#cant recall of working with so much pink before i like it

[crizztelcb]

sometimes you need to experiment with new brushes and styles and doodle something, i lost account of how many times i doodle marinette wherever i have the chance

[hearts444innie]

tickle socks 🧦🎀

Lee Felix

Ler Minho

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Minho found a pair of tickle socks on a website and finding it very fascinating for his collection he decided to get it and he thought about who he should use it on first…

His target was Felix since the sunshine boys feet are very sensitive to about anything.

A week goes by and the socks are here and while Felix was out Minho went into his room and slipped the socks into his drawer and waited for Felix to put them on at some point.

Now…how exactly did the sock work?…

Well first the person has the put the socks on and it came with a remote…the socks will lock when the said remote lock button is pressed and it will send off a ticklish like vibration.

Later that day Felix had finished washing up and etc and he looks in his sock drawer when he saw the light pink socks to which he didn’t recall having them there but he was just tired and didn’t care at the moment so he put them on, he had no idea what was coming to him.

Minho then came in.

“Hyung? What is it”

“Lix you see…I gifted you those socks for a reason”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll show you lay on the bed”

Felix being confused he layed on the bed and Minho tied his wrists together with ties and Felix got even more confused and worried.

“Hyung why are you tying my wrists together what is going on??”

Minho gave Felix a soft smile before speaking

“Don’t worry it will be over soon~”

Now Minhos words had Felix scared and confused until Minho pulls out a small remote and he gently says “do you wanna know what those socks do they do something very special”

Minho clicked the button and Felix immediately felt a ticklish shock on his feet

“AH! WAIHAIT-HYUNGAHAHAH”

“Keep laughing sunshine~”

“NOHOHO STOTOP-“

Felix desperately tried freeing his wrists but he couldn’t all he could do was sit there and let it happen

“PLEASE NAHAHAHA AhahaHAHAAHA”

“Minho then gets in the bed and lays Felix on his chest and just casually cuddles the poor boy as if he wasn’t being tortured right now”

“Gosh your too cute it makes me want to this longer”

“STOHOP NOHOHO ITS TOHOHO MUCH”

To make things worse Minho started nuzzling his nose into the sunshine’s neck making Felix squeal

“HAHAHAHA HYUNG STOHOHP NOHOHO I CANT”

“How can I when your just so cute keep laughing for me~”

The neck nuzzles and the tickling socks was just too much for Felix to handle tears were streaming down his cheeks as he continued to laugh, Minho turned off the socks not wanting to kill the boy completely but still wasn’t finished yet

“Don’t think I’m done just yet lix~”

He started squeezing the boys sides making Felix scream in laughter again

“HYUNG NOHOHO I CANT HAHAHAHA PLEASE.. Ahahah…”

Felix was tired and was drifting to sleep and Minho stops

“Aww I made you tired”

“Yohuhu almost killed me”

“Awww sorry was I too rough”

“Nohoho it was fine but can you cuddle with me”

“K I wasn’t really planning on moving anyways”

The two slowly fell asleep and jeongin was outside of the door silently running back to his room now realizing Minho has another tickle tool

This is quite short but I’ll get better eventually 💀

[lip-gallaghers-cigarette]

I am about to infodump about why steven universe has BPD (and cptsd but thats canon)

later in the series and in SU future is when all the trauma has already happened and hes finally safe is when it manifests itself heavier. hes very people pleasing, putting other peoples needs ahead of himself, even if the other person is in the wrong, his emotions spiral so out of control that he becomes corrupted or goes "pink mode", he has identity issues (bc of constantly being told hes his mother) to the point where he cant tell if he is her, if he is himself, if hes a he, if hes a she, if hes a gem or if hes a human, good or evil, etc.

has bursts of intense anger and feelings of guilt, would go to any length to keep people in his life (connie for example) and when she rejected his proposal his symptoms spiraled out of control, which is typically what happens w bpd, its triggered, his symptoms started presenting when he hit 16 / SU future. as for the ptsd though thats actually canon, there is an episode where he visits the doctor and she doesnt directly call it ptsd but shes asking him about his trauma and how far back it stems from (and he begins recalling traumatic events starting all the way from the beginning of the series to the middle of the series before connies mom interrupts him and tells him that he p much has c-ptsd) and steven starts having intense flashbacks and then falls into an episode when he is reminded of connie rejecting his proposal, his body starts physically reacting to it as if its happening again. (which by the way the proposal was very impulsive and spontaneous and mainly based in fear of abandonment, and solidified when garnet agreed. very bpd like.)

he views small issues as life threatening, which is seen in ptsd and bpd. hes been in a constant state of trauma since childhood, never knew his mom and constantly i n peril fighting monsters he doesnt even know the origin of protecting himself from a battle his mother forced him into, bpd and ptsd are inherently traumagenic. he changes himself and overextends himself to fit other people's perception of what he should be or to fit his own idea of perfection, hes terrified of being alone and will go to any lengths to keep his loved ones around him.

when people offer him support he pushes it away because he doesnt want to burden his loved ones with his problems or intense emotions or trauma. in fact, he bottles it up SO much that he falls into an episode where he starts fixing other peoples problems to distract himself from his own, as if fixing other people will in turn fix himself, which only makes it worse and worse until he explodes. he talks about how hes worthless, how hes a bad person, how he doesnt deserve his loved ones, and then becomes corrupted when the trauma become too much for him gem to handle anymore. (Him splitting on himself after bottling his feelings up for so long)

this was only soothed when his loved ones reminded him how much he was loved and cared for. he lacked a voice his whole life and once jasper taught him to fight and defend himself and he became all big and strong his personality changed completely and he ended up becoming aggressive in the same way jasper was and literally purposely and v violently shattered her because of it (which is obviously very out of character for steven who has healing powers)

he also takes control of and attempts to shatter white diamond when he has trauma flashbacks to her almost killing him despite working through those issues previous

he has a "the grass is greener on the other side" mindset

He has bouts of uncontrollable rage because he has no form of grasp of his emotions due to alienating them.

He creates narratives sticks to them then he is unable to change these thought processes.

after shattering jasper he has an intense panic attack, thinking he is a violent killer or bad person, his guilt spirals and he makes a very desperate and emotional attempt at bringing her back.

he also takes control of and attempts to shatter white diamond when he has trauma flashbacks to her almost killing him despite working through those issues previous.

he has a "the grass is greener on the other side" mindset

He has bouts of uncontrollable rage because he has no form of grasp of his emotions due to alienating them.

He creates narratives sticks to them then he is unable to change these thought processes.

He creates a happily ever after in his mind and then when the outcome isn't perfect or what he imagined he freaks out.

he has frequent flashbacks to issues from his past and tends to block the thoughts out when they show up or dissociate himself from them, or, alternatively, he hyper-fixates on them so much that it takes over every aspect of his waking life. he also thinks in black and white a lot, with things being either all good or all bad, and becomes paranoid about other peoples intentions or the way they perceive him. he also is CONSTANTLY on edge expecting bad things to happen and prepares himself for danger that might not even come.

Also throwback to the time where he crashed the car and split on his dad when he realized his dad got the childhood he always wanted and that he was neglected, he quickly went from idealizing his dad to feeling spiteful toward him and putting their own lives in danger.

also the time when he realized all of his friends were moving on without him and subconsciously trapped them in a giant bubble that he had no control over

oh and the NIGHTMARES!!!

- sincerely, a Steven kinnie with BPD and C-PTSD. (Cross-Posted)

[richardsphere]

Rwby Slogblog V8E12 (last for the day)

Ok so there is just no (functional / non-aesthetic) difference between Emeralds semblance and Neo’s then? They both can do exactly the same things? one just has a whoosh effect and one a pink-diamond-sparkle effect? Emerald can just do the same shapeshifting/disguise tricks that Neo can do with the same ease. why did team villain start with 2 identically powered characters?  Dog boy can affect multiple people at once all of a sudden. (im fairly certain that was a limitation he had before. Was the reason Aceops struggled with their fight against team RWBY because whomever he didnt lock down would kick his ass if i recall) Huh, winter going full “single-cut samuraislash” with her saber. ------ Time to hear their plan, and determine if its even a good plan at face value. Ok objectives established: Save Penny, Evacuate Atlas AND Mantle. Now to preamptively adress the people complaining about Jaune’s angry outburst at Ruby in V9: You are right that its Jaune’s idea to use the staff as a teleportation-thing. I believe you are wrong to say that this is the plan he means when he says “it was all Ruby’s plan” that fucked his life. My interpretation of that scene has always been operation “Form Team RNJR because _WBY has scattered to the winds as if were named Summer”. That was the thing he was angry about. Jaune was not regretting the fall of Atlas in particular in that rant, he was regretting everything that happened to him since beacon fell and was wishing he’d never followed Ruby in the first place. This is not important to the plan but i’ve seen enough people bitch about how “teleporters were Jaunes Idea, Jaune is Lying/Factually Incorrect/Shifting Blame” in the last few weeks that i cant not make note here about which plan he actually meant. Whitley is once more MVP with the coordinates/blueprints. Does the spear not need a password too? (i mean obviously Oz can provide that, we know he knows it, but its weird that Ruby doesnt need to shout the name for the Spear while the Lamp needs a name) It seems to be that the plan requires Penny to open the vault, and then use the staff to in essence gamble on the posibility she can survive as a bodyless ghost. Ghosts are real and cannon now. Like it would be one thing if penny was a cyborg but she isnt, she’s a gynoid (I dont like Robot due to its etymological roots.) so this is uncharted territory. It works only because the plot requires it to work. (not saying I dislike it. just being objective) Its not a great plan, but also their only option (because the virus will destroy her eventually anyway) I like Ambrosius’ energy. He’s likeably energetic, but also up-front with the warnings, as well as being willing to explain what information is crucial to his ability to make things. Like he’s not so much trying to warn you as he’s covering his own ass in advance and at least tries not to hide any nasty twists (hence him warning not to fall. He knows more about what the vaults are like. Presumably distant uninhabited “acres” in the everafter).  “one-way ticket”. And there’s the backfiring clause. Weird that penny’s mechanical body is destroyed upon the creation of the gates. (after all “he cannot destroy, only create”) seems like a slightly weird loophole as he is now destroying matter he used but did not himself create. But that ends the set-up for what is probably a 2-episode finale. I already know roughly how this all ends (i watched V9) but its nice to see the leadup. ------- In conclusion, the plan works because the plot requires it, but that is acceptable. And the Vaultgates probably all lead to the everafter. Which means that Alyx was presumably a maiden. And that RWBY can in fact use the Haven-portal to enter the ever-after with Ravens help if they ever need to get some treeleaves/time in the Cakre. 

[s0dium]

Living with out you

Synopsis: In which suguru left you, his non-jujutsu sorcerer girlfriend, for dead on a rainy day. Unbeknownst to him, you survived, and so did the child in you. Slowly you learn to live without the love of your life. 

Warnings: Extreme angst, mentions of suicide, determined single mom!reader

Things were supposed to change on that rainy day.

The always persisting dark cloud that had attached to Geto maybe would've  finally started to subside, once you told him the news that would surely change his, no, both of your lives forever.  

And then things would finally start to get better. Finally. 

But you never got the chance to tell him. 

Its so calm.

Time seemed to slow down as you stared at the dark blue sky, rain bouncing off your skin and diluting the pool of red blood that streamed from your stomach. The droplets float down in gentle waves, as if gravity is a soft music from earth, a sweet beckoning serenade. The cement is cool underneath your skin, and you wonder how long you've been here, your starting to feel dizzy. 

It feels like your floating now, eyes too heavy to stay open. You barley even register the pleads of what sounds to be Gojo’s voice asking you to stay alive. 

Ah, I want to see him again.

~

Dozens of pink pregnancy tests littered the bathroom floor all portraying the same message;

Its alive.

You stared blankly at the dripping tub faucet, watching the water recollect around the rim until it was heavy enough to fall in a fat droplet. The water of the bath had grown cold now, too cold, but you stayed still hugging your knees close, unable to move. It took to much strength to do anything lately, to even refill your lungs with air and take a breath. Even killing yourself would be too much work. 

The door opens but you dont bother to turn your head. 

“ Y/n....”

Shoko moves to scoop you up from the tub. You've lost weight, its visible. Nothing tastes good anymore, just eating has become a chore. 

~

Your dreams of Geto are peripheral. An overheard conversation where his name is mentioned; a letter in your hand you desperately try to read before you wake, A Styrofoam coffee cup and a half read book on an empty table where you know he just was minutes before. Its as if your dreams are a mirror of your waking world, like finding your self walking down the street where you could have sworn you caught a glimpse of him, only to look again and realize it wasn't him after all.

Waking up is the most difficult. 

Every morning you’d tell your self that maybe, just maybe, if you close your eyes and pray hard enough it would all be a dream. And there Geto would be, right beside you to tell you everything is going to be ok. You will be ok.

But the place beside you remains desolate when you wake. And the pain of being alone hits you. Its excruciating. It makes you scream and writhe in agony, tears streaming endlessly down you face as you beg at nothing for him to come back.  You even resorted to praying to a god, any god, negotiating anything to just let you even simply touch him again, but things remained the same. 

You find your self frantically searching through your memories, through your possessions of anything that indicated him. Searching for any detail you can no longer recall - any morsel of information that may have been lost to your subconscious. The memory of him is fading, a little at a time and you can feel your self forgetting. You dont want to forget.

Im afraid ill miss you forever.

~

You dont know what makes you keep the baby. 

Maybe it had to do with the fact that it is Getos, but you didnt think that was quite it either. 

You especially dont know why since you knew that the pregnancy process would be hard. That being alone would make it even harder. You cant count the amount of times you spent next to the toilet, sobbing because of the pain of the baby and the pain of being by your self. You wonder what he'd do if he was still with you. Probably rub your back and press kisses on your tear stained cheek, to reassure you he would stay by your side and you would be ok.

But he wasn't by your side.  

Instead he left you to face this by your self. And that's just what you’d do. You'd learn to be strong; Alone. 

~

On your 40th week is when you finally went into labour. You had spent most of your pregnancy walking around the Jujutsu high school campus (since that was the safest place), freaking out new students and making them wonder why a strange pregnant women was watching them. To say you were entirely alone would be completely wrong, shoko and gojo were your main cheerleaders, shoko taking care of your health and Gojo being your entertainment. In fact it was Gojo who carried you to the hospital when you went in labour in his arms while yelling “PREGNANT WOMEN ABOUT TO BURST CODE BLUE!” 

 Luckily, god decided to go easy on you and you went through only 8 hours of labour. Even during the excruciating pain your body was going through, your brain couldnt help but wander back to him. A part of you hated yourself for still clinging onto him this tightly.

Its pathetic really, how I still hope its me and you in the end.

~

The sun blooms on the horizon, golden petals stretching ever outwards into the rich blue sky. The yellow rays stream through the hospital window, alighting your skin and playing along your lips and eyelashes.

“Y/n?”

Gojo sucks in his breath as he gazes upon something he hasn't seen in a long time; your smiling.

Through the exhaustion you grin, and you watch as your new born son’s eyes flutter open to meet yours.You slide your pinky into the baby that you were cradling open hand, watching as they curl around it. And in that moment you begin to cry the sweetest tears you've ever known, all the pain of the moments before melting away. 

Sun glints off your tears like stars as you turn to face Gojo.

“He has his eyes.”’

It had been so long since you seen them. 

And finally, you could breath again. 

[nightfall-kachiniko]

requesting really any angst with the aot girls 😭 just need some angst i will take any go nuts

ASK FOR ANGST AND YOU SHALL RECIEVE

「 AOT Girls (+hanji) reacting to you dying in their arms 」

Paring : Mikasa x reader, Annie x reader, Pieck x reader, Hanji (she/they) x reader

~ 「 I suggest you listen to this song while reading for a more emotional experience (if you’re in the mood to cry lmao) 」 ~

She cant believe her eyes. All that she can think of is how bad she failed you as you laid in her arms, blooding spilling out your mouth and head. Your arms and legs were gashed in big marks, as you felt the world before you slowly cave in.

“Y/N PLEASE!” Mikasa cried out, holding your hand. You tried to give her a small smile. “PLEASE DONT PLEASE JUST STAY PLEASE!” The woman cried hugging you. “I-I Am so sorry..” she gasped in between her tears, profusely apologizing at not being able to save you.

“you remember when we were kids?” You softly said, looking back on the memories, “Y/N P-PLEASE….p-please… please don’t leave me please please..” her sons became whispers, unable to control her emotions. “When we used to run around like animals,” you softly chuckled. You looked up at the weeping woman that was ontop of you. Slowly reaching out your arm, you placed it on her cheek, “I love you..” you confessed.

“my love..please..” Mikasa cried, her words begging like a prayer. She hiccuped as she grabbed your hand tighter, holding it. “We’ll meet again, I promise.” You said, accepting your fate. “No no.. no! Please y/n just wait a little longer please!” The Raven haired woman cried. “I love you, so much mika,”

“P-please.. please…” she whispered as you kissed her. “Another life my dear,” tears streamed down your cheeks at the sight of the end of you. “Forever and always Mikasa, I’ll always love you..” Mikasa hugged your frail body tighter her teeth gritting as her heart basically pumped out of her chest. “I love.. you to..” she said, holding back anymore tears. “I’ll.. see you.. later…” and as with your final words you took your last breath as the world faded forever around you. “Y/n.. honey..” she said, “y/n..” Mikasa tried shaking you but to no avail.

She weeped as she held your body, screaming at the top of her lungs as she cried. That’s all she could do, for her lover was gone. ‘Another life, we’ll meet again,’ was the words that lingered in her head. She still couldn’t accept the fate of her lover, the one of death.

Zipping through the trees as she rushed over to you, not giving a shit about the titan that just ate another one of your comrades. Annie scrambled to your body as it hit the floor of the forest, blood rushing out of your head as your stomach had been impaled, gash next to your heart and she knew, you weren’t going to make it.

“Y/N!” she screamed coming down from the trees. The sky up above was all you could stare at. You couldn’t move, your body almost on the state of paralysis. “Y/n!” Annie ran to you, kneeling at your side. Your wounds were bad, injuries that even the best doctor in Marley couldn’t even fix. “Honey.. honey hey!” She said, grabbing your hand, “it’s gonna be okay,” the blonde said, tears welting up in her eyes. “A-ah…” you groaned out in pain.

Annie dug through her bag, her hands shaky and panicked, trying to find bandages. “Shit,” she panted as she hurried to take off her jacket. She placed her jacket on your gash, pushing down hard, trying to stop the bleeding. But it just wouldn’t work, blood kept seeping through it, and the now blood soaked jacket was no use.

“annie..” you tried calling out to her as she dug through her bag again, trying to find something, anything, to help. “Annie… hey..” you saw the way she was worried, her panicked expression and tear filled eyes giving you no sign of hope. “W-WHAT!” She yelled at you, jolting her head towards you. “It’s okay..” you tried to give her a reassuring smile, softly trying to grasp her hand but due to your injuries to no effort.

“I- I JUST NEED TO APPLY PRESSURE I-!” you interrupted her unnerved yelling. “It’s okay.. you cant do anything about it …” you tried saying to her. “N-NO! DAMNIT I JUST NEED SOMETHING! ANYTHING!”

“Annie, love..” Your girlfriend broke down crying into her palms, her tears everlasting and her face a bright pink from crying so much. “I’m glad I got to call you my girlfriend..” you lazily smiled, “NO DON’T YOU FUCKING GIVE UP YET!” The blonde screamed at you, tears soaring down her face. “ WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST STAY NEAR ME I COULD’VE…I…”

She wanted to curl up into a ball and die along side you there. She knew she couldn’t do a thing about your fate, and now that it’s approaching sooner than the breaths you take she couldn’t accept it. “You mean the world to me… you know that..?” You told Annie. She tightly grasped onto your hand, holding it close to her face and kissing your fist, sobbing hysterically. “Y/n please you’re my only reason of living..” she whispered, trying to catch her breath. “You’ve got a purpose, more than me.. okay..?” Tears of your own rolled down your cheeks.

“You’re not a lost girl, annie, you’ll find your way..”

Eren jeager’s first attack on Marley at Willy’s speech was a shock to everyone. The chaos all around you had suffered long and far as the titans began their fight, punching, kicking. Laura Tyburs titan emerging and Eren jeager eating it. Your body laid lifelessly on the road. Lights soaring up ahead of you as the sound of ‘three dimensional Maneuver gear’ flew past.

Pieck saw you on the ground, her eyes scared and filled with terror. “POCK! GO KILL EREN!” She demanded, screaming as her titan form hurried to you. Pieck stopped with a thud as she emerged from her titan, seeing you on the ground.

“LOVE!” She screamed at you, her fingers near your neck checking your pulse. “Mmm..” you moaned in pain, as your tired eyes scanned the blurry vision infront of you. “I- I NEED TO GET YOU TO SAFETY I-!” She panicked as she saw one of the scouts fly above you both. Her gaze worried as she tried to lift you up.

“Pieck..”you said. “I- I HAVE TO GET YOU TO A DOCTOR I-!” “Why are you.. yelling..” you said in confusion. Blood trickled down her hands that laid under your back as she picked you up onto her lap. “What’s..happening…?” You said, unknowingly. “I-I’m scared…” you managed to get out in between gasps of air.

“I-it…” The woman stopped in her tracks, “d-dont be scared y/n.. I promise everything’s gonna be okay we”re going to get you to a doctor and they’ll take care of you and by tonight we’ll be in bed together cuddling-“

“I don’t think I’ll make it till tonight..” your tired voice said. “It’s okay though.. I just wanna spend right now.. with y-you…” Tears fell heavily down Pieck’s face as she kissed your cheek, gritting her teeth trying to not make you panic. “No no baby you will, you will I promise love!” She said, brushing your hair with her hands. “PIECK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” A man running up to Pieck in Marley’s military uniform screamed at her. “GO GET A DOCTOR!” She yelled back, holding your hand tightly. “IT’S Y/N! PLEASE JUST GET HER HELP!”

you groaned in pain, your hands becoming numb as your vision faded from dark to light. “Pieck.. Thank you..” She jolted her head towards you, terror written all over her face. She saw how you lost that glimmer, that spark in your eyes. “W-what y-y/n baby please..” she said desperately.

“I don’t feel anything Pieck,” You said to her. “Y/n we’re getting you help I-I promise!” She wiped her tears. “You know I’ll see you again lovely..” Pieck looked at you in horror, “no love.. no please just hold on.. please,” she cried, her body shaking over yours. Tears falling down onto your wound. “I remember our first date…and I was so awkward….and I fell over with the drinks.. and even the waiter laughed” you recalled, trying to remember happier times.

“Y/n.. oh sweetie oh..” she held her mouth as she sobbed, hysterical. “You know.. you were the best girlfriend I could ask for… peck peck..” calling her by her nickname. “I love you…”

“Please don’t go..” Pieck cried. “Please.. please..y/n… please..”

“How lucky I am… to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard…” You whispered. “Forever.. My Pieck..”

The ground below the section commander scattered with blood.

The titans surrounding the entire wall, trapping you all. The mission to retake wall Maria has failed. Almost all the horses had been crushed. Rock flew in Hanji’s way as they braced themself for impact. In the distance your ODM gear worked faulty and you fell halfway down the wall, rock hitting you as it smashed into your body and then into the wall, inches behind you. You harshly hit the ground, landing on your side. Rock blasted in your rib cage as you screamed in pain. And for a moment your vision blurred and you blacked out.

“Y/N! Y/N!” you heard your lover screaming at you, shaking your body. You slowly opened your eyes to be greeted by Hanji, their eyes watery and filled with tears as they wrapped bandages around your wound. “h-hanji…” you managed to get out, as you looked up at her, their glasses broken and their eye bleeding swell.

She wrapped the bandages around your bleeding wounds as they cried. “Honey..?” You looked at hanji as they looked back. “I did good..right?” You asked her. Hanji gritted their teeth “ no you’re not leaving just yet! I’ll be damned if you do!” They replied fiercely. “Hanji… but I think I’m ready..”

“NO GODDAMNIT!” she snapped at you, their eyes deranged and red, tears still flowing down them. They punches the floor as they gave up in frustration, begging to full on weep. “Baby..” you said, saddened by hanjis expression. “I’ll be okay.. I swear… no matter what..”

“Why Couldnt Erwin just let you stay home!” She cried, gripping their chest as if they were gasping for air. “Hanji.. I promise..” you said to her, blood trickling out your mouth as your eyes lazily focused on the person in front of you, weeping about your soon to be fate. “I had fun..” you said to yourself. “I met you… I love you Hanji..” you said to them.

They looked at you, pain in their eyes as they tightly hugged you, pulling you into their arms. She sat you on top of her lap, hugging your numb body. Blood scattering all over her clothes. You buried your head into their shoulder as they petted your hair, sobbing. “I’m so glad we were put here at the same time.. aren’t you.. my crazy scientist…?”

Hanji couldn’t speak. The feeling of the loss of you overbares them. They couldn’t say anything. They just cried into you, absorbing the last few seconds you have with them. “I love you so fucking much y/n.. I love you… I love you… I love you.. I love you..” they kept repeating, kissing your cheek as they said. “P-please don’t leave me please..”

“I’m never gonna leave you…” you said to her, “I’ll always be right here,” you said, putting your fist to Hanji’s heart.

“I offered my heart….right section commander…?” You asked as they gritted their teeth, trying to not scream from crying. “Please Hanji.. I did good right…?”

“You did… amazing….you gave it your all..” She said,replying to you. “I love you…” they cried.

“I love you more..”

➪ Kachiniko ||♡︎ My Blog ♥︎ || ☾What I write ☽ 08/02/21

[saturnsstufff]

The Empress (pt. III)

Hello lovelys! Incase no one told you today, I think your spectacular!

Also, lets be real. This part really shows how much I love Buff Techno

Warnings: mentions of violence, swearing, blood

   You couldn't believe what you were hearing. The Emperor was asking you to sit and eat with him. With his family. You didn't want to come off rude or impolite, so you simply nodded and walked over to the remaining open seat. Phil pulled the chair out for you a bit, you lowered yourself onto it and pushed yourself in.

   To say the room was beautiful was a understatement. The table was made of elegant dark oak, the edges lined with detailed gold. The chairs matched the table with wood. But the seats had a plush Black velvet cover over the cushions. The backs of the chairs stood taller than you, Techno's chair was the most detailed and the tallest out of them all. When you glanced up at Techno you were only met with the skull staring forward.

   You honestly became nervous now. Your hands grew clammy as you held a bit of your cloak. Yesterday you had no problem being in front of this family and now you were terrified of offending them. The Family was known for being nothing short of dangerous, and blood thirsty. Yet when you look to Philza, or Wilbur who sat in front of you. You couldn't see how, they were perceived as dangerous. Don't get yourself wrong, you saw how Techno could be seen as terrifying, the man stood at well over 6ft, maybe approaching 7ft?

   Wil watched you a bit, taking note of the complex look you had. "So where are you from?" He asked simply, taking a drink of his milk. "Dadza said you were wearing really light clothes when he met you." The boys tone was casual. Trying to set your wild nerves at ease.

   "O-oh, I'm from a little village in Madagascar" techno's mask faced you as you spoke. Showing you had his full attention. "It's pretty... small..." You tried of how to explain it but, every way you turned it in your head, it was still bland.

   "What's your village like? For the small size is it well off or strugglin'?" Phil inquired. At this a few butlers came out with platters of food. They placed a plate full of eggs, toast, sausage and oatmeal in front of Techno, Phil and you. Talk about a meal fit for a king- no pun intended. Techno only nudged his mask up a tad more. His mouth now visible more. Your eyes lingered on him. A slight scar could be seen on his lip, it looked a bit fresh if your being honest. You averted your gaze before he noticed your lingering eyes.

   "It's... struggling. We were slightly larger, but years ago there was a raid by some Pilliagers" you couldn't help your face twist into a bit of disgust. After how they humiliated your village, and father, you couldn't help hold a high distaste for them. "They ransacked what we had. The men of our village defended what they could, but too many lives were taken if you ask me." You took your fork into your hand, starting to cut up the egg.

   "Did you loose anyone close to you?" Phil spoke between bites. Only speaking when his mouth was empty. You hummed and nodded as you chewed your food. Waiting to respond out of courtesy.

   "I lost my uncle, but that luckily was all. My father was injured too, but he survived.” your eyes scanned your food, slightly pushing the food apart so it wasn't touching. “I was too young to understand when it happened, but I guess one pillager took a swing at his leg. It never healed properly since during the attack, the Pilliagers targeted the women and children mostly. Who for the most part were in charge of medicine and occasional potion brewing" You could feel Techno's lingering eyes on you. He ate in silence only listening.

   "I'm sorry to hear of your uncles demise. however, we are glad that you are ok." Phil said, resting a hand on your shoulder reassuringly. You smiled gently and nodded. the action was similar to that of what your father did. Even if Phil didn't recognize it, the little actions he did put you at ease.

   Everyone ate for a bit longer. the sounds of silverware and plates clinking were the only sound that filled the room. Techno finished his plate first. Neatly setting his dishes together. Phil and I worked at our plates still. Mostly because we were the ones talking. "What made you get into Smithing?" Phil asked. Having previously recalled you mentioning the blade was your creation.

   You took a sip of Orange juice to clear your throat of food. "When my father was injured our family suffered. Smithing was how we made money. My father couldn't stand long- he still cant. even if he could, I'm pretty sure the hammer would be too heavy for him." You paused thinking a moment. " I think I was eleven or twelve when he started showing me the tools and the trade. After a few months I could put a tool out. By no means was it good though.” You could still remember the first tool you put out. It was a twisted, warped mess. At the time you were proud, but now you rather not admit it was yours. “By the end of the year I at least could put something worth a show out. Ever since then I just continued. I didn't know how to sew or weave like my mother so I never strayed from the forge."

   "It was somthin' in your blood" Phil commented. You tilted your head slightly as you ate a bit more. Starting to feel utterly stuffed. "A lot of trade's or artistry’s get passed down so long that it just becomes part of their heritage, they seem to have a natural born talent for those knacks." He fallowed up with. "Techno is like that with sword combat" you herd a sound of disagreement from under the boar mask.

   Wil decided to chime in now. "If your blade pasts the test, what will you do with the money?" You thought a moment. In your heart you knew you had no use for it really. Your father and village however did need it.

   "I'll probably give it to my village and my father." It was a simple and cliché answer but you meant it. "I have a roof over my head at home, parents who love me, support me. For once I wanna support them." You set your spoon down. Only having ate half your oatmeal, feeling too full to finish. "My village also needs the help. The baker. The farmer. They all could use a bit of spare change." You looked up from your plate to face Phil. His eyes were kind. They glittered like your fathers, when he was proud.

   "Your very kind to offer your riches to others." you didn't expect Techno to voice his opinion. But you graciously took his complement. Your cheeks a faint pink. As you nodded. He moved his mask back to where it fit comfortably. He stood up from the table. the action commanding attention, The mask faced you. "Fetch your blade. I wish to test it."

   Ok now the nerves really set in. You stood outside on a snow covered training ground. Your head was covered by a cozy fur lined cloak. Beside you stood Wilbur, and Philza. You had the cloth wrapped sheath in your hands firmly. The sword secure in it's place. Waiting for someone to release it and show the strength it held.

   You were unsure where techno was, he was supposed to give the test but as it stood, he was nowhere to be seen. That is until he turned the corner with a thick wooden log over his shoulder. You couldn't help how your jaw dropped. You knew he had to have some strength but you didn't expect him to turn the corner with a good size Hickory log. He dropped the log in front of Phil, Wil and I. Next to it was a rather large block of ice, and a Anvil. Once Techno situated the log securely in the snow he unchained his cloak. Handing it off to Phil.

   There he stood. This monster of a man. broad shoulders drawn back, his posture perfect. Where he looked as strong as twelve oxen, he also had a elegant, ethereal beauty. His jaw was sharp, lips drawn into a thin line. His hands, although gloved, moved with precise elegance. When he breathed a puff of cloud would push itself out of the Boar's empty nasal cavity. He looked terrifyingly beautiful.

   He turned to you and outstretched his hand. A wordless request for your blade. You bit your lip. The moment had come for you to truly test it. Carefully you unwrapped the cloth, the simple sheath was the underwhelming part of the blade. however when you moved the Sheath towards Techno he made no comment on the simplicity.

   His hand easily took the handle. Skillfully he pulled the blade out. The black blade shimmered brilliantly. The purple-blue pearlescent really popped against the snow. When he saw the color of the blade you could have sworn you saw his hand falter slightly. “tis’ a beautiful blade...” was the first comment. “what is made of?” he inquired.

   You swallowed the slight lump in your throat. “It’s Netherite and Diamond” You didn't expect them to know what Netherite was, but the look Phil gave you shown that he very well knew what it was. Even Techno turned his head to face you. This is the part where you wondered if you shouldn't have said the true material.

   “Netherite eh?...” the angle was just right, you could see into the empty eye sockets and pinpoint techno’s eyes. they lingered over your blade fondly. he seemed very familiar with that type of material.

    You watched as he took notice of how the blade was well balanced. The handle was comfortable and surprisingly it fit his hands. He tossed the blade between his right and left hand. Seeing how it felt. Mentally he assumed the blade's handle would have been made small to accommodate your own hand. But he was pleasantly surprised to see you took account that maybe you would not be the one handling it. He moved the blade back to his dominant hand. Looking to the mound of ice. You felt a hand rest on your shoulder, pulling you away from Techno. You looked up to see who the hand belonged to, only realizing it was Phil. well you stood in front of Phil pressed up to him, you didn't have to look to know how much he towered over you. His wings only adding to the height. you thought it was a tad weird  that he pulled you so close, until you realized he did it to Wil was well. The action was out of protection.  your gaze shifted back to Techno. He rotated the sword in his hand once. From Phil, Wil, and your stance, all you saw was a quick movement of purple, the light bouncing of the blade beautifully as it swung. He did not delay on his swing back, it was fast and powerful. Techno simply stepped, and swung back down, hard. The idea of being on the other side of the blade seemed impossible to survive. Well he beat the sword edge against the ice, his body moved as if he was reciting a simple dance. He was testing the durability. Seeing exactly how much your blade could take. The sheer force of his hits only needed two, to break the ice chunk in half. Sliding both halves away from each other upon the swords impact. You could only watch in shock. His strength was raw and powerful. You were genuinely terrified for your little sword.

   Techno didn't let up his assault. Moving from the ice to the wood in one swift movement. Continuing to strike the hard wood. The woodchips flew in the air, you averted your eyes a bit, worried the wood might hit you. After beating a decent size gash into the wood, you spared a glance back up. He shoved the sword into the snow bank next to him. Lifting the abused log up. Placing his hands on both sides of the gash, he with little struggle, tore the log in half with his hands.

   To say that it wasn't a little bit attractive, would have been a lie. Your cheeks were pink again. but luckily you could blame it on the cold nipping at your face. You watched as techno looked at the log, now in two parts at his feet. He made no sound of disproval, or really said anything. He simply took the sword from the bank and looked over at the Anvil. ‘surely he wouldn't hit the blade on the metal’ you thought. Oh, don't worry he would. He looked down to the blade, judging it breifly before glancing the anvil. You looked away, you couldn't watch. the blade was going to break as soon as it hit the anvil. It was evident on why no one was able to past the test. The test was a fucking nightmare. 

   The only sound you could hear was a harsh ring. He did it, oh shit he really did it. Phil from above you just whistled. “tha’s a mighty blade (y/n).” you spared a glance. in Techno’s hand was your sword. structurally intact. you let out a rather large, breathy laugh of relief.

   Techno didn't congratulate you, or make a remark on your blade. instead he removed a glove and pressed his thumb to the blade. He wanted to see if it was still sharp after the pure beating it just took. You watched, now unsure if this was all positive or negative. He hummed, he wanted to say he was surprised. but he wasn't. what you didn't understand, was that he was used to Netherite. He knew it took something almost godlike to break anything with that material.

    Although the sword was beat to hell, when he pressed his thumb against the blade and applied pressure, it was still sharp enough to draw blood. He put his thumb to his lips. The hard metallic taste of blood filled his mouth from the cut he received. his lips only twisting into a bemused smirk.

    "Your blade passes" he turned to face you. Wiping his bloody thumb on his black pants before offering his hand to you in a handshake. "You are the only one that somehow designed, dare I say it. The perfect blade."

   After the event that occurred out on the field you were a giddy mess. You did it. You fallowed techno down the hall. He explained that since you did impress him, he was now wanting to open the table for a discussion and a possible contract. But first, he wanted to know how much knowledge you possess.

   He opened a large door that was detailed in gold. when you stepped in he fallowed. walking past you in a easy, lazy stride. You were in his office. the shelves were lined with books, many having titles about Mythology, histories of wars, war tactics, potion brewing, etc. The titles were endless. From the books alone you could assume he probably had knowledge on a plethora of subjects. The walls were high, the detailing never faltered however. Two Antarctica Empire flag's hung on the walls, framing the main desk. There were paintings, but unlike the one of the whole family you saw on your arrival. There was one of Phil and Techno, the mask painted on his face. The second painting was Tech and Wil. But similarly. The mask was present. Looking about a little more, there were also swords of all types on the walls. In the center of the celling there was a massive candle lit chandelier. A fireplace stood tall behind techno's desk. You only assumed the desk was placed there solely for the point of warmth.

   Technoblade took his seat at the rather large desk. His posture, was still perfect even when sitting. His hands were folded together. The rings still adorning his fingers. Everything he did, and wore just screamed elegance. "I will give you 3k for the blade. An additional 2k will be added for your trip" he said, his voice still straight.

   'Holy shit, 5k? That's far more than I thought' you were speechless. You could already imagine how the money would help. ‘Father could get the help he needed.’ ‘The farmer could build a new barn possibly’ The upgrades flowed through your mind. Hope and joy surged through your veins. "Thank you your Imperial Majesty..."

"You said you used Netherite, correct?" You nodded to him. The mask was facing you, he was quiet. But you assumed he was thinking. "Were did you find the Neitherite?" He leaned onto his desk, moving his folded hands to the desk top. Resting his head on his hands.

"A man in my village had it. It was pretty cheap to buy it off him" you thought back to the man. Trying to recall the conversation. "He uh.." you paused trying to remember it properly. "Oh- he said it was a great material when used properly. But he couldn't understand what he needed to achieve it." Techno stayed quiet a moment.

"So how did you come by the proper techniques?" He questioned. You thought back again. It was a off day when you discovered it really. You weren't trying to use it. It just fell into your pan.

"Well, I was trying to make a diamond sword for a sister village originally. But when my pan was over the fire heating, I had left the room. Not realizing the small chunk of Netherite I had on top of the mantle had somehow fallen in. When I came back I saw the discoloration of the metal, that wasn't normal so I pulled it from the fire. When it cooled I noticed it made a unusual harder substance, so from there I just started experimenting with it" he nodded and pondered what you said. He didn't linger on the subject for long however, Instead he changed it.

"I have a proposition for you. That is... if your interested of course" You looked to him. Showing he had your attention. He had mentioned something along the lines of a deal well you walked down the hall with him. "With your permission, I would like to hire you as the royal blacksmith." The skull never faced away from you. You swallowed thickly.

   "You mean... I would work here?" Your brows furrowed. "I don't live anywhere close to here..." he nodded his head, shrugging a bit.

   "I'm aware" he paused. "We would give you a room, Pay you weekly, you would have benefits. Access to the best quality material" he didn't rush all the information out. He simply just read the list from his mind. "The only thing in exchange, is for you to make my armor, weapons, and anyone else I deem fit for them." It was a basic comply. He wanted you to work for him. Have your craft explicitly his only.

   You shifted your weight as you stood. "Do I have to make a choice now?" You were hoping you didn't have to hurry this. you were already hesitant on bringing the sword down here, but now the idea of staying in this frozen tundra had you uncertain. Yes you would live in wealth, and possible glory. But, at the cost of being over a thousand miles away from your family. You also were still uncertain of the land itself.

   Techno shrugged a bit. "I mean, I'm in no particular hurry" he explained. Tilting his head to the side a tad. If you accept, you knew what it meant. Your devotion to a nation, to the royal family, to the Emperor. You really would be making a shot in the dark.

   "If I work here. Could I send the money elsewhere?" He watched you. You couldn't see his eyes, but you could feel them eating away at you.

   "We can arrange that." You watched him in turn. Trying to see if he had a underlying plan, or possible catch to add. "I mean, I am a lenient man" his hands unclasped. Opening his arms slightly to motion to himself.

   "R-right... of course" you nodded. Agreeing with him, not wishing to anger him. He pondered a moment before he stood from his chair. The chains, and pendants around his neck jingling slightly from his movement.

   "I look forward to hearing your answer"

   About a week had gone by before you had your answer. During the said week you started to notice the family had a slight routine. Phil would come for you in the morning to walk you to the dining hall for breakfast. after that Wilbur would either roam to the music room, or to the library to do some of his studies. Techno was harder to pinpoint, sometimes he would leave to his office, be in the library, or other times he would walk towards the room with the planes. No matter what, Phil kept you in good company and made you fell welcomed.

   You choose to tell techno of your answer over dinner. Assuming it would be a decent time since that was when everyone was together. The dinner was casual. Since your stay was expanded, the boys would roam the hall’s in there casual wear instead of there more formal, business attire.

   “So I've thought on it..” Your voice broke through the peaceful silence. Techno and Phil lifted there heads to address you. Wil looked up at you as well, the noodles from the dinner slipping from his lips back into the soup bowl. “I’ll work for you... if you would still have me.”.

“of course we’ll have ya’” Phil said, his smile wide. “It’s been nice havin’ someone new and different around these halls” you smiled a little and nodded to him, looking over to Techno. 

“I do have two questions though...” techno gave a slight nod to you, motioning for you to continue. "If I choose to quit at any point. Could I?" Techno, hummed and nodded.

"Of course, that would only be right." a bit of weight was lifted from your shoulders knowing this wasn't a endless contract type of deal.

”My other question is a bit personal, but could I go back to my village to explain my new job to my parents? I don't feel right sending it through a letter.” You chewed your lip, hoping you weren't over stepping your bounds of what you could request.

Phil answered for Techno. “I don't see why not, me and Tech were discussing going on a trip anyway.” your eyes lit up, you would see your parents again. “You could tag along with us. of course we’ll be making trips other than Madagascar. techno was talking about visiting Russia, and France” you tilted your head a bit.

“why Russia? you already live on a ice cube” you said, humoring Phil, earning a chuckle.

“They have a few things Techno and I have been looking for” he said, continuing back on his dinner. You thought on it a moment and shrugged. nodding your head, you turned your attention back to your food. 

“when would you like to leave?” you asked, curious of when you should pack your bag again. Techno hummed a bit.

“We were thinking of leaving in two days time.” He set his fork down before looking up at you. “I wouldn't worry about packing, we will not be traveling in our typical attire. We plan to dress down” Techno said as he wiped his mouth with the napkin. “I'll have some simpler clothes sent to your room”

You were a little surprised. They planned to travel, but not in there imperial attire? That's what you assumed he meant at least. Either way you were excited. Not only would you be seeing your parents, but you also would be taken to Russia and France. Man if this was your new job, you could get used to this.

@goldensunshineshit @snobunns @olyink @lolitsellieletsgobro

[marshmallowprotection]

yeah so. the bubble bath asks really makes my brain cant stop thinking about it. and imagine. MC blindfolded saeray after he works so hard at the garden. to surprise him for bubble bath time. cause yeah he deserves it. he must have been tired. and he needs to relax

GE Saeran wouldn’t know what to do with himself when you blindfolded him. It might actually bring a smile to his face as he says, “You know, I seem to recall that I did this to you... don’t tell me, are you trying to hire a game tester for new projects, my love?”

You would laugh the second that he said that. It was funny to joke about now but at least you both knew how to make light of what you went through. “I just need you to trust me,” you’d tease him as you felt his fingers squeeze your digits with a smile on your lips. “I promise it won’t take long to show you what I’ve prepared for you.” 

“It’s not a prince/ss suite, is it?” 

“Oh, it’s something sweeter, I think.”

And it would be a surprise for Saeran to pull that blindfold off and find himself standing in the middle of your bathroom. He noted that you had opened some of the window to let the breeze trickle in, but apart from that, the room was lit up by the candles and tea-lights. You had put an assortment of flowers in the room, as he chuckle when he saw the pinks and reds. 

You had been learning more about the language, hadn’t you? Far be it from him to let you never think you could surprise him every day. You knew just how to make him live a life worth living. You had even gone as far as preparing the bath for him, as well. The bubbles and the gentle scent of florals floated through the air. 

It was sweet but not too sweet... earthy but still fresh. You had done all of this while he was working... he had planned on just taking a shower before he tried his best to get dinner started but you had other ideas. He turned to face you so he could kiss your cheek. “It’s perfect, but it would be a shame to use all of this by myself, my love.” 

A coy smile flashed across your features. “You want me to join you, right?” 

“It’s nice to swim with a partner.” 

That’s how the two of you wound up in the tub together, sitting on either end as your united hands hung off the side of the bathtub. The bubbles observed most of your modesty but he didn’t mind so much, he just liked knowing you could be here together and share this gentle intimacy. Your hand felt so gentle in his own and he felt... beloved. 

In the glow of the evening sun and candles, he knew that he loved you and that you loved him. 

There was no place Saeran would rather be than right there with you, and as he catch a glimpse of your smile, he knew that he could keep falling in love all over again whenever you were near him. This was just one of the many reasons why he loved you so dearly. You always thought about what he might enjoy when he worked himself too hard.

The water and bubbles only parted and trembled when he gave your hand a gentle nudge and dared you to lean forward more and more until he could meet you in the middle for a kiss. The sounds of your shared laughter were well worth it today. It didn’t matter how hard a day was, as long as he got moments like this with you, he was happy.

[oneprompt]

Hello? Really hope your doing well. I saw your requests were open and wanted to ask if you could please do a scenario of nami and her s/o (preferably male, but gender neutral is fine as well) spending the night together aboard the sunny. They're talking and laughing the night away until s/o says:"I can't wait to marry you." Nami is happy, shocked or however you would think she's going to react. If it's a lot of work you can ignore this request. Thanks and have a great day/night

authors note : hello ! <3 this is such a cute idea .. i’d be happy to write for it ! i kept the reader gn if that’s okay <3 and i hope you’re doing well , too. please enjoy , i hope i brought out the best of thy vision ! + i hope you don’t mind i adjusted the prompt a bit ;; ++ it takes place during the beginning of Water 7 , before all the chaos. thought it’d be cute to have them on a date .. ( can you guys tell what my favourite arc is yet ? )

Nami x Reader , “ I Cant Wait To Marry You “ Drabble

You and Nami sat together in the tiny boat that was being dragged along by a vibrant king bull. The crew had figured it’d be best to wait to find a shipwright, wait to further discuss things with that man. What did the woman at the train station say was his name, again? Iceburg? Who cares, that wasn’t what was important right now. You were all told to have fun, to split up for a few hours before going to the bank. And that was the perfect time to give you and your girlfriend, Nami, private time.

The sound of laughter echoed out of your shared water carriage as you two traded words. You couldn’t recall the last time you two, or any of the crew could do something so mundane. To others, this must be incredibly boring, just riding around in the slow water roads of Water 7 but it was special to you and the crew. Having time to act like people over pirates for even just a few hours was glorious.

You loved being a pirate, but each time you docked on an island you couldn’t help but wonder how things could’ve been if you stayed back at your home village. Perhaps it could’ve been calm but you would’ve never been so happy, if not for your crew mates. Especially Nami. She was your utopia, your rock. She always was, ever since you met the crew. Even if Nami was a thief, and a rather vulgar woman, you couldn’t help but fall captive to her heart. She was so warm, so kind to the ones she loved. Nami was the woman for you and you knew that, even only after dating since she escaped the wretched clutches of the wicked man known as Arlong.

“Hey, Y/n!” Nami said, her tone high with the upmost happy tune. You looked over at her, raising your eyebrow.

“Mhm?” You hummed, looking at her face. Her normal smile soon twisted into a smug one as she fished one of her freckles hands into her pocket.

Oh no. That face never delivered good news, always just stripping her actions to expose the nudity of her own impulsive choices.

“Look what i got you!” Nami held her hands out infront of your face, palms now decorated with the sparkling chain of silver. “It’s a necklace~! Some random geezer that passed us had it and i just knew you’d love it.” She snickered, showing clear pride in her actions.

Part of you wanted to scold her for stealing from a purely innocent person. But then again, she was a pirate. You were a pirate, your whole existence and the message you stood for was criminal, now wasn’t it? You had no right to shout at Nami for stealing, especially for your sake.

The abrupt bubbling in your throat crushed all sense to ask Nami to kindly return it to the old woman who had passed you both. You began to laugh loudly, your laughter filling the small street you two were along. She was far too much..!

Nami looked over at you, a confused smile on her face. What was so funny? She leant back slightly against the tiny boat, her navy blue tie fluttering along with the force of the slight wind that waved along the city. She twirled the valuable accessory in between her fingers, looking over at you.

“Do you want it or not? I could get a few extra berries off of this if you don’t want it,” Nami shrugged, eyes twinkling at the thought of having pocket money, as the abundance she had now was all for Merry.

You wiped your eyes lightly, swiping the slight watering of your eyes away. “Oh, Nami,” You sighed to catch your own breath from laughing, your ribs aching. “I can’t wait to marry you! You’re too-“

Crap. Your face reflected the same bright pink that coloured the king bulls scales. How could you fail at catching yourself? This was awkward. Nami probably could never imagine such a thing. Sure, you two were dating but marriage was different. Far different when placed beside the playground of dating.

“Marry me? Y/n, you want to marry me?” Nami managed to keep her cool, not including the pastel hues that dusted her cheeks. How could she be so calm? You felt like leeping out of the boat, letting the oceans of Water 7 take you far away.

“W-well, yeah..one day, at least,” You admitted sheepishly, jerking your head to the side to avoid the look in Nami’s caramel shaded eyes. “Obviously, you don’t have to. I mean, when Luffy becomes pirate king, i just figured, we could settle down and...”

“And what?” Nami egged you on to finish your sentence. “Cmon, say it! We don’t have all day!” She huffed, stomping her heels down as she grew impatient.

“A-and have days like these everyday!” You said loudly to match her own tone. “We could do all sorts of things, we could go to places like this everyday, we could talk like this all day, we could-!”

Nami cut you off as she casually applied her lips to yours, no regards for the public. You kissed back slowly, even if the kiss only lasted seconds.

“Okay,” Nami beamed. “I’ll be your bride after Luffy becomes the pirate king.” She grinned as big as possible, eyes squeezed shut from the smile that stuck to her face. Nami’s cheeks were crimson at this point.

Nami couldn’t help but wonder if Bellemare was seeing this, seeing her agree to such a thing. Nami never thought she’d get such an opportunity in life, she always thought she’d be stuck as Arlong’s right hand for her entire life. But no. She’d never have to picture the horror of the old days, not anymore.

She had Luffy, Usopp, Robin... she had everyone she needed.

Most importantly, Nami had you.

[hopelesshawks]

Love and Admiration Part 36- Man of Your Dreams

18+ Bakugo x fem!pro hero reader

Summary: (Y/n) has known Bakugo since middle school, admired him since high school, and had a crush on him since the first time they met. Even now, a top pro hero in her own right, she can’t shake her school girl crush. Too bad Bakugo literally has no idea she exists. Well that’s not entirely true… He does know pro hero Mercury exists, but (y/l/n) (y/n)? Never heard of her.

Warnings for dry humping, dom/sub themes, praise kink, oral (female receiving)

Masterlist Help Lulu <3

The door to Bakugo’s apartment is unlocked for you so you walk in as soon as you arrive before locking it back behind you. You’re surprised to find the apartment silent, having expected at the very least the sound of the tv going or perhaps of Katsuki cooking in the kitchen. You wander around his apartment in search of him, flicking on some of the light switches since the only light seems to be coming from the sunset through the large bay windows on the far wall. You’re about to flick the lights on in the living room when you finally spot Katsuki and suck in a breath. He’s fallen asleep on his couch, clad in gray joggers and the hoodie you bought him. The black “Are you still watching?” message from Netflix on the tv indicates he must’ve fallen asleep while watching something and it makes a warm fondness bloom in your chest.

You step further into the living room, reaching for the remote and then turning off the tv before moving to sit on the floor in front of the couch. The golden and red orange light from the setting sun plays through his hair and dances over his features. He looks so gentle like this and you can’t help but try to commit the image to memory. You’re not at all surprised he’s exhausted, he’d worked an early morning shift again and has still been recovering from the sleepless nights he’d had when you two were fighting. You’re happy to see that the bags under his eyes are finally fading and you can’t resist the temptation to reach out and press a gentle kiss to his forehead before carding your fingers through his hair. You’re not sure how long you sit there just combing your fingers through the blonde strands and drinking in the sight of him, but eventually he stirs slightly. He sighs into your touch, the only indication at first that he’s woken up at all, before his eyes finally flutter open, crimson irises meeting your (y/e/c) ones. They slip shut almost immediately afterwards as he reaches to pull you onto the couch. “C’mere Princess,” he mutters sleepily and how could you possibly refuse when he looks so soft? So you allow him to pull you on top of him, one arm wrapping around your waist as you pillow your head against his chest. “You like watchin’ me sleep, huh?” he asks, voice rough and deeper than normal since he’s only just woken up. “I do. You looked like you were having a good dream,” you hum. “I was,” comes his easy reply as his hand rubs circles into your back. “I’m sorry I woke you then.” “Don’t be. I was dreaming of you,” he admits, as if it’s the most casual thing in the world. You pull back so you can look at him properly, searching his face for a sign he’s messing with you. “You’re kidding,” you say incredulously but that only makes the smug and sleepy smirk on his face grow wider as he shakes his head. “I’m not. The reality is much better though,” he says before leaning up to press a kiss to your lips.

All of the warmth that had been filling you while you’d watched him and then processed his sweet words overflows now, spilling into the gentle kiss you two share. Slowly the kiss starts to turn heated as you open your mouth to allow his tongue inside to tangle with yours. You feel the moment his dick starts to take an interest, gradually starting to harden as his hands roam underneath your shirt to slide along your bare waist. Soon he flips the two of you over so you’re pinned beneath him, grinding his hips down against you in a way that has both of you groaning into each other’s mouths. There’s no rush to your actions though as he continues to grind down into you and you cant your hips up to meet his. He drops his mouth from your lips to your neck, nipping the delicate skin there before soothing it with his tongue, making sure to leave marks. One of your hands grasps at his back, urging his hips to continue their rhythm but the other tangles into his hair as you gasp at the continued attention. You eventually tug him back up to meet your lips again and when you next roll your hips up to meet his you’re delighted at the low keening moan it wrenches from his throat. His hips start to stutter in their rhythm, a sign he’s getting close to his climax, so he starts to pull back but you push down on his back and bring your hips up to encourage him to keep going. You separate your lips from his only to bring it to the shell of his ear. “Don’t stop, want you to cum for me,” you whisper and you can tell by the shiver that runs through him and the muttered curse that drops from his lips that he’s going to listen.

When you grind your hips up again, Katsuki eagerly meets you halfway, the fabric of his sweatpants providing extra friction against his weeping cock. “You’re being such a good boy for me Katsuki,” you praise and it only seems to spur him on more as more curses spill from his lips and he continues to hump against your leg. “F-fuck Princess, I’m gonna-“ he whines. “Do it,” you reply, “let go for me baby.” He grinds against you one final time before he’s spilling his load into his sweatpants with a strangled cry, darkening the gray fabric. “Shit,” he huffs breathlessly as he rides out the aftershocks of his orgasm. “Think you can make your Princess feel good now too?” you ask coyly. “Fuck yes,” he all but growls before kissing you until you’re as breathless as he is as he encourages you to slide further up the couch so you can lean your back against the arm of it. He then settles himself between your legs, watching hungrily as he pulls your bottoms and panties down to reveal your dripping sex. He wastes no time burying his face between your thighs, licking a long stripe along your folds before slipping his tongue into your pussy. “Shit, just like that. Feels so good,” you groan as his tongue drags along your inner walls. His rough palms keep your legs spread for him as you slowly start to fall apart above him. “You’re doing so well Katsuki, fuck. Right there,” you moan, your head falling back as your own climax draws nearer. One of his hands leaves your thigh to press circles into your sensitive clit and it doesn’t take long after that for your orgasm to come rushing over you with a cry of his name.

As you come down he presses kisses to your inner thigh before finally leaning up to kiss your lips again. “Such a good boy,” you coo breathlessly. The growl you get in response makes you laugh as Katsuki’s cheeks and ears turn pink. “Since when did you start giving orders?” he asks. “Since I realized you might actually listen. You’re pretty cute when you follow instructions,” you tease. “Watch it, Princess,” he growls in warning, fire sparking in his ruby red irises. “Or what?” you tease. He’s about to show you exactly how he intends to teach you a lesson when you’re both startled by a pounding at the door. “Yo lovebirds, It’s party time!” you hear Mina shout from the other side and you can’t help but laugh as Katsuki groans, his forehead falling to rest on your collar. “One second!” you call back, which only makes your boyfriend growl again. “C’mon, you know if we don’t hurry up she’ll melt down the door,” you laugh, pushing gently at Katsuki’s shoulders to encourage him to climb off the couch. “Fine, but I’m teaching you a fucking lesson later,” he huffs, nipping the skin at the base of your neck to emphasize his point before finally climbing off you. You hurry to pull back on your panties and bottoms as Bakugo moves to answer the door. “Wait!” you call out suddenly, lunging forward to catch his arm before he can get too far. “What? You’re the one who said Raccoon Eyes would melt my door,” he points out with a raised eyebrow. “I mean yea but maybe I should grab the door while you change?” you offer, pointedly looking down to the stain he’d left on his sweatpants earlier before meeting his eyes again. He curses under his breath, face turning a vibrant shade of red as he recalls the mess he’d made of his pants. “I’ll be back,” he grumbles before storming off towards his room and you can’t help but to laugh before the sound of Mina pounding on the door again has you making yourself presentable and rushing to answer it.

You hurry to fling the door open to find your friends on the other side, grinning with excitement and many carrying their own contributions to the alcohol stash for the night. You let them in and guide them to the kitchen to drop their cargo before you greet them all eagerly with hugs and excitement. Midoriya, Denki, and Kirishima especially give you a warm welcome since they hadn’t seen you at all since the last hang and don’t get to talk to you nearly as much as Shinso and the girls do. By the time you’ve finished saying hello, you’re alerted to Bakugo’s return by his arms wrapping carefully around your waist. “I guess you guys had fun waiting for us,” Shinso deadpans as he leans casually against the kitchen counter. “No idea what you’re talking about,” you shrug, leaning back into Katsuki’s warm embrace. “So the new hickeys on your neck just spontaneously appeared?” he asks, amusement evident in his smirk as you try to sputter out an excuse despite obviously being flustered. “We were having a lot of fun before you guys showed up. If you wanna fuck off-“ “Katsuki!” you interrupt him scandalized although your friends seem to find it infinitely more amusing than you do. They tease the two of you for awhile, even as drinks start to get poured and the party starts to begin in earnest, especially once they realize Bakugo is wearing the Mercury hoodie, but it’s all in good fun. In all honesty it warms your heart a little to have this. You can’t help but be struck by how lucky you are to finally have the man of your dreams and friends that support your relationship so wholeheartedly.

As the others start to move the party out of the kitchen, Katsuki holds you back before spinning you in his arms to face him. “I’m not fucking you in the kitchen when our friends are literally in the other room,” you say immediately, causing Katsuki to roll his eyes. “That’s not why I held you back idiot,” he huffs. “Oh! What is it then?” you ask, slightly sheepish. “You just seemed deep in thought ‘s all. You good?” he asks brusquely. A fond smile spreads over your face. “I’m more than good, I’m perfect. I was just thinking how glad I am to finally have you,” you explain happily. “Yea?” “Yea.” “Good. Me too.” When he slots your lips together this time you both know it’s more than just a simple kiss.

It’s also a silent promise of forever.

A/N: Another fic finished 🥲 thank you all so much for reading this and supporting me. Every like, reblog, and reply has meant the absolute world to me and I’m so grateful. If you liked this fic feel free to check out my others through my general masterlist or request to join the taglist for my next series Basic Instincts, starring my favorite bird boi Hawks

Taglist: @pixelwisp @oliviasslut @larkspyrr @heroacadema @kozukatsuki @captaincyberqueen @undead-nyx @ineedtofocusfr @i-heart-fictional-boys @theycallme-becky @superhermit @black-rose-29 @disaster-rose @fandomsgotmefucked @irenne-stans

[bangtangalicious]

the glow up | pjm (3)

pairing: jimin x reader

summary: after going off to college, you & your best friend committed to working out. a year later, the results show, and you cant wait for your hot hometown friends to see you. now all you wanna do is wild out and have lots of sex, and enjoy it without feeling insecure

genre: smut, childhoodfriends!au weightloss!au (is that a thing) friends-to-lovers!au

word count: 1.7k

warnings: dry humping, sleep sex/wet dream, feverishly rough sex, choking, technically dubcon but she was genuinely fine with it, slut shaming, cheating (?), basically jimin fucks you hard but he thinks he’s dreaming, creampie, unprotected sex

part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7                                                  masterlist

You woke up, the events of the morning seemingly like a world away. You became conscious suddenly to a warm presence snuggled up behind you. Jimin and you had talked for a while before returning to the party. You stayed back late helping him clean up until you both passed out from exhaustion.

The tension had been uncomfortable. Jimin decided not to bring up Taehyung’s outburst, and you too avoided the topic entirely. It was too confusing.

Jimin’s arms were wrapped around your hips tightly, his fingers gently stroking your stomach. He was totally knocked out, you could tell by the way he whimpered slightly when you tried to move. You sighed, trapped by him completely. You tried to wiggle your way out but as you shook your hips you felt something graze against your ass.

He was hard. Really hard.

Your eyes widened, unsure of what to do. It wasn’t his fault, you knew morning wood was a thing, and seeing how pressed up the two of you were, it was bound to happen. You tried to move again, but it only caused him to press even more into your soft flesh. A shaky breath left his lips at the contact. His hands loosened and slowly began sliding down your bikini bottom. You gasped.

“Jimin what are you doing” You hissed. No response was heard, all you felt was Jimin’s cock desperately prying for freedom from his trunks, now against your bare ass. He slowly rolled his hips, humming in pleasure. “Jimin. JIMIN.” He was still asleep, you realized.

You could move, but you knew if you moved now he would wake up, and then he would ask what happened. And you really didn’t want to have to deal with that. Or maybe. You liked the feeling.

You wondered what Jimin must be thinking about. Was it you he was fucking in his dreams? He had denied you earlier. Your heart dropped as you recalled his cruel comment about Taehyung having came in you, and that grossing him out so much he refused to have sex with you.

As you were lost in your thoughts, you didn’t realize the way Jimin’s hands had found your breasts, pulling you back into him with all his strength. You moaned in surprise. The feeling of his hands, slightly dry from the day in the pool but so large, covering the entirety of your breast and clutching it as if he was holding on for dear life.

You could feel his heart pounding against you. You wiggled your ass against him, seeing if he would react. He let out a high pitched whine, which cause goosebumps to spread across you. He sounded hot. You felt yourself getting wetter.

Apparently so did Jimin, because his hips bucked into you, his bulge dancing past your entrance in a quick thrust. You squealed at the sensation. The fact that he was acting involuntarily, following nothing but instinct, turned you on beyond reason. You felt him exhale heavily, his hot breath tickling the nape of your neck. He bucked his hips again, harsher this time, whining incessantly.

You could feel how bad his cock wanted to tear through the fabric and feel you. He thrust again. Then again. Harder. And harder. His hands clutching your breasts more aggressively each time. You couldn’t help but scream. It felt so good. He was like a dog just humping you so aggressively in heat. You felt animalistic and you loved it. You pushed back into him more, spreading your legs so he could rut right where you craved him.

His pace quickened. If anyone had walked into the room at that moment, they would see Jimin, eyes shut and lips parted, humping into your ass like there was no tomorrow, and you, pretty much naked, a moaning mess with your eyes rolling back in bliss.

“Jimin” You exhaled, turning your head as much as you could to try to see him. “Fuck, Jimin baby you feel so good”

His face was blushed pink, sweat forming at his forehead. He groaned as you spread your legs even more, allowing your wetness to seep through the fabric of his shorts. He let out a low growl.

Suddenly his eyes flew open, but he didn't stop. He was completely gone, you could see it in his expression. He his were lustful, almost frightening. He met your eyes briefly, not even comprehending who you were or what was happening before he flipped you over and yanked down his trunks. He grabbed your neck with both of his hands as he shoved his cock inside of you without any warning. You screamed out, not expecting the large girth. You were luckily wet enough for him to get inside you without too much resistence, but the speed had you crying out.

“Jimin—“ You tried to choke out but Jimin’s grip on you tightened. He fucked himself into you harshly, groaning at the way your pussy clenched down on him. He lowered himself so his chest was flush against your back as he continued to roll his hips into you. He grazed his teeth across your jaw before sucking it harshly. “Holy fuck” You muttered under your breath.

His pace picked up relentlessly, as if it were even possible for him to fuck you faster. Each thrust was practically splitting you opn. You tried to spread wider but you physically couldn’t. You were ruined under him, and you loved it. You felt yourself teasing your own edge with his cock hitting you in all the right ways. You cried out, nodding your head like an idiot, knowing full well that Jimin did not know nor care what you were doing.

You came like an avalanche, your body twitched and writhed under Jimin. You felt like you were going to lose your voice with how loud you were screaming as his pistoling cock did not give you a second to breathe. You gushed against him, your slick cum making his thrusts even easier. Before you knew it you felt him shoot hot com through you as he let out a loud moan. He buried himself as far into you as he could, pushing your face up against the headboard as his hands practically stopped your breathing. You felt dizzy, but so so good. He recoiled, laying down on top of you then, the full weight of him crushing you.

“Jimin!” You shouted as your ribs felt weak under the pressure. He blinked a few times before he suddenly jumped off of you.

“Oh my god” He whispered, looking at you, with his cum messily dripping down your legs and on your ass. You turned slowly, the soreness beginning to catch up with you. “What the fuck happened”

You exhaled, laughing slightly, “You tell me”

He shook his head frantically, worry filling his eyes, “Oh my god y/n…fuck…no. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do this. I had no idea I…” His face reddened, “I thought I was dreaming”

You giggled, curling your finger and motioning him towards you. He obeyed, crawling into your embrace. He held you like you were a delicate piece of glass that he almost shattered.

“I know. You were wild”

“I didn’t fuck” His frustration was evident as you stroked his back calmly, “I didn’t want our first time to be like this”

“Yeah I mean, being conscious is definitely better” You joked. Jimin shook his head.

“I can’t believe my dick has just been where Taehyung’s has. EW” He shuddered, looking at you in horror. Your face dropped.

“W…what? That’s still your issue?”

Jimin sighed, stroking your hair, “Would you wanna suck my dick if I had it stuffed in someone else’s vagina the day before?”

You shrugged. You guessed you understood his perspective, but that didn’t make his words hurt less. Jimin kissed your cheek.

“Please don’t take it the wrong way baby. It was so good. You felt so good. And I want you so bad. But it’s…too soon. I still just can’t believe you’d just let someone so random touch you like that.”

You nodded, wanting to put the discussion to rest before you bit his head off in retaliation. You reached over for your phone, seeing a few missed messages.

tae: im so sorry princess

You chuckled, raising your eyebrows. Taehyung was the last person who needed to apologize here. You glanced at Jimin, who was also on his own phone, hand caressing your thigh absentmindedly.

y/n: don’t be sorry omg. wanna hang?

“Do you wanna grab lunch?” Jimin asked softly, without looking up, “There’s a new taco place that opened up near here. I know you love Mexican so”

Your heart clenched.

tae: yeah i can pick you up. u still at jimin’s?

“Jimin” Your voice wavered. You had never been so conflicted in your life. Jimin was amazing, you adored him. He knew you better than anyone else and was so so sweet. But somehow this whole sex thing was making you question your willingness to redefine your relationship into something more. You weren’t sure if it was because of how amazing it felt to fuck Taehyung, or because Jimin was being an unapologetic little bitch about your promiscuity. “I think I need some space”

y/n: yeah, sounds good. b out in a few

He turned quickly, his eyes sad. You hated that you even had to have this conversation at all, “I just need some time to myself to figure stuff out. I’m not leaving you, I’ll come back. I’m just not sure if I wanna jump into this right now”

His eyes darkened and he pursed his lips. “Oh, okay” He faked a smile and kissed your nose again, lingering. “Just text me okay. Whenever. Whenever you’re done…doing what you need to do” You nodded. You got dressed and Jimin gave you some clothes. As you walked out the door his grabbed your wrist lightly.

“Y/n” His eyes were watery, “I’m still here for you okay. Please…” He inhaled sharply, “Don’t leave me”

You gave him a small smile, “I won’t Jimin”

“Promise?”

You swallowed your guilt and nodded. You walked out to the street and looked at your phone.

tae: i’m down the curb. same car.

You grinned, turned and waved one last time to Jimin, before walking away, your fingers excitedly tapping your phone.

<-----previous                                                                               next----->

A/N: ~sips water~ 

taglist: (lmk if you wanna be added!!) @honeyspillings @hollowtree10

[shadowturtlesstuff]

you belong with me- thomas

this is thomas’s pov. i like doing both pov (i dont know if you can tell) but there are a few things im working on but enjoy!

“How could-? Are you even hearing yourself speak you fool? No- no. God, you know what I'm done.” I throw my phone on the bed, scaring Sir Issac in the process. I cringe even as I begin pacing back and forth. It was truly absurd, utterly crazy, that William lived in such a world where he would ever consider me being with anyone but Audrey Rose. Whilst we weren’t together per say, it was clear there would be no one else for me. The fact that he had already caused trouble for us once makes this even more irritating. I turn and find Audrey Rose already watching me. Her hair disheveled in a messy bun which tells me she is studying or researching something. I give her what I hope classifies as a smile and watches as she pulls out a familiar notebook, searches for her pen and then writes: Are you okay?

Of course she would ask if I'm okay and not what happened; using our absurd way of talking to each other instead of using the window or even messaging me. I shake my head but smile and make my way towards my window. The wind hits me, sending my hair flying but I embrace the fresh air as I watch her move herself off her bed, cursing at her stiff legs. She has been there most of the day, not moving and lost in her work and music. She curses once more as she hits her elbow on the window sill and she looks truly adorable. “You have a wicked mouth Wadsworth. Did you not learn cursing is unlady-like?” I try to ignore the other thoughts I have of her mouth.

“Fuck you,” she scowls at me. It always makes me smile hearing her curse, she always sounds confident in them somehow, making them seem so real. The first time she swore was the time she failed a science test. Well, not exactly a fail, but she was marked wrong by a substitute teacher who didn't like her so she decided to berate him in front of the whole class, starting with her shouting ‘bullshit!’ as soon as she saw her results.

“I assume dear wadsworth, you want to ask what has made me so irate?” As much as I would rather climb across the gap and make her watch another one of my romance films again instead of talk about it, I know that I should. Otherwise it'll eat at my mind when I go to sleep. As well as it being used against wadsworth in some way too.

“Perhaps,” she says, eyes sparkling with mischief as she rests her head on the wall and brings her knees to her chest, “perhaps I merely wanted to ask if Sir Issac was okay.” I nearly burst out laughing at her. She has a love hate relationship with my cat. She pretends to hate the ‘beast’ but will often let him sit on her lap or pet him whenever she is over here. When I first got him, she stayed round mine for the night and we settled him. Even then she had tried to pretend not to like him but she doesn’t remember that she fell asleep with him curled up next to her. I had to sleep on my chair because they were sprawled out, surrounded by her work.

“Really? You always refer to him as a little pest, whereas as with me, I am your dearest person, of course you want to know how I am feeling. My son is good though, very energetic today.” Said cat brushes against me and I look at him, the memory still clear in my mind. Yet I know I need to stop avoiding the problem, Audrey Rose is too kind to push me into telling her, and will let me avoid it for as long as I need. It is not the worst thing we’ve faced yet I still hate it.  

“I assume you saw the call, well that was William,” she nods, her face already falling at the mention of his name, “Yes, awful. Apparently though, there is a rumor that I'm with Miss whitehall. I don't even remember her first name, but he was convinced of our relation despite my protests. Madness.” I scoff at the sheer audacity of him and his friends. Sir Issac nuzzles into me, knowing that I'm upset and wanting to change that. As well get attention.

“Is this the same William that had convinced everyone I was dating him?”

“Yes.” Anger rolls through me at the memory of that disaster. What hurt Audrey Rose the most is that she truly thought he was a friend. She’d explained that with me she didn't try, but everyone else she had too, so when they'd fallen into easy conversations during lessons she really enjoyed having someone other than me and lize and her uncle to talk to.

“Bitch. Why on earth is he such a problem? Where on earth does he even make this assumptions about us?'' She begins pacing, her mind working faster than her steps as she no doubt recalls everything that happened. I am inclined to do the same. I can still remember her walking into her room, looking at me and falling apart. I climbed into her room and held her letting her calm before she spoke to me. I cried as well, slightly, knowing how much that friendship had meant to her. I'd made us watch a really cheesy film and she'd fallen asleep in my arms.

“I have never once,”I say to drag her back to the present “shown interest in her, nor will I ever.” I drag a hand through my hair. “She's just- a lot.” the first time id met her she was just very loud and demanding, I couldn't stand her. I'd watched her insult so many people for being themselves, for liking childish things, or in Audrey Rose's case, morbid things.

“That is the understatement of the year Cresswell. Besides, you wouldn’t work, she's too- your,” she falls silent, either lost in thought or not wanting to tell me those thoughts. Her cheeks turn a light shade of pink and I smile. She doesn't meet my eye as she sits herself down and I raise my brows as she asks what? As though she didn’t just show me that she has many inappropriate thoughts about me. She curls herself into a ball, hiding in her oversized hoodie, which is mine that I'm not sure she realizes is.

“I’m what? I'd be delighted to know your innermost thoughts of me, Wadsworth.”

“You're absurd but fine I'll elaborate,” she rolls her eyes though, even as the pink deepens slightly. Her eyes focused on my own. So I face her fully, like an astute student in class dying to seek knowledge, “you're too kind, too witty and clever and Whitehall wouldn’t appreciate you enough. You-” she stops talking immediately, as though whatever is in her mind she cant voice. Her face twists into something unreadable and I get the sense that she would rather not ever speak about me being with someone other than her.

“You forgot to mention how handsome I look, or how charming I am, but I'll take it,” she suppresses an eye roll and her smile and ignores the way my voice deepens ever so slightly. I pat Sir Issac off me and earn a whine but he jumps off me. I reach out to her and she leans, her hair ripping free of her bun with little effort from the wind. Her dark curls cling to her face, framing her perfectly too. It makes me want to hold her face in her hands and kiss her deeply.

“I don’t need to inflate your ego further Thomas.”

She inflates my ego every time she smiles at me, whether that be because of my joke or simply smiling at me because I am her friend. “I know but it would've been nice. I did say the inner most thoughts but we’ll get there. Audrey rose-I don’t belong with her, you’re right, my heart would never belong to her especially since it already belongs to someone else.”

She blinks at me, her face falling flat. Silence falls over us and I realize she thinks I'm talking about someone else. And idea forms, one that she may hate me for but one I'm going to do anyway.

“I-” she begins, no doubt going to tell me she wants me to be happy without whomever I'm with. I stand before she can say anything and she stares at me for a second so I motion for her to move. I want to be able to hold her and be next to her. I climb over and set myself on her window sill, leaving enough space for her on the other side. “I hope you are happy with whomever has your heart Cresswell.” I try to hide my smirk at her. Preparing myself for the worst. Preparing myself for her calling me an idiot and that she doesn't like me that way. I wouldn’t blame her.

“Of course I'll be happy. She's amazing. Let me tell you all about her. I met her many years back and was instantly smitten with her emerald eyes and her quick witted mind. How she sings to herself every morning and how her dark curls fall across her face whenever she sits on her bed and reads. I adore her curiosity for the dead and how wicked her mouth is and how delightful it is to watch your mind at work. I love when she shows me a note through the window to see if I'm doing okay and-”

“Wait,” she blurts out, her cheeks red now and eyes bright with shock, “Thomas, are you talking about me?”

I can’t help but laugh. She is one of the smartest people I have ever met yet she, just like I do, struggles with social cues sometimes. Albeit it she is better than I will ever be. “Yes, finally! I thought I'd have to keep speaking forever till you realized it was you.” Not that that would be a problem. As of right now I'd happily list the way her eyes are filled with both relief and shock and happiness and it's a look I want to capture whenever I need a reminder of something good in life.

She scowls at me, ignoring her blush. I take a risk and reach out my hand, moving closer so that her back is straightened on the wall, her attention fixed on me completely. No fake scowl or bright smile, just an intent gaze I can't quite pick apart. I rest my hand on her leg, now free of her (my) hoodie. “Wadsworth, darling, I have been in love with you for some time now.”

I stare at my best friend, my love, as she tries to convince herself this is real. It's truly adorable. Then her eyes widen slightly as she whispers: “I have something to show you.”

She jumps from my grip, running the short distance to her bed and then shuffling through the mountain of books and papers sprawled there until she pulls out a notebook and shakes it, letting a piece of paper drop. It's folded and creased a lot, as though it has been opened often. I watch as she faces me and slowly, her face fixed on the sheet as she opens and holds it out to me.

I read the words: I love you.

I love you.

I read them over and over and over, trying to imprint it on my brain. Her delicate handwriting and her confession reaches out to me and I desperately want to reach out to her, hold her against me and press kisses and make her laugh.

Audrey rose takes her seat across from me and I instantly reach out, holding her leg again. Anything to reassure me this is real. “I wrote that the night after you came here the second time.” her voice is soft, her curls once again framing her face as she looks at me, “Something in me clicked that no matter what you'd find a way to comfort me. Not save me, but work alongside me. I wanted to tell you I just couldn't face it. But I needed to acknowledge it. So I wrote it down, and I look at it every time we use the note system; I try to convince myself to show you.” Audrey Rose would never need saving, never want it, yet her words save my own dark heart that she has felt this way for so long, and we have somehow lived alongside each other and been so blinded by our love entwined with fears that it has taken so long to finally acknowledge them.

I debate pinching myself. Only minutes ago was I miserable and upset, yet Audrey Rose has taken her time to cheer me up. Yet even if I had left it as I am fine, even though she knows me better than that, she wouldn't have pressed for answers; would have waited for me to open up. So i lean in and the world stops as we both wait until our lips are pressed together It's a light kiss, one full of promise and wonder. When I lean back we are both smiling so freely my heart feels as though it too is reaching out to hold Audrey rose. We trade kisses, never wanting to leave this loop but I do lean back away from her. I’m already too drunk on her kisses, I need to breathe, to process this so I can remember it. Once my back is against the wall I pull her, twisting so her back is against mine, leaning into my warmth and I rest my head atop hers. Trying to contain my smiles but to no avail. My hand covers hers and as i look down at her i notice she doesn't bother controlling her smile. It is a magnificent sight.  

“Now would be a perfect time to tell me how handsome I am, my love.”

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[layniapetrovnaaa]

Nightmares [Old Man Logan]

Summary: Laura has a nightmare and goes to find you and Logan to seek comfort.

[The Howlett Family series]

Canadian nights were cold, even in the spring time. Laura shivered lightly under her covers as she stared at the clock on her nightstand that read 3:49 A.M. She took a deep breath and untangled herself from the purple comforter. Her bedroom door creaked as it swung open, and she walked quietly to the shut white door at the end of the hallway. She stood in front of it hesitantly, debating whether or not she should go in or just go back to sleep. She then recalled the night-terror she had, and quietly opened the door. As she walked in to the room the bright glow of the red alarm clock mocked her again, it was times like this that made her glad that she didn't have to wake up at seven o'clock for school, and that her parents had decided to home-school her until she became more accustom to society.

She stood at the foot of the bed and watched you and Logan as she decided who to wake up to console her. You were the obvious choice, but given that fact that you were eight months pregnant and Logan let it slip to her the other day that you hadn't been sleeping very much, she decided to let you continue to rest. As she realized she would have to wake the beast, she took in a deep breath.

The first few months after they crossed the border to Canada were rocky, but soon the family dynamics started to form and her and Logan really started to form a nice father-daughter relationship (well nice by their standards, you all would still get the occasional weird glance at the supermarket, but that could be for a number of reasons honestly). Shortly after everyone had started to become familiar with this new life, you found out you were pregnant. It was a blessing but also a slight cause for concern, yet, you guys made it work, you were excited.

As Laura was moving over to her fathers side of the bed she saw you shift and lay a hand on your swollen belly that was covered by one of Logan's dark grey tees.

She poked him lightly at first, but when he didn't even flinch she poked him harder, several times, which did the trick.

"Stop it." he grumbled, turning his back to face her.

She quickly scanned the scars that littered is back before prodding his shoulder.

"Laura." he spoke in a warning tone.

Logan grit his teeth as he felt the light jab at the back of his head, sitting up about halfway he turns to her, his expression tired and slightly (or not so slightly) irked.

"Whaddya want kid?" his tone was groggy and a little irritated.

"Tuve una pesadilla."she speaks as she holds herself in her arms.

At this point Logan has shifted to sitting up on his side, hand covering his mouth to muffle his dry cough, eyes slightly droopy from sleep.

"Laura you know I cant understand Spanish." he says, exasperated.

"I had a nightmare." she says quieter this time.

Logan sighs closing his eyes tight, itching the back of his neck before throwing off the covers. He gets up and walks over to your shared closet and puts on a black t-shirt. Laura watches his every move, still clinging to herself. He walks towards the door and opens it further to exit the bedroom. He turns back to look at his daughter who stood still in the same spot she was in before. She looks at him intently and he gestures with his hand for her to leave.

"Come on, lets go." his tone was softer this time he spoke, and she obeyed.

He followed her out into the hallway, shutting the door softly behind him, trying not to wake you.

"So-" he starts, "-normally [Y/N] takes care of this stuff, why'd you wake me up?"

Laura shrugged even though she knew the answer.

"She needs to sleep."

He nods, looking up to the ceiling then looking back down at Laura before gently stroking her hair once.

"We all do kiddo." he sighs.

They walk out to the living room and sit on the couch, Logan flips on the TV an Laura curls up and snuggles into his side. Logan puts his arm around her and flips through the channels until he ends up on Disney.

"I uhm-" he clears his throat "- I don't really know what [Y/N] usually says when this stuff happens so..."

She snuggles further into him.

He nods to himself before pulling her closer.

"Can I get you anything?" he asks.

She shakes her head no, and they sit there in silence for a little while, watching the cheesy show on the TV.

The more Logan thought about why the two of them were awake right now the sadder and angrier he got. Logan may not be the most affectionate guy, but he cares deeply for his family, even if he may not always show it. And the thought of his daughter having to experience even half of what he has made him want to go on a killing spree. But, instead he sat there and held her as she watched her show.

"Do they go away?"

"No." he answers bluntly.

"But, you learn how to live with them, your nightmares and your demons, you learn how to accept them. They are a part of you but they don't define who you are."

After that they both stayed silent, and Logan felt himself slowly drifting off. Not too long after, Laura did as well, feeling safe in her daddy's arms.

***

You roll over and stretch your arm out expecting to feel Logan's warm, bare torso, ready to snuggle up against it as best you could, given your big belly, but instead all you felt was the cold bed.

Your eyes squinted open and saw that he in fact was not in the bed with you.

Flipping onto your back you rub your eyes and look at the clock, it was 6:31 A.M. That was odd. Logan never got up that early. You figured you might as well get up now, get an early start to the day, and figure out where Logan was. You rose out of the bed and stretched your hands above your head, sighing as you did before you waddled over to the window and opened the curtains. The sun was just starting to rise over the Canadian Rockies. The warm orange-pink color lighting up the cool blue-grey skies. You couldn't help but smile at the beautiful view.

As you were making your way out to the kitchen, planning on preparing yourself a cup of tea, you noticed Laura's door was cracked open, popping your head in you noticed that she too wasn't in her bed. This concerned you slightly. You walked out to the living room/kitchen area quietly, preparing yourself for the possibility that you might have to use your powers. When you entered the living room you could do nothing but grin. Quickly snatching the old film camera off the shelf next to you, and taking a few pictures of the sleeping pair on the couch.

"They're gunna kill me for that." you giggled to yourself, putting the camera back on the shelf, making your way in to the kitchen.

[cutieodonoghue]

the edge of hope (3/9)

summary: canon divergent au; when Din left Sorgan to protect the Child, he left the woman he’d fallen in love with, not knowing he’d also left behind something else. Or, Omera and Winta join Mando and Grogu on their season 2 adventures. Mandomera!

Catch up here: 1, 2

Third chapter below the cut or on AO3!

The Passenger

It had been a long time since Omera had last ridden a speeder bike, but it almost felt as if it was just yesterday that she was entering races. She used to love the adrenaline rush; used to crave the feeling of living on the edge, tempting fate as she pushed her skills. With age and experience came wisdom that encouraged her otherwise.

On their way back to the Razor Crest at Mos Eisley, Omera kept her speeder alongside Din’s. It gave them the chance to exchange words every so often, something that helped keep her mind focused on the long journey.

“When did you race speeders?” Din asked. He kept his voice tempered, even over the engine noise.

Omera laughed from behind her scarf. “I was a few years older than Winta. Made me very popular.”

Din chuckled. “You don’t strike me as the kind of person who would race.”

“We’re all young once.”

On Din’s side, she saw the Child tucked into a pouch of a bag, his ears flapping in the wind as he excitedly felt the rush of the ride. It had been a smooth journey, but they still had a ways to go before they would reach the hangar.

“Get behind me.” Din gestured with his head to what laid ahead of them. “Looks like a tight squeeze up there.”

Omera saw the formation of rocks just ahead and slowed enough to put appropriate distance between their speeders. A valley this tight would likely slow Din down just a bit for sake of caution, so she made sure to stay a few lengths back.

Just as he reached the opening of the rock valley, she watched with alarm as his speeder went vertical. There was a trap.

A group of bandits emerged from behind the rocks nearby, guns drawn. 

Omera brought her speeder to an all out stop, careening sideways with dust gusting around her and Winta in a big cloud. They narrowly avoided the explosion of Din’s speeder as it crashed onto the ground. Everything that had been loose on board had been flung skyward, including the Child.

From where she was, she couldn’t see the baby, and she hesitated to put both she and Winta further into the situation. There were four bandits, all of them working together, and they seemed focused on getting Din distracted.

He fired his gun at one of the marauders, but the weapon was hit out of his hand. He was able to knock one of them unconscious, but the victory was short-lived when a pair of the enemy teamed up on him with fists. 

Meanwhile, she noticed the smaller of the bandits with a rifle, pointed straight at the otherwise distracted Mandalorian. Quick on his feet, Din shot out a grappling hook from his wrist and pulled the rifle straight into the pair trying to assault him. 

The bandit with the rifle changed his tactic, instead approaching the tiny boy, who she now saw toddling forward, stumbling slightly.

Acting on an automatic impulse, Omera brought her speeder toward the bandit and used her weight to lean the bike closer to the ground, enough that it spooked the bandit to scrambling away while she plucked the Child up into her arm.

“You okay?” Omera asked the boy.

The Child giggled, his smile wide. She couldn’t help but smile because of it as she brought her speeder around in time to catch Din knocking the thief onto his back with a blast from his gun.

He nodded in Omera’s direction, a signal that it was safe to approach.

“So much for my speeder,” he lamented. 

Omera shook her head as she brought them in close. “I wish I could’ve done more to help.”

He studied her for a second. “When we get back to the Crest, I’ll give you a gun.” Din bent down to grab the satchel that had been the Child’s seat for their journey. “Peli will need a payment. I’d hoped we could give her the meat from the dragon.”

Omera climbed off of the speeder. “That I can help with.” 

It took them a little while, but they were finally able to secure everything they needed onto the speeder bike. 

Winta held the Child, and Din sat in the drivers’ position, leaving Omera to squeeze in behind him. She wrapped her arms around his middle as she got comfortable. They were closer than they’d been since that night on Sorgan. It made her heart race just a bit to recall the memory.

The Mandalorian glanced over his shoulder at her. “Okay?”

Omera nodded. “Just don’t drive like a maniac, and I think we’ll all survive.”

Din chuckled, a real laugh that she couldn’t help but adore. “Hang on tight.”

She did as he requested and he started up the bike, sending them forward at a steady pace.

There were no other bandits along their path, something Omera was very grateful for, and when they returned to the Crest, the worker droids explained that Peli had retreated to the bar for the evening.

On a sigh, Din turned to them, “Why don’t you and Winta get ready to leave while I go settle things with Peli?”

Omera nodded. “Fair enough.” She turned to Winta and smiled. “You ready to get going, my love?”

“There’s so much sand here,” Winta complained, not for the first time. She wore a grimace on her face as she tried to get it out of her hair. 

“I know. We’ll get you a bath as soon as we land on our next planet.”

Omera shepherded Winta up onto the ramp that led into the Crest, and with the Child hanging from the pouch off of her side, she grabbed for what else of their belongings remained on the speeder bike.

After settling the rest of their things on the floor of the cargo hold, Omera lifted the Child into her arms and laughed when he reached out to touch her face.

“What?” she asked him playfully. “Can you try to say my name? Omera. O-mer-a.”

The Child merely tilted his head in curiosity, giggling as his fingers finally found her cheek. 

“Here. Why don’t you and Winta play?” She settled the boy down onto the floor of the Crest. “I have to go check the speeder one more time.”

As Omera stepped off of the ship, she could hear Din and Peli exchanging words, making their way from the bar back to the hangar bay. The speeder bike sat just beyond the bay doors, and she made sure to check each crevice of the sidecar one more time before she was ready to bid it farewell.

“What’s the cargo?” she heard Din ask.

Omera made her way towards the ship. Din stood just outside of it, facing Peli and a pink frog-like creature. A woman, by the look of her dress.

She croaked an answer out to Din and Peli nodded once. It was interesting: just that morning, Din had been the translator. Now, he needed one of his own.

“It’s her spawn,” Peli said. 

She gestured to the backpack that the Frog Lady carried. It was cylindrical, a tube of a sort, with blue liquid and what appeared to be eggs floating by the dozens. 

“She needs her eggs fertilized by the equinox or her line will end. If you jump into hyperspace, they’ll die. She said her husband has settled on the estuary moon of Trask in the system of the gas giant Kol Iben.”

“She said all that?” Din asked dryly.

Peli shrugged. “I paraphrased.”

She heard Din sigh softly as she came alongside him. Peli glanced her way with a tiny smirk on her lips, like she had a quip ready to go should the moment arise.

“Is she sure there are Mandalorians there?” Din asked.

Peli croaked in the Frog Lady’s language and received an answer. Turning to the Mandalorian, she said, “She said her husband has seen them.”

For a few seconds, Din hesitated. It seemed he didn’t want to help this woman, whose need was desperate. His need was desperate, too. The Mandalorian they’d found wasn’t truly a Mandalorian.

“We can help bring her to her husband,” Omera said, speaking on Din’s behalf. 

Peli’s face brightened. “See, I knew I liked you.”

The Mandalorian sighed heavily but said nothing.

Peli clicked her tongue against her cheek and gave Din a side-eyed glare. “Cranky Pants here was about ready to walk away from a good deal.”

Omera chuckled beneath her breath, looking at the Mandalorian. He had an annoyed stance, his hands on his hips and his head canted just slightly to the side.

“He’s had a long couple of days. He was almost eaten by a sand dragon.” She and Din stared at each other as she spoke. “Forgive him for being cranky.”

“I’m not cranky,” he said with a cranky edge to his voice. “I’m doing due diligence.”

She and the Mandalorian stared at each other for a few seconds. An argument brewed between them in silence. It was the right thing to do, but it wouldn’t be the safest thing to do. She understood that. Din probably did too, but he was too stubborn to admit it.

“I think this job will be rewarding for everyone involved.”

Din sighed again. He nodded his head and gestured outward with one hand toward the Frog Lady, resigned. “Fine.”

When Omera shifted her attention back in front of them, Peli wore a coy smirk on her lips and folded her arms against her chest. Her nose scrunched up when she spoke, “I don’t know where he found you, but I’m glad he did. He’s better for it.”

Her belly flipped on its own accord, but instead of responding to Peli, Omera smiled at the Frog Lady. 

“I’m Omera. Come with me. You should meet our children.”

Gently, she waved her hand toward the ship and the Frog Lady followed after her with a curious little noise. Together, they climbed the ramp, and Omera smiled over at their new companion.

From somewhere beyond, she could hear Peli say to Din, “You keep staring at your lady friend like that and you’ll burn a hole straight through her.”

She couldn’t help but smile to herself. He hadn’t changed his ways all that much since he came to Sorgan for the first time.

In the cargo hold, she found Winta giggling with the Child in her arms, both of them sitting on a crate along the wall.

“My daughter and I are traveling with the Mandalorian,” Omera explained, even though the Frog Lady had nothing to say in return. “Winta, we have a guest joining us for a little while.”

Winta perked up, her eyes bright, and she nodded. “Hello. I’m Winta.”

The Frog Lady chirped, a pleasant sound. She seemed pleased to meet Winta and a little curious about the Child. The Child’s eyes went to the cylindrical backpack she carried and extended one hand outwards as he babbled.

The sound of Din’s boots on the ramp followed, quickly joining them in the hold. He sighed heavily, like the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. 

“Omera, can I speak with you in the cockpit?”

She nodded. Looking at the Frog Lady, she smiled. “Make yourself comfortable.”

When they both stood inside the cockpit, Din waited for the door to close before speaking. “We don’t have a lot of space for more passengers.”

“I heard Peli say that she could bring us to more of your kind.”

Din gave a resigned sigh. “Traveling sublight is dicey at best. I don’t think we need pirates or warlords on our tail.”

The concerns were valid, but her desire to do good weighed heavier than any fear of what might happen to them did. He was Mandalorian, and she knew now just how good of a fighter that made him. She had faith that he could carry them through any struggle that might come of helping someone in need.

“How far is the journey?”

In the silence he took to consider his answer, she took notice of how close they stood together. There wasn’t much space to stand in the cockpit, so they stood nearly toe-to-toe. 

“Half a day. Likely longer.”

Nodding thoughtfully, Omera smiled at him. “Well, I know you’re a good pilot.” 

Din sighed softly. He seemed a little less frustrated. 

It was then that she realized: he was unable to deny her. He must have felt something for her far greater than simple companionship. The thought made hope bloom wildly within her chest. 

The Mandalorian kept his feelings to himself, and sometimes she wondered if the feelings she felt were at all reciprocated. It was good to know that there at least was a chance.

“I don’t speak her language.”

Omera couldn’t help but smirk. “Feeling a little taken down a notch after your heroics these past few days on Tatooine?”

He sighed again. “No.”

She bit on her lip, thoughtful, and put her palm on his chest over his heart. “Well, Winta and I can sit in the cargo hold with her if that will make it an easier trip.”

He brought his hand to hers on his chest and held it for a few seconds in silence before he replied, “Alright.”

Omera’s eyes closed on their own volition when he lowered his forehead to hers. In her mind, it was as close to a kiss as she would probably ever get from the man she loved. The intimacy of it always filled her chest with the most overwhelming peace she’d ever known.

When Din pulled away, he still held her hand and walked with her out of the cockpit, only releasing her in the instant before she began the climb back down the ladder.

When they gathered with the rest of their crew, the Frog Lady instantly looked away from whatever story Winta was telling her, instead focused on the Mandalorian. She croaked, her words falling on ears that could not understand.

“We are about to take off,” Din said. “I’m gonna ask you to stay strapped in as best you can whenever you’re seated. Especially you, Winta.”

Winta nodded. Omera had to smile at the care in his voice for her daughter. 

“I’ll take him.” Din gestured for his son. “It’s gonna take a while. I recommend all of you get some rest.” He looked at the sleeping nook that was built into the back wall and added, “If you want to lay down, feel free.” His attention went to Omera. “Any of you.”

Omera nodded to him. He was doing all of this for her, and she hoped he knew she appreciated it. “Thank you.”

-

From the cockpit of the Crest, having just set the navigation to automatic, Din settled into his chair feeling just a little bit guilty. He was exhausted, having spent a good part of the day fighting off a krayt dragon, then dealing with bandits during their journey back to Mos Eisley. 

The last thing he wanted was a journey like this one, but he did need to find his kind. This was his only lead.

Beside him, the Child cooed, reaching out for a button on the console.

“No touching,” Din chastised. “Nap time.”

The Child looked at him, tilting his head to the side with his ears perked. He reached for the button again and Din sighed heavily.

“What did I just say?” He pulled the Child’s hand away from the button and held it. “Aren’t you tired?”

Din lifted the boy from his spot on the console and into his arms instead, recalling with fondness how Omera had rocked him to sleep by the fire, her voice gentle and beautiful. The depths of her seemed to be never ending. 

“Try to sleep, kid.”

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, willing himself to sleep with the memory of Omera’s lullaby. 

The next thing he knew, the communicator beeped at him.

Suddenly, he noticed two X-wings on their tail, moving up on each side of the Crest. 

On a deep sigh, he straightened himself. So it wasn’t just pirates he had to be worried about. He also needed to contend with the New Republic.

“Come in, Razor Crest. Do you copy?”

Clearing his head, Din held the Child closer to himself. He answered, “This is Razor Crest. Is there a problem?

“We noticed your transponder is not emitting.”

And it was for good reason, too. If he turned it on, they’d be in far greater danger. Just moving as slow as they were had seemed risky enough as it was.

“Yes, I’m pre-Empire surplus. I’m not required to run a beacon.”

For a second, he thought they bought it. 

“That was before. This sector is under New Republic jurisdiction. All craft are required to run a beacon.”

With a slight grimace, Din considered his reply. “Thank you for letting me know. I’ll get right on it.”

“Not a problem. Safe travels.”

They were New Republic, and he didn’t want to raise any flags with them. If anything, he wanted to get on their good side, so he said, “May the Force be with you.”

“And also with you.” 

A pause. 

“Just one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“I’m gonna need you to send us a ping. We’re out here sweeping for Imperial holdouts.”

Kriff. There wasn’t any way out of this, was there? He was going to be figured out, and everyone on board would be at risk. The Child, Omera, Winta… their guest. The Crest had been in some tight spots before with the New Republic. A particular prison breakout came to mind.

“I’ll let you know if I see any.”

“I’m still gonna need you to send us that ping.”

He glanced down at the dash, at the unit that could perform the task as requested. “Well, I’m not sure I have that hardware online.”

“We can wait.”

Din paused, pretending to tinker with it, thinking maybe they’d buy it. “Yeah, I… Doesn’t seem to be working.”

“That’s too bad. If we can’t confirm you’re not Imperial, you’re gonna have to follow us to the outpost at Adelphi. They’ll run your tabs.”

It seemed he would be unable to escape the New Republic this time.

“Oh, wait. There it is.” Din flipped the switch. A ping was sent to the pair of officers. “Transmitting now.”

In his arm, the Child made a noise, a gurgle that lasted longer than his typical cooing.

“Shh.” Din shifted the boy in his grasp. “Be quiet.”

“What’s that?”

“Uh, nothing. The hypervac is drawing off the exhaust manifold.”

The pair of officers took the call onto a separate channel and that was when Din decided to tuck the Child back into his seat. He buckled him in, already knowing that he was about to run. 

The pair of X-wings both extended their wings as if they knew what was coming.

“Was your craft in the proximity of New Republic Correctional Transport, Bothan-Five?”

And there it was. They’d caught him.

Having absolutely no choice but to flee the scene, Din took control of the Crest, ignoring the New Republic officer’s voices as they chased him down. He supposed it was lucky that the patrol had come alongside him right on the edge of a planet he could try to use to lose them.

“That thing’s gonna break apart in this atmosphere,” one of the officers said over the comms.

With no other choice but to keep pressing forward, Din did as his gut led. From beside him, the Child let out a noise or two, but kept otherwise silent. He could only imagine how the rest of his traveling party were fairing.

The Crest dropped low, free falling through the clouds of the upper atmosphere of the planet. He hoped that the passengers down below were strapped in tight.

Once they were clear of the clouds, Din grabbed tight control again. The planet was icy on the surface, with canyons like a cracked foundation that were deep enough to fly into.

“He’s headin’ down into that canyon.”

The icy world was unfamiliar, and it was downright impossible to keep the Crest flying steady with two X-wings on him like a couple of pests. 

“I got ‘im. Target computer active.”

Nope. Nope. Nope.

It was then that he saw an opportunity. He hung a right and the duo followed, but lost him the instant he lowered the Crest into a tighter cavern. 

The ship collided into an ice wall and Din directed it into a tight space, enough that he could hear the hull scraping as they made the maneuver. They bounced off another wall before skidding along the floor until the ship finally stopped.

Each bump and jolt of the vessel made him grimace, but they were hidden. That was all that he needed. 

“I’ve lost visual.”

“He’s got to be around here somewhere.”

“You head north. We’ll cover more ground.”

Finally, the confirmation that he’d hidden them well enough came through the comms, just in time for the fragile ice beneath the ship to shatter and for the ship to fall straight down, the feeling of butterflies filling his belly as he braced himself for an impact that was sure to follow.

“Hang on!”

The Child whimpered and sobbed, terrified.

When the Crest hit the ground, it was at an angle, buried into the icy floor. The cavern they’d landed in was dark, and so was the ship. It had lost power in the crash.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Din turned to the Child, his first priority to learn how everyone had fared in the crash landing.

“You okay, kid?”

The Child held his head up high and blinked at him when he stood. From all appearances, the boy was just fine. Maybe shaken, but so was he. 

Now, he had to check on the rest of his crew.

With the Child in one arm, he opened the door to the cockpit, not sure what to expect. When he dropped down into the cargo hold, the first thing he noticed was the sound of whistling wind and snowflakes fluttering inside.

There was a gaping hole in the side of the ship, and now everything inside was freezing over. His eyes grew wide with a start and he pivoted to scan the space for the passengers.

“Omera? Winta? Everyone okay?”

Omera and Winta were the first he could see, the mother protecting her child while cuddled together on the floor amongst the scattered cargo. He heard the Frog Lady’s croaking voice before he looked to his right to find her. She rubbed the top of her head, lying out on her side as she shivered.

“Gotta get you some blankets. Keep you warm.” 

Din charged into action, going to the nook he used as his bed. There wouldn’t be enough for all of them, but at the very least, he would give what he had.

When he returned with the pair of blankets, he offered one to the Frog Lady first. He helped her sit upright and wrapped it around her, giving her arms a gentle rub. 

Looking up, he met Omera’s gaze from across the hold. “You alright?”

She helped Winta sit upright against the wall behind them, studying her daughter briefly. 

“Shaken, but we’re fine otherwise. What happened?”

He handed Omera a blanket and she wrapped it around Winta, whose teeth had begun to chatter violently enough that she couldn’t help but make noise. 

“My past caught up with me.” Din took a steadying breath to contemplate their next move and scanned the mess that had become the lower deck of his ship. “I’ll cover up this hole. We need to try to keep the warmth inside as best we can.”

He set to work, pinning up a tarp over the hole in the hull, and with Omera’s help, they pushed aside the cargo that had shifted in the crash. After everything was in some semblance of order, he found Omera a blanket.

With the nurture and caring of a mother, she helped the Child sit on a crate with a small snack in hand, and Din approached her with the blanket in hand. 

“Here. Found it in storage.” 

Omera smiled slightly at his extended offering and reached out to take it, but he acted faster, unfolding it and draping it around her shoulders on her behalf. She held it tight against herself.

He wished he could do more for them. After everything that had happened so far, he felt worse about allowing Omera and Winta to have suffered even just a little in the crash. This wasn’t what they’d joined him for. 

“Thank you.” 

Looking to the rest of the group, Din said, “The main power drive is not responding, and the hull has lost its integrity. I suspect the temperature will drop significantly when night falls.”

“Are we stuck here?” Omera asked.

“No,” Din replied. “Even if we have to all cram ourselves into the cockpit, we’ll make it out of here, but… for now, we need to wait. I’ll have a better idea of what to do in a few hours. I think we should all try to get some sleep.”

Omera looked at the Frog Lady and he saw something sorrowful in her gaze. The Frog Lady made an equally sad noise. 

“We need to try to leave here as quickly as we can,” Omera said, as if just saying so would motivate him. “Peli said these eggs are the last of her kind. If they aren’t brought to Trask in time, it will be the end of her species.”

The Frog Lady seemed to understand Omera’s words. She perked up and nodded in agreement as another croak in her language spilled forth. 

Meanwhile, the Child toddled toward Din on the floor, wrapping his fingers around his leg.

“I know what the deal was,” Din finally told Omera. He reached down to lift the Child into his arm, hoping to provide him some comfort in the cold. “But things changed. We’re here. There’s nothing I can do about it right now.”

Omera offered the Frog Lady an apologetic smile. “We will do what we can. I promise your eggs will make it to Trask in time.”

“Omera.”

She shook her head to silence him. “We made her a promise when we brought her on board. We have to do right by her. I know you’re tired, but this is important.”

Din sighed. There were times he was glad he wore a helmet. Presently, he was glad because if Omera could read his face, she would see that he didn’t feel all that enthusiastic about their current predicament.

As much as Omera wanted to be a help to this Frog Lady, she knew nothing about what was going on. He wouldn’t argue with her about it, because she was right: he was exhausted from a couple of hard days. Crashing the Crest into a freezing cold temperament only seemed to intensify his need to shut his eyes.

Beneath his armor, he was only a tired, frustrated man. 

He sank down onto the floor, leaning back against the side of the ship. He released a breath, exhausted.

“Winta, let’s try and get some rest,” Omera said. She rubbed her hands along Winta’s arms. She ushered Winta towards the side of the ship near him. “We’ve had a long day.”

Winta settled onto the floor beside him and grabbed onto his arm, her eyes full of worry. “Will the ship be okay?”

Din nodded once. “The Crest has seen a lot. This is just a scratch.”

Winta offered him a smile. Omera joined her on the floor, her arm wrapped tightly around her. Opposite them, the Frog Lady sat on the ground, seemingly too worn to keep up the argument.

She cradled her eggs, a worried croak muttered under the yellow of the emergency lights.

As bad as he felt for all that had happened, Din fell asleep swiftly.

When he awoke, it was to a voice he’d thought he’d never hear again: the droid from the prison break, the one he’d dismantled and stuffed into storage with the intention of dumping. 

“Wake up, Mandalorian.”

His eyes opened, panicked, and he gripped the Child in his arm tighter, drawing his gun quickly from his side to aim it at the offending noise. 

The Frog Lady stood beside the droid, holding in her hand a communicator. The droid’s eyes glowed as if it were functional, but it didn’t move.

“Do not be alarmed. I bypassed the droid’s security protocols and accessed its vocabulator.”

He shook his head, angry. The memory of the droid with a weapon drawn on the Child was burned into his mind’s eye and would never leave. “What the hell are you doing? That droid is a killer.”

Din slid his gun back onto his belt.

The Frog Lady seemed just as angry as he felt. “These eggs are the last brood of my life cycle. My husband has risked his life to carve out an existence for us on the only planet that is hospitable to our species. We fought too hard and suffered too much to resign ourselves to the extinction of our family line. I must demand that you hold true to the deal that you agreed to.”

The words, spoken through the droid, echoed Omera’s earlier sentiment. He turned to check on her. She stared back at him with that same sorrowful look on her face from before. And, deeper still, that secret still burrowed in the shine of her eyes.

“Look, lady,” Din turned his attention to the Frog Lady, “the deal is off. We’re lucky if we get off this frozen tomb with our lives.”

“I thought honoring one’s word was a part of the Mandalorian code. I guess those are just stories for children.”

She was right. It was part of the code to honor one’s word, and it was insulting to think that he could change her mind about the honor of a Mandalorian based on his performance evading his own arrest.

Fixing his ship in these freezing conditions was going to be difficult, and it might not even work well enough for them to leave in time for the deal to have a happy ending. 

He sighed heavily when the Child cooed, his voice a warm reminder of the commitment he’d made to be a father to the boy. As his father, he needed to show him the Way, which included honoring his word.

“Fine.” Din nodded. He set the Child down and pushed himself up off of the floor. “Omera, how useful are you with electrical systems?”

Omera smiled up at him. “I can find my way.”

“Then you and I will try and get the power back online. Weld some of the hull back together.” He grabbed his tool kit from the top of a nearby crate. “In the meantime, everyone else should stay here. Try to stay warm.”

“Thank you, Mandalorian,” the droid said on the Frog Lady’s behalf. “I hope you listen to your wife more.”

He opened his mouth, surprised by the choice of word, but Omera was on her feet and at his side faster than he could speak. She gave him a playful look, a single eyebrow lifted.

“Yes, Mandalorian. You should listen to me more.”

Sighing, he shook his head and gestured to a crate. “There should be some clothes to keep you warm in the bin, there. I’ll go see what it looks like from the outside.”

The damage to the Crest was far worse than he’d thought it was. Thick, dark smoke billowed out of it, live wires sparked, there was a leak, and the hull would have almost been better removed and replaced than even attempting a fix.

He began with prying back a loose piece of the outer hull, already regretting the decision when he realized how bad it really was beneath the surface. Omera stepped outside as he started working on fusing some electrical wire.

“Oh. If this is just a scratch… I’d hate to know what else has happened.” Omera came closer to him. “Where are your tools? I’ll help mend this back together.”

“They’re…” 

He paused, turning to look at her. She wore one of his long-sleeved shirts over the top half of her body, and a hat that he must’ve taken off of a bounty at some point covered her ears. Her nose was still red from the cold, but she soldiered through, rubbing her bare hands together as she walked over the ice floor.

“They’re... what?” Omera laughed, her breath escaping past her mouth with a puff of white. 

He shut his eyes, embarrassed, and gestured toward the box. “There. Sorry. I didn’t expect you’d wear my…”

“Oh, this is yours?” Omera seemed surprised as she looked down at the top she wore. “It’s very warm.”

Din swallowed, continuing to stare at her as if he’d never seen her before in his life. “I… yeah.”

She laughed again. “I’ve never heard you so at an obvious loss for words.”

It was strange, the way she seemed to make him turn into a completely different person just because she smiled in his direction. A few months ago, they had been intimate, so feeling out of his head because she was wearing his shirt felt entirely flustering. 

He turned back to his task, determined to set himself to it again. “It’s just the cold getting to me.”

“Uh huh.” Omera plucked a tool from his repair kit and stepