head; a knowing smile. “Not as long as you can help me. Do we have a deal, New Booth?”

Mr Booth weighed his options, but found he had very few. There was little he could do with this awful name on him, one that he couldn’t claw off himself just yet. He feared it might snap his neck upon command. What terrible irony.

However... he couldn’t deny he was intrigued. That same electric thrill still coursed inside his body, the excitement that shimmered beneath his skin and awoke every one of his senses. The spark of life in the tediousness of his immortality. It had been a while since he'd experienced genuine danger, and even longer since he'd had a partner in crime---be it one that chained him down and shut him in one of her many birdcages. He couldn’t have everything, he supposed.

So, even if he could, Mr Booth would not have possibly walked away from a deal with such appeal.

“We need to discuss the terms in greater detail,” he said decisively. The magician grinned, and despite himself, Mr Booth found the corners of his mouth twitching. She poured him a cup of tea, but upon accepting it, Mr Booth paused.

“You may call me Collen,” he said carefully.

The look she gave him might have been one of surprise. “You’ve a name, then?”

“Yes,” Many of them. Hoards upon hoards, with only few to call his own. But she had not specifically asked for those, so he was not obligated to dig them up. His eyes glittered with curiosity as she watched her fetch the sugar across the table. “May I learn your name, madam?”

Her smile carved soft lines into the corners of her eyes. “You already have it, don’t you?” But he could not speak it, Mr Booth would have complained, had she not plunged the conversation into cleverly-plotted schemes and theatrics and sealed promises immediately after.

Mr Booth was not a patient man; but for now, for a fraction of his unlimited time, he decided he would be, if only to learn her real name.

#drabbles. ◜♣ / ❛ 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐭. ❜◞#SOBS......ITS DONE. IM FREE #god the second part got so long im honestly done looking at it cdhauh #but yeah......this isnt so much a conclusion as it is a Beginning #which im not gonna expand on bc that takes too much writing energy lmao #and!! im finally free to move onto other projects aaa im crying #anyways here u go. terrible impersonator Caught.

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fang-wolfsbane · 3 years

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Transformers Generation One: A Seeker's Triangle: Chapter 03: Discovery

“Hey Zett, haul your ass up here and get this job done!”

“Yessir! Be right there!” Zett Oakwell called up to his superior, or at least that’s what the man seemed to believe himself to be. Waiting until the big, burly man moved out of sight, Zett kept his lips pressed into an all too friendly smile he had years to practice into perfection. The moment he lost sight of the man, so did his lips lose their form.

A sigh rattled through Zett’s ribs, his hand reaching up to rub his palm against his diaphragm, trying to quell his true thoughts on the man who barely paid him the minimum wage for working on the construction site their company had been asked to clear. It didn’t help that they were the only two on site either. Everyone else had claimed that they were all ‘too busy’ to help with the clearing. He hoped they all got some form of pain in their backsides as karma for leaving him as the boss’s sole lapdog.

Looking around the site, Zett took a moment in to get a good look at the small beach that had been used as a dump by the locals. He could feel his hand curling into a fist as his anger swelled up once more. There were plenty of trashcans around the city, yet people still chose to walk along this very beach and just let their refuge flitter to the ground without a second thought.

Zett wasn’t an eco-warrior, or any kind of activist, but it still pained him to see how little humans thought of the only inhabitable planet they had. Talks about travelling to distant planets to live on them instead had crossed over the radio a couple of times when he walked past the boss’s office, overhearing all the excited chatter about the possibilities. Sure, send humans to another planet so that they can destroy that one as well. Those had been his thoughts. No one had asked his opinion on the matter, so he never gave it, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t have an opinion either.

Personally, he felt like no one ever really bothered to talk to him unless they needed something. That’s the way it always was. At home, at school, and even at work, so he simply chose to keep his mouth shut and pick up whatever he passed, throwing away the trash the cause of the problem chose to ignore.

The sunlight bounced off the slow approaching waves, lapping ever so gently at the shore as if tentatively testing its safety. The sight of a small crab scuttling in the distance was at least something that brought a smile to his lips. It almost looked like the crab was trying to play a game of tag. Nature’s refuge workers his teacher had said during a field trip when he was in the seventh grade. Zett took his hardhat off in respect for the crustacean, the same sunlight bouncing off his neck-length black hair, before turning on his heel and heading towards the boss’s temporary base of operations for the hotel they were tasked to build. Another refuge for the litterbugs too lazy to walk a couple of steps to the nearest bin.

“You wanted to see me, boss?” Zett asked upon entering the office, his brown eyes scanning the room. There wasn’t really much to look at. A wooden desk painted blue in the corner with a heap of bills for equipment, a cold cup of coffee and a pen verging on the edge of toppling off the side. The chair that was supposed to be nearby stood off to the side, acting as something for his boss to lean against as he studied one of the blueprints plastered against the wall. A quick once over told Zett that it was for the seventh floor. He hadn’t bothered to ask how tall the hotel was going to be. He only cared about how much they would get paid by the end of it.

If the pay-out were as good as he was hoping, he’d have saved up enough to put in a deposit for his own place once he graduated from high school in a couple of months, possibly scraping by with his sloppy grades. As long as he passed and could move out, then he was happy. Everything else could wait.

“Yeah. You don’t mind working extra shifts, right?” his boss asked, not even having the decency to try and look at him as he asked. Coming from the man before him, Zett knew it wasn’t a request as much as an order. If he refused, it would simply be cut from his check, not that he’d receive any extra payment for saying yes in the first place. Zett made sure to hide his curling fist on the inside of his hat, flashing a crude gesture to the otherwise rude man.

“No sir,” Zett hummed, forcing his lips into that same, earlier, all too eager to please smile that he hated so much that he felt like he could hurl at the mere thought of doing it.

“Good. I need you to work overtime tonight. Get this area clear by tomorrow morning so that the boys can get started. We’re behind schedule as it is.”

‘We wouldn’t have fallen behind in the first place if ‘the boys’ had bothered to show up in the first place,’ Zett snapped back, mentally of course. No way in hell was he going to keep his employment if he dared point out the reason for their falling behind. At least this way, he wouldn’t have to worry about going home and getting chewed out by his poor biology class test results – if his school bag had been left undisturbed where he had taken to hiding it beneath his bed.

“Sure thing.”

“Good. Remember to lock up when you’re done.” And just like that, the boss dismissed him, already grabbing his own jacket as he hurried out the door towards his waiting car. Watching the rear lights of the old clunker turning the corner, Zett waited a couple of seconds before slamming the protective headwear into the sandy floor beneath himself as hard as he could, sliding his hands through his hair shortly after as he screamed his frustration to the distant sky, his seemingly only companion as of late. A million stars, none of which probably even knew his name, much less about his existence. It made him wonder if anyone – any thing – knew that he too, had a life. At this point, there was no chance in hell.

***

Hours of hauling trash from one end to another had Zett sweaty, moody, and frankly, tired. A church bell in the distance told him that it was three in the morning. By this time, the headlight he’d wrapped around his forehead had lost its life, and of course his boss hadn’t bothered to leave a spare behind, so Zett continued working in the dark, knowing fully well that in a couple of hours he’d be forced to work alongside the same men who left the grunt work to him. The only comfort he gave himself was that he’d probably earn a couple of muscles from all the heavy lifting. The small bulges in his arms acted as reassurance.

He had been warned, multiple times before, about paying attention to where he was walking when doing his work, so the moment his foot hit something hard, Zett only had enough time to yelp out his surprise before crashing face-first into something solid.

A crunch of bone informed him that he’d officially broken his nose, his salt-stained hands flying up to try and cover it before the bloodbath begun. He knew it was an overexaggerating on his part, but it still hurt. For the first time in eighteen years, he’d broken something that most guys his age hurt during physical fights. He nearly laughed at how lame his excuse would be if someone cared enough in the hallway to ask why his skin had turned purple and blue. If he were lucky, he could convince them that he’s gotten it the same way as most guys his age tended to break their bones. Maybe he’d even be lucky to impress Miss Perfect, Carly.

He didn’t quite know why she was the one he wanted to impress, chalking it up to his DNA telling him to be the typical kid falling for the most popular girl at school only to be ignored like a poster from the drama club requesting new members. He nearly felt giddy at the thought of finally, possibly one-upping that other guy that always hung out with her. Spike… something. He didn’t know much about him, except that he had some association with robotic aliens from some other planet. Maybe those aspiring astronauts had some point to their Earth-eviction plan.

The first couple of months after the robots – Autobots, if he remembered right – no one could stop talking about them, until everyone got used to their existence. Sometimes when walking past a car parked off on its own, even he attempted to strike up a conversation with it in the hopes that it would respond. It never did.

Groaning, Zett pushed himself out of the salty water, keeping his hand pressed to his nose, trying to ignore how sensitive it was. Looking down, Zett leaned in for a closer look to see what he had tripped over. It was definitely something big, painted black with green streaks and purple markings. He frowned, leaning in for a closer look. From what he could see, it looked like one of those giant Autobot robots. Although this one seemed to be, well, dead.

How long had it been laying here? From the gleam of the armouring or whatever it was that they called their… skin, it seemed the robot had been abandoned. Sliding his hand up the side, he felt a couple of bumps and dents. Whoever this robot was, they sure had seen better days. From what he could feel, it felt like a female version. That alone was enough to cause his cheeks to heat. The closest he’d ever gotten to the females of his own species was talking to one of them with an occasional glance at their cleavage or other… assets when passing them by. Who knew that his first time touching any kind of female would be a robot? Not that he would tell anyone about that.

“What happened to you girl?” Zett asked, as if expecting a response. The head seemed to hold some kind of helmet that flowed into cables that he supposed was their version of hair. A visor like the ones that firefighters wore on their helmets covered where he figured her eyes were. Did Autobots also have eye problems? A pair of wings jutted out on either side, making him think that she had probably transformed into a plane or something similar. Judging from her slim figure, probably a jet. From what he could see, there wasn’t any rust, luckily.

The best course of action was to probably to talk to Spike at school and tell him about his discovery. Even better, he could go to Carly’s house and tell her personally. The grin that had appeared on his face at the thought fell. Not only was it way too early in the morning to drop by for a ‘casual visit’, he didn’t even know where she lived in the first place. He sighed once more, turning himself around as he sat down on her leg, running his free hand through his hair.

“Just can’t get a break, can you, Zett?” he asked himself, staring at his reflection in the water that wasn’t even visible. He frowned, kicking the back of his heel against the leg. So much for finding a giant robot that he couldn’t even use to impress the girl he liked.

A soft whirring sound buzzed through his ears, causing him to sit up. The robot wasn’t radioactive, was it? His head slowly turned towards the robot’s face, her visor lighting up into a soft red glow as a pair of even redder eyes locked onto him in what he instinctively knew was a warning.

“Oh boy.”

#Fanfiction #Transformers and tagged A Seeker's Triangle #Carly #Chapter #Generation One #Spike Witwicky #Starlit Meadow #TFG1 #Transformers #Transformers Generation One #Transformers Generation One A Seeker's Triangle #Zett #Zett Oakwell #A Seeker's Triangle

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jinxthequeergirl · 4 years

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Dream Come True

Steve harrington x Hopper! Reader (coraline AU)

Summary: escaping your everyday life after you move to live with your father couldn't have been something you wanted more, luckily for you you are given the chance

Warning: swearing, Horror themes like idk It's Coraline i think that speaks for itself no?

So i don't know if im going to end up making this a series or not but hey if this does really well then I might, but just this is so long so i might have to.

~~~~~

In front of you sat a small box with many opportunities, two small glossy black buttons, thread and the promise of freedom...

You watched the rain drops race down the window intently as your father drove you home from the headwear store. you'd only been In Hawkins for only half a month, having to move there with your father after your mom died. And you had only spent the time unpacking, today you had finally convinced your dad to take you to get supplies so you could really make your new rooms more like you.

The car bounced slightly causing your head to lift and hit the window. "Ow!"

"Sorry pot hole..." Hopper said glancing over to you. "You alright?"

"Yea...but guess it takes a while to figure out if you have brain damage or not.." You muttered sitting straight in the car seat, crossing your arms over your chest.

"C'mon don't be that way...you get to redecorate your room..that must be exciting for you? Give you something to do while we wait for the rain to clear up. "I guess..." You perked up at a new idea popping into your head.

"Maybe I can start a garden in the front too? Make it look pretty? I have a garden box so we wouldn't need anything, el can help me too!?" You said almost as a question seeing if he would go along with the idea.

"Sure... Sounds good, just wait till the rain clears up so you aren't bringing mud in." You frowned lightly, ut had been raining for the past three days without any sign of stopping soon. "Yea...sure."

The car came to a slow stop infront of the house. "I'll help you get this stuff inside and make you lunch but I've got to go back to work." You nodded as you got out of the car.

You'd begun by rearanging the few things of furniture in the room,while hopper set to work at making you a lunch. You starting with the dresser dragging it across the room to set it in its new place.

You dusted off your hands and turned your attention to look at the new space you made, stopping once it was caught by something on the wall where the dresser once was.

"Hello..." You slid across the floor and dragged your fingers across the outline of a small door in the wall.

"Hey Dad!?" You yelled getting up to look for him. "Whats up?"

"What this?" You asked now running your finger over the key hole. "Do you have the key!?" You asked hopefully turing to look up at him in the dokr way. He shook his head and shrugged. "I...maybe? I'm not sure...if i did it's probably boared up! They're would be no point."

You rolled your eyes. "Now Food in on the counter your sister is with Mike so make sure to call in about an hour to check on her-"

"Can you please look for a key?" You cut in. He sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. "I can, but I'm late so just finish unpacking and setting up and I'll look for it when I come back." You huffed but nodded and started to finish setting up your room.

After about an hour and a half you'd finished painting, unpacking and decorating your room, you had finished. Even had lunch and called El just like hopper had asked. Now you simpily sat in your room staring at the photo of your previous bestfriends that sat on the bedside table.

Back in New York with your mom you never had to worry about being bored, all your friends where their and there where places to go. Hawkins was diffrent, granted you where still adjusting but that didn't make it any less difficult.

The phone rang snapping you of of your thoughts. You hustled across the house to puck it up. "Hello?"

"Y/n! Thank god you picked up! Just the girl I was looking for!"

"Hey Robin,whats up?"

"Not much, I was just wondering since the rains cleared up would you be intrested in taking a tour of Hawkins with me and Steve?"

You thought about it for a moment, The first day you'd mobed here and met everyone they where the two you'd hit it off with, well You did with Robin anyways so you didn't see why you couldn't get out.

"Yea...I'd love to!"

"Cool! We'll be there in a few."

"So what does one do around here?" You asked following beside Robin And Steve down the sidewalk. "Well there's the arcade... " steve started but quickly trailed off. "There are some shops around town." Robin added.

"Is there like, i dunno a mall maybe? A movie theater at least?"

"Movie theater yes, mall not so much."

"It a...it burned down." Steve informed. "Oh...wow..." You followed them through town, going in and out of every store that was open.

"So Steve...." You attempted to start while looking through a clothing Rack in a thrift store.

"Got a girlfriend?"

"Uh no..no ya know I'm kinda just testing the waters...seeing if theres anyone worth dating around here."

"And?" You asked not looking up at him, you could clearly tell he was trying to act cool around you.

"And?" He repeated your question.

"Is there?...anyone worth dating around here?"

"Nah none that are really my type." He said nonchalantly fixing his hair in the mirror across from him. "Wow...are you always this increadibly douchie? Or are you like this just for me?" You asked leaning on clothing rack to look at him better.

"What I'm not...I'm not being-"

"You kinda where Harrington." Robin said from across the store earing a chuckle from you. His face flushed and he pretened to look at a jacket that seemingly caught his attention. "Ah don't be that way stevie...it's sooo charming, I'm practically swooning for you." You said sarcastically. "Shut up!"

The sun was hanging low through the trees casting that late afternoon orange glow upon the three of you as you walked back home.

"This place is...pretty boring...how do you guys manage?"

"Hawkins isn't all bad...besides It's a lot more exciting than you would think." Robin said while offering you some of her candy. "You just gotta...know where to look."

"Sometimes the intresting things find you." Steve said stopping once your house came into view. "If you say so...thanks for showing me around."

"No problem, maybe we can hang out again soon." She offered as you started to continue forward. "Yea! That would be great!" They both waved to you as you stepped into the house shutting the door.

You placed a few of the nick nacks you'd bought onto the top of your dresser for decoration, glancing at something that wasn't there before. A glossy black key.

You plucked it from its spot on the dresser and turned to the small door quickly slidding across the floor once again to get to the door. You hestitantly dragged the key across the outline of the door ripping the wall paper open before slipping the key inside.

It slid in perfectly, giving you some sort of relife as it clicked open, you pulled it open being met with nithing but brick.

"Damn..." You huffed and shut the door and placed the key back ontop of the dresser.

Something yanked you from your sleep suddenly and you lied awake, a sliver of silver moonlight hitting your face through the curtains as you did so.

It was quiet as you lied there except for an ever so faint sound of humming that you just barrely missed. You stayed still fir a second trying to pin point the sound, it continued for a while as you did so softly floating through the air from an unknown source, you finally gave in and tossed the covers off and stood up from your bed moving around the room to find it stopping when your foot hit something on the ground.

"What the hell!?" Jumping back slightly at the contact you looked down seeing a long greyish green vine across your bedroom floor. "What the hell..." You repeared examining it closer you followed it with your gaze seeing it came from the small opening of the little door a slight glow came from it along with little white particals that floated up into the air around it.

You moved carefully over to it kneeling next to it careful to avoide the vine protruding from it, as you did you could hear the humming closer now. You pulled the door open getting a blast of air blown back into your face along with a bright glow. You gasped slightly watching a tunnle appear almost instantly infront of you.

The humming slightly louder now. With out a second thought you climbed through, eventually met with another door which you easily pushed open and found yourself crawling through only to see you'd cralwed back into your bedroom. "Huh?" The humming was louder, unmistakable too, you knew that song. You looked at your bedroom door seeing the light from the living room shining in.

"Dad!?" You stood up and exited the room being greeted by the smell of food cooking. "Dad? What are you do-" you stopped a few feet from the counter seeing him move around the kitchen

"Hey sweet pea! You're just in time for dinner!" You gulped thickly when he turned to face you. "Oh god...I must be mistaken...you aren't my dad...my dad-" it was him but, diffrent. He seemed plaer yet more lively.

"Doesn't cook?" He asked guesturing to the freshly cooked meal. You couldn't help but stumble back a little bit as he approached you with a light hearted laugh. "Well thats because I'm your other father dear! Well better father"

"Other...Father?...wha-"

"Why don't you get your mom and Tell her dinner is ready!"

"Mom?

"Well your Mother of course silly! I actually think she's in the garden out front." He pushed you forward lightly and you glanced back cautiously before going to the front door.

You opened the door and stepped outside being greeted by a beautifully bright garden. "Holy sh-"

"Watch your mouth young lady!" You jumped turning tonthe voice and and gulping.

"Oh my god....mom!?" You stopped and covered your mouth feeling tears briming in your eyes.

"Hello sweet pea!" She opened her arms and you instantly ran to her and hugged her. You could tell just like with your father she was diffrent but couldn't exactly tell whatbwas diffrent.

"You...your alive!"

"Well of course I am! Oh come look at this!"

She pulled away taking your hand and pulling you down the steps of the pourch into the flower filled front yard.

She held your shoulders as you watched the flowers practically bloom before you. "I planted them just this afternoon! Our faviorte!" It was true the flowers before you where always both you and your mothers faviorte.

"They're beautiful mom! Oh!" You turned to her with a smile. "Dad said dinner was ready and sent me to get you."

"Oh! We don't wanna keep him waiting!" She said giggling with you and guiding you back to the house.

"There they are!" Hopper yelled setting the last of the food on the table. "Thirsty?" Your mom asked as you sat down. "Mmm you know I could go for a purple cow!"

"Coming right up!" She knocked on the table lightly the lights above lowered themselves offering you said drink, along with extra grape soda and vanilla icecream just incase.

"Wow thank you!" You said taking the drink and extras. Hopper placed a plate infront of you. "Here comes the Gravey train choochoo!" You mom said earning a laugh from both you and your dad.

A toy train in fact made its way across the table stopping infront of you to dump gravey on your plate.

"Mmh! This is so good!" Youbsaid stuffing your mouth full of food. "More?" Hopper asked.

"No thank you I'm stuffed." You said leaning back and taking a last sip of your icecream float.

Hopper took the plate from you and your mother placed a cake before you that read 'Welcome home'

"Home?"

"We've been expecting you for a while!" Hopper said.

"Wow...uh..really?"

"Of course! You beling here! With your family!"

You smiled lightly.

"Thanks...but It's late...I should go to bed.."

"Oh of course!" You stood up and they both followed you to your bedroom. You crawled into bed and they took turns kissing your forhead and wishing you a goodnight. You slowly drifted off to sleep peacefully.

"It was so weird!" You said throwing a rock into the water infront of you.

"Well it was just a dream, nothing to freak about." Robin shrugged.

"Yea I mean your mom was there it couldn't have been real..."

You and robin both glared at Steve. "I...well thats not what I meant..." He gulped slinging his own rock into the water.

"He's right though." You said softly. "But it just...it felt so real! The food the...feeling! But I woke up and the door was all bricked up again..."

"That's just further proof it was only a dream." Robin said as you sat beside her.

"Yea..." It was already late afternoon and you had decided to stay out until the sun had set well into night.

Steve had dropped robin off at her house and so you sat alone with him in his car as he took you home.

"Sorry about what i said...about your mom..."

He said finally. "No...it's ok...like i said you where right...it's just a dream..." He frowned slightly, you could tell he was beating himself up about it.

In all honestly you hadn't gotten off on the best of feet with him but it's wasn't so awful to be around him, he just had a hard time telling when to open his mouth and when to keep it shut. But you liked him.

"Well here we are." He said pulling up to the house. "Thank." You said with a smile before getting out and going inside.

"Hey kid!" Hopper said happily as you stepped inside.

"Hey!" You smiled. "Oh hey, sorry I never got around to finding that key for you."

"Thats ok I found it"

El stood in the door way with a concerned look. "What are you-" you hurried to your room and pulled the key out and showed him.

"You where right though...there was nothing there." You shrugged going back to your room.

"Bad place." You jumped at El's voice behind you. "What?"

"Don't keep going there it's a bad place..." She said quietly. "What bad place?"

"El! Its Mike's on the phone!" El quickly left to take the phone.

"Bad place?..."

#steve harrington x reader #stranger things x reader

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dreamlover31 · 4 years

Text

Love Will Find a Way: Chapter 24

It had been a few weeks since the awkward encounter at the farmer’s market, life continued as normal for Alexa and Rafael, he fought for people who had been victimized by every form of scum you can imagine while she provided a safe haven for them. Recently, some additional security was hired on at Alexa’s insistence, even though it would be strictly on a volunteer basis since the shelter was on a limited budget, in the beginning, she grew concerned that the men would decline the offer, but to her amazement; they reassured her that doing their civic duty was far more rewarding than anything else.

As she was going over the safety procedures, a hand crept up her shoulder, when she turned around, the look on her face was one of surprise and profound excitement at the sight of Rafael holding a bouquet of white lilies. Alexa’s smile beamed at the romantic gesture, after he handed her the flowers, she sniffed at the fresh smelling aroma that emitted from the petals.

“Oh Rafi, their beautiful…thank you,” she leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cheek.

“Your welcome mi amor, are you ready to go?”

“Oh yeah, just give a minute”

Alexa excused herself and headed over to Gladys’ office, but was stunned to find that she wasn’t there, at that moment, she caught another one of the staff members walking down the hall; her hand stretched out at and tapped the co-worker’s shoulder.

“Hey, have you seen Gladys?”

“She said she had to leave early, I think she said it was a family emergency or something”

“Oh…well can you do me a favor? Can you finish going over the safety procedures with the new security guards we hired?”

“Sure, no problem”

“Thanks”

She gave the young woman the clipboard with the safety protocols and guidelines attached then made her way back to the area where Rafael and the guards were standing, she apologized for having to leave but assured them that her fellow co-worker would finish prepping them and if there were any questions, to leave them with the young woman.

All three of them shook hands and said their goodbyes as Rafael and Alexa exited the building, the SUV was parked across the street, as soon as they entered the vehicle, their seatbelts were securely fastened while Rafael started the engine. He checked his blind spots for any oncoming traffic, once it was cleared, the car was put into gear and departed from the spot.

“So where are you taking me to lunch?”

“Actually, I have a little something planned at home”

“Oh, that’s even better…it’ll be more intimate, you know…just the two of us,” her hand slid across the dashboard and linked with Rafael’s.

“Uh, yeah…sure”

Alexa’s face expressed puzzlement at his odd choice of words, but decided to shrug it off, the front of the brownstone was immediately in their line of sight, once the car was parked; Rafael was the first to get out and then walked over to the passenger side where he escorted her from the vehicle and up the steps, during which, she reiterated to him that she was more than capable of moving on her own.

When the door opened, she slipped off her purse and hung it on the coat rack, but after she took a few steps into the dining room, her body shifted to a position where it was as if she had stared into the eyes of Medusa.

“Surprise!”

Alexa was completely awestruck at what she was seeing, the room was covered in pink streamers and balloons, there were stacks of gifts along the table and a three-tiered cake covered in pink frosting with a signage that read ‘It’s a girl’ to match the banner that stretched along the wall behind the crowd of people that stood before her, tears pricked from her eyes as she placed a hand over her mouth.

It was then that Rafael came up behind her and put his arm around her, streaks of liquid flowed down her cheeks as her hand went from her mouth to her chest in an expression of the deep gratitude and love she felt for everyone in the room; Fin, Amanda, Sonny, Jesse, and even Chief Dodds were in attendance along with Gladys. Olivia came up to her with a small tiara, Alexa let out a small laugh as she put the bejeweled piece of headwear on her head, the women embraced themselves in a hug.

“Thank you all so much”

“Of course, we are all so happy for you and Rafael, we wanted to share in that joy”

“All right everyone, let’s get this party under way,” they all laughed in unison at Sonny’s playful announcement.

Rafael pulled up a chair behind Alexa, she carefully seated herself while at the same time, the guests huddled up next to one another; Amanda took it upon herself to pass out the first gift, she gently ripped the wrapping paper decorated in baby rattles and rubber ducks to find a small white box, upon lifting the top portion of it, Alexa gasped in awe at the collection of tiny shirts and pants color coated for a girl, but the one piece of clothing that attracted her attention was a cute little pink onesie that had a picture of baby Minnie Mouse in the front.

“Oh Amanda, this is so cute”

“Thanks, hope you don’t mind Jesse’s hand me downs”

“No, not at all”

The next gift that was given to her was from Olivia, after she unwrapped the small package, the same look of astonishment beguiled her as she gazed upon the item, it was a miniaturized version of a carousel with white horses whose manes were of pink and purple hues. After further inspection, Alexa saw the small knob at the bottom of it, with a few turns, the horses encircled the carousel as the song beautiful dreamer played.

“Wow, Olivia…this is so sweet, thank you”

“Your welcome,” once again, the two women embraced in another hug.

An hour passed, Alexa went through most of the gifts, many of them varied from clothes and toys to baby monitors and a breast pumping machine; courtesy of Gladys. The atmosphere of the party was filled with an overall sense of joy and happiness, Alexa’s heart swelled at the outpouring of emotion, the likes of which she hadn’t felt since that Thanksgiving night when those same people showed up at their door with plentiful portions of food and their warm and kind affections.

Suddenly, the festivities were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing, Sonny got up from his seat and said that he would answer it, during his absence, everyone had a small plate in their hands with plastic forks digging into the pink frosted cake that had been cut up and passed around. Alexa was finishing up a small portion of her cake when she looked up to see Sonny standing in the doorway with a young blonde woman, everyone else met her stare as he introduced the woman as his cousin Sara.

All of them exchanged hellos and waves, then Sonny lead her to an open chair next to him.

“Hey, I thought that new guy you’re seeing was going to stop by”

“He is, he’ll be here any min…her train of thought was interrupted by the doorbell ringing again.

“I’ll get it”

Another gift was nestled on Alexa’s lap as Sonny answered the door, she was midway into unwrapping it when she saw Sonny’s cousin leap up from her chair and darted across the room and dove into the arms of some mystery man, she concluded that the man in question was possibly her boyfriend. Slowly, she released him from her grasp and faced everyone.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet my boyfriend”

Alexa’s heart stopped as her eyes looked upon the man that stood in the doorway, oh god…this can’t be happening, please anybody but him. A feeling of dread overcame her when she came to the realization that Sara’s boyfriend was none other than her ex Sean, he quickly waved to everyone as the couple made their way across the room, and sat down a few feet away from Rafael and Alexa, when they met eyes, Sean tried to keep the look of shock from forming on his face.

Sara relayed to everyone that they’ve been together for a few months and went on to describe how he’s the most loving and supportive boyfriend she’s ever known, meanwhile, Alexa grew increasingly uncomfortable being in Sean’s presence, she shifted in her seat, to which it caught Rafael’s eye.

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I just need a glass of water”

“Alright, I’ll get it for you”

“No, it’s ok…I’ll get it,” Alexa lifted from her seat using the armrests for support, then she squeezed pass Fin and Sonny as she entered the kitchen. She grabbed a glass from the top cupboard and held it under the faucet of the sink, the water filled up halfway when a blur came across her peripheral vision, a startled reaction overtook Alexa.

“Jesus”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you”

“Is there something I can help you with,” the tone of her voice was apparent to him that it was one of sarcasm.

“I just wanted to make sure you were ok…you almost looked like you were about to keel over when I came into the room”

“I’m sorry…it’s just…I didn’t expect to see you again”

“Yeah…me neither…look Lex, about what happened at the market…”

“Sean, please”

“No, I need to say this… when I saw you, there were so many things that I wanted to say, but my brain just couldn’t form the words…anyway, I’m sorry for the way things went down between us. What I did to you was unforgivable and before I left…I wanted to tell you how sorry I was, but I knew that you didn’t want to hear it”

Alexa faced away Sean and remained silent as he continued to voice his apologies and affirmations that he was a changed man, that his relationship with Sara was a solid one and that he could see a future with her, for what seemed like 10 minutes passed by before Alexa looked up at Sean.

“Well…I’m glad that you’re happy, and I hope things work out between you two, just remember that her cousin’s a cop”

Alexa and Sean giggled, their gaze didn’t falter, it was then that Sean smiled softly.

“Wow, I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you smile since I’ve got here”

Alexa lowered her head to conceal the flush of pink that spread across her face.

“Hey look, I know that this is a long shot, but if you ever want to get together and grab a cup of coffee…his voice trailed off as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

“I was just hoping that maybe…I don’t know…we could start fresh”

Alexa thought for a moment, oh wow…this is awkward, I mean I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to…but then again, Sean and I have been over for a long time…so I guess it wouldn’t hurt just to have his number, not like I’m ever going to call him anyway.

“Ok…I guess that would be fine”

Alexa stepped over to one of the drawers under the counter and pulled out a small piece of scrap paper and a pen, Sean gave her the number as she scribbled it, then she folded it up and stuffed it inside her jean pocket.

“We should probably be heading back, people might start to worry”

She nodded, the two made their way back into the dining room where they returned to their seats, Rafael turned to Alexa and said:

“There you are, I was worried about you…everything alright?”

“Yes, I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to upset you”

“No, it’s ok,” he stroked her hair and then gently kissed her forehead.

As time went on, the guests enjoyed a few more helpings of the delicious, pink frosted cake while Alexa unwrapped the rest of the gifts, after partaking in some humorous games one played at a baby shower, one by one; people started to leave the party.

Olivia was ultimately the last to leave, she engaged in another hug with Alexa and reciprocated one to Rafael, when the door closed, she re-entered the dining room where she saw Rafael pick up the discarded plates and shredded up wrapping paper then threw them in a big, black garbage bag that was set on the other side of the room. After the last scrap of debris was discarded, he tied up the bag and dumped it into the garbage can out front, when he went back inside, he spotted Alexa laid out on the couch in the living room; he sat down next to her as she propped her feet on his lap.

His thumbs created circular patterns along the balls of her feet, Alexa tilted her head back with her eyes closed, soft moans escaped her lips as he resumed his ministrations.

“Did you have fun today?”

“Yeah, thank you”

“Come on, let’s go to bed”

“I don’t feel like moving, can we stay down here tonight?”

“Ok, let me just grab a blanket”

Rafael stood up and headed towards the linen closet in the hallway, he picked out one of the quilted blankets his mother bought for them as a housewarming gift, upon his return; Alexa moved from her position to make room for Rafael. He maneuvered himself next to her as he draped the blanket over them, she took his hand into hers and placed them on top of her growing belly, in that instant, a small kick poked from within. Their faces lit up at the sudden movement by the tiny human being growing inside her, Rafael kissed Alexa’s cheek as he spoke:

“Do you think she knows how much she’s loved?”

“I think she just answered that”

“Hmm, I am so blessed”

“I know…” Alexa moved her head towards Rafael’s to where their noses almost touched, her soft lips enveloped his in a chaste but affectionate kiss.

“Good night Rafi”

“Good night mi amor”

His eyes peered down to Alexa’s belly:

“Good night sweet girl”

Tagging: @madpanda75 @laceybellerain @southern-magnolia @tropes-and-tales @madamsnape921 @itsjustmyfantasyroom @karens-imagined-world @beccabarba @thatesqcrush

#rafael barba #raul esparza #love will find a way

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whitecatindisguise · 4 years

Text

Let Me Make You Proud 4

There you go, guys. Another chapter of my story. From this chapter onwards we focus mostly on Varian. Rapunzel and the gang will re-appear in chapters near the end of the story.

That being said, buckle up and let’s go!

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Chapter 4: If You For Once Could Just Trust Me

It’s been already a week since his kidnapping, and it seemed he was not paid any attention at all. Well, except the occasional sound of the hatch at the bottom of the door slipping open and a tray of food being shoved inside. It wasn’t bad, he admitted, but it wasn’t good either. Bearable was the right word to describe it.

Varian sighed as he put another spoonful into his mouth, throwing a piece of apple to the racoon beside him. The animal happily bit into the fruit, munching in delight. Seems like the apple wasn’t that bad.

“I wonder if they forgot about me…” He wondered out loud, staring into the ceiling. It had a few cracks on it, but nothing to signify instability or the threat of sudden collapse. He eyed the door as he continued eating.

It wasn’t like he spent the whole week doing nothing, waiting for his kidnappers to kindly appear once more. He carefully examined the door, each of the four walls, the bed, the chair and the small desk that occupied the space of his room. But no matter how thoroughly he looked, he couldn’t find anything that would help him escape. Besides, it’s not like he had anything to work with. All of his materials were either at home, or stored… somewhere. He didn’t even know where he WAS, not mentioning his materials or the way out of wherever he was kept in.

Ruddiger finished munching on his piece of apple and nudged his leg, eyeing the last piece of fruit with hungry eyes. Varian absentmindedly pushed the plate in his direction, smiling lightly at the happy chitters that followed.

The alchemist tried to reorder what he knew about his kidnappers and the place he was held in. It wasn’t much, though. He knew they were Saporians and, obviously, they needed him for something that connected to attacking Corona. It might be for his alchemy, but then, why wasn’t he given any tasks?

When it came to the place, his knowledge was even lesser. The only thing he could say it was a long way from the castle, as it took few hours to get here by the hot air balloon. He couldn’t even tell which direction they flew, as he could feel the balloon turning a few times before they finally landed. For all that he knew, they might still be inside Corona’s borders and only spinned in circles to confuse him.

He didn’t knew much about the hideout either. The whole way from the balloon to his room, he was blindfolded. He didn’t hear any voices from behind the door, too, so it might be in a secluded part of the building. There was one window in the room, but it was small and too high for him to see anything worth noticing.

Focused on his thoughts, he didn’t even notice approaching footsteps, until he heard the click of unlocking his door. He shot upright and stared in shock at the person that walked in. It was a short and rather young girl, but at the same time she sent a vibe of long-forgotten knowledge and evil. She was all grey, and wore a big old-fashioned dress and a jewelled headwear.

“It’s good to see you again, Varian.” The girl said in a voice that sent a chill down his spine. Ruddiger shuffled away and hid under the desk, growling quietly at the stranger. “They are treating you well, I imagine.”

“Who-Who are you?” He asked, his voice trembling. He didn’t like the way she looked at him, like he was a prey and she was a hunter.

“Oh, I’m hurt. You don’t remember me?” She asked, putting her gloved hand over her heart and making a sad face. Except, her eyes didn’t seem sad or hurt, but rather malicious.

Varian furrowed his brows, trying to think. It was true, the girl seemed familiar, but he couldn’t recall the moment they met.

“Sure, it was a short meeting, but I thought I made quite an impression on you.” The girl straightened her arm and looked at her fingers, seeming suddenly uninterested.

“I-I’m sorry, but…” Varian started but the girl’s smile suddenly grew impossibly wider and she came closer, her nose almost touching his (However was that possible, he didn’t know. The girl was shorter than him,).

“Use the Sun to see the Sun.” She said in an ominous voice as her eyes stared into his frightened expression. “Sounds familiar?”

Varian stared in shock at the girl, his mind spinning faster.

“The dream!” He gasped, his eyes widening. “But how-?”

“Oh, so you DO remember!” She quickly found herself a few steps back, a smile of approval on her lips. “I’m flattered.”

“What do you want from me? And who are you?” Varian’s hands curled into fists by his sides.

“Oh, I assure you. You know my name very well.” The girl turned around and crooked her head in his direction. “You just don’t know this persona yet.”

“Quit with the riddles!” The alchemist shouted angrily.

“What a shame. And here I believed you are fond of riddles.” The girl’s voice saddened. “You are known to be extraordinarily intelligent, after all.” She sighed and turned back to face him, her face showing the impossibly wide smile yet again. “Very well, my name’s Zhan Tiri.”

Varian’s eyes grew even bigger and he quickly took a few terrified steps back, almost tripping on the chair behind him. For some reason, he felt a chill in the room, the air got more stuffy and there seemed to be less light than before. To add more, the shadow of the girl rose and reshaped, turning into a demonesque figure with horns.

“Wha-What do you want from me?” He asked, trying to stop himself from trembling but failing.

“It’s good that you asked!” The atmosphere suddenly changed to a lighter one, as the girl (a demon, Varian had to remind himself) smiled cheerfully. “It’s simple, really. All I want is for you to use your powers to conquer Corona and the Sundrop.”

“My… powers?” The boy repeated, puzzled. “What do you-? You mean, alchemy?”

“No, I don’t mean those childish tricks of yours.” Zhan Tiri waved her hand dismissively to which Varian inhaled sharply. No one before even dared to call his inventions ‘childish tricks’, and it angered him enough to make his blood boil. “I was talking about your Moon powers, of course.”

That words were enough to deflate his anger and leave him confused again. Moon powers? What the hell this demon was talking about?

“You got the wrong person. I don’t have Moon powers, or any powers, in that matter.” Varian argued. “It’s Cass who possesses the Moonstone.”

“Oh, please.” The girl (the demon) rolled her eyes, like he said something stupid. “She’s just a nobody, who is BORROWING the Moonstone’s powers. You, on the other hand, have inborn ability to unveil its true potential.”

“Cass is not a nobody!” He shouted in anger, his fists tightening. “Don’t you dare to insult her!”

“My, such anger~” Zhan Tiri spoke in delight. “We’ll make sure to use it right in the near future.”

“I don’t want to have anything with the demon like you!” Varian spat, sending her his most angry glare. She didn’t seem to take notice at all, already turning to leave.

“You will, in time.” She said as she put her hand on a door frame. “If I were you, I would consider my offer. After all, you know first-hand, how rotten this kingdom is.”

Before Varian was able to find the words to answer, she was already gone, the door locked and the footsteps fading away. He let himself slide down the wall and sit on the floor, his head hidden in his hands. He felt Ruddiger approaching, squeezing himself between his arms and to his laps. He petted his fur with one hand, staring into the wall.

“What have we gotten ourselves into, Ruddiger?” He asked, as if waiting for the animal to answer him. “Moon powers? What a joke!” He laughed quietly, but his laugh was tainted with fear.

Ruddiger chittered and put his paw on his hand, as if wanting to ensure the boy of his support.

“You’re right, Ruddiger. I can’t let this get to me.” He stood up, taking the raccoon and putting it on his shoulders. “I will play that game, if only it helps me plan our escape. And if they believe I have some ‘magical’ powers, so let them.” He grabbed the animal and held it in front of his face. “I’ll make them trust me, just watch me!”

-----

So, a certain someone made an appearance. And our alchemist boy has a much to think about. See you next chapter ;)

#varian #tts #fanfiction #let me make you proud #zhan tiri #ruddiger #moon varian?#we'll see in few more chapters #I tend to prolong lmao

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nomanwalksalone · 4 years

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THE LEAST OF ALL CASUALTIES

by Réginald-Jérôme de Mans

I’m thinking, for some reason, of the late Adnan Khashoggi and of a host of dead playboys and nabobs, shrouded in the finest custom shirts money, so much money, could buy. Adnan Khashoggi, who so clearly wanted to be the Basil Zaharoff of the late twentieth century, an international man of mystery dealing arms and other items from the shadows, a figure of luxury legend, a man with whom I have nothing in common, save that life occasionally humbles us…

Yes, Khashoggi, who nicknamed his Korean bodyguard “Mr. Kill,” who reportedly kept $100,000 cash handy in an attaché case on board his private jet to sweeten any deal or grease any palm, who ordered the largest yacht in the world (Queen wrote a song about it! It was the villain’s yacht in a Bond film!), came undone. Iran Contra, Imelda Marcos, BCCI, a host of 1980s names of tarnished glitz like the hidden grime in a Helmsley hotel… He had to sell the yacht; Donald Trump briefly owned it before Trump’s own financial problems forced him to sell it yet again, to a Saudi prince.

Adnan Khashoggi, yes, that Khashoggi, uncle of the intrepid journalist Jamal Khashoggi, assassinated in sordid circumstances a year after Adnan died in wealth but not splendor. Assassinated and unavenged.

I am even less Adnan’s spiritual heir than that serious, dedicated nephew. It’s a strange contrast between the thoughtful engagement of one and the freewheeling, flamboyant capitalism of the other, a flamboyance of fairy tales, fairy tales because at their best they make us momentarily forget their foundations of exploitation and graft.

Like robber baron James Goldsmith (who inspired Terence Stamp’s character in Wall Street), Khashoggi was a famous customer of the bespoke services at Lanvin, the oldest couturier in Paris and for a long time the best shirtmaker there. Stories filter out, unattributed in magazines or relayed by friends in the know, stories that made him the last of the nabobs. He ordered a thousand custom shirts at a time! The workrooms (until a few years ago on-site on the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, some of the most expensive real-estate in the world!) were busy for months! Because he only wore his Lanvin custom shirts once! What a way to save on laundry bills!

What happened to them? Did he hand them down to his sons, or to Jamal? Like the King of Morocco with his Smalto custom suits, once worn did he pass them on to his staff?

Those days of excess are gone. They were long gone when I pushed the door at Lanvin, curious to try what knowledgeable friends had called the best shirtmaker. The shirtmaker and his staff must have known that, as clients go, I could not be at a farther remove from that man and those days, a gloomy wallflower anxious to make sure that my centimes counted, that what I received would last, gratefully accepting their suggestion to provide extra cloth to remake the collar and cuffs of the one shirt I initially ordered, for whenever those would wear out. For I was interested just in a single shirt from that maker, not thousands to strew in the wake of conspicuous consumption. No matter. They treated me as politely and patiently as they would their most extravagant client, and produced a shirt that fitted closely, marvelously, with handmade buttonholes that a much more famous shirtmaker exclaimed were worthy of a museum. In other words, a gem as precious as the daydreams I had burnished.

I was to be only a sporadic client, sometimes ordering only after an absence of years, surprised at how well they remembered my tastes, at how well my patternmaker carried out the refinements I wanted, indeed at how, over years, we nurtured a polite friendship over shared snark and tastes in old movies and Art Deco.

Art Deco. Lanvin’s Paris men’s shop is an entire building, opened in 1926 dedicated only to custom tailoring and shirtmaking. Prior to that it had been the headquarters of Lanvin Décor, designed with the unmistakable flourishes of Armand-Albert Rateau. A gorgeous luxury. For decades, Lanvin Tailleur et Chemisier retained Rateau’s stylized gilt découpé designs and furniture, before renovation banished those motifs only to tie patterns and other accessories. It wasn’t until the 1970s that Lanvin offered any men’s ready-to-wear. While it had embraced worldwide licenses for garments bearing the Lanvin name by the 1980s (my father has a poly-cotton Lanvin dress shirt from that period), its flagship was one of the only places in the world where – decades before Berluti made this boast – a man could be outfitted in bespoke literally from head to toe, Assiduous hands at the Lanvin-owned hatter Gélot (magically transposed from the Place Vendôme to a shop-in-shop on the Lanvin bespoke floor) still crafted and fit the finest headwear, while one of the Corthay brothers themselves created Lanvin custom shoes. As for Lanvin custom tailoring? In 1901, Jeanne Lanvin herself had designed Lanvin very first men’s garment, her friend Edmond Rostand’s elaborately embroidered uniform for his initiation into the Académie Française, the first of over 70 such custom-made uniforms Lanvin would make, along with every sort of conventional tailored garment – including suits and sportcoats for certain French politicians who could not patronize their British tailors while in office.

Those days are gone. In the ’60s Lanvin had advertised its bespoke with elegant cartoons of well-appointed gentlemen’s clubs, yacht marinas, luxury hotel suites and trophy-bedecked hunting lodges, all captioned “For a certain class of men.” Those men are mostly gone. So, too, are their replacements, the rootless international men of mystery like Khashoggi. Even intellectual poseurs (yes, I’ll grant him the “u”) like Bernard-Henri Levy stopped ordering their casually unbuttoned white shirts from Lanvin. Middle-class punters like myself, in love with the ritual of cloth selection, of fitting, of being escorted to the bespoke floor with its own little escalator, the month-long wait pregnant with anticipation for an elaborately-packaged single shirt, are too few. No more sprawling bespoke floor but a small if tasteful salon, with what remained of the ateliers on the same floor, behind a discreet door. The hidden of the hidden: at a time brands all over heavily advertised their custom services (however spurious), not a single vitrine at 15, faubourg Saint-Honoré carried the least hint that one of the finest tailors and shirtmakers in Paris resided there. Resided, for they did not travel – unless a customer flew themout. Even the shop Lanvin opened on Savile Row a few years ago didn’t bring them over, instead offering a sort of customized stock special service on its ready-to-wear designs.

This is the least of all casualties, to lament the end of something that only the most entitled of us could ever use. For even if I’ll never set foot on a yacht, I recognize how privileged I was to indulge in the affectation of a custom shirtmaker, of the fetish of its product. Of the last days of this particular legend. Ninety-five years after its founding, the custom tailor and shirtmaker defected to another life, and Lanvin bespoke is now dead. Ninety-five years! They could not put up with five more years in the shadowy recesses of their employer, a small, ever-shrinking habitat, where I hoped their remaining an afterthought would shelter them from corporate extinction, and round out a century.

The least of all casualties, for what ended is just an idea, the idea of a permanence, a waning best, a classic. For those who want the concrete, various lines of ready-to-wear remain. Lanvin was one of the classic old guard of tailors that the legendary Groupe des Cinq, including Camps, rebelled against in the 1950s. Today, whether rebel or classicist, what is left of bespoke rallies together – tailors from the supposed old guard migrate to those former iconoclast hellions, and vice versa.

The least of all casualties, like an arms dealer dying, finally, in a Harley Street clinic. No reason to weep for him, when we live among the casualties he and his colleagues may have wrought, his financial heirs likely preferring fleece vests, athleisure, performative populism. What the rest of us inherit is casualty, this daydream’s passing worthy of no more than a moment’s thoughtful pause in our current nightmares. At least allow it that.

#reginaldjeromedemans #rjman

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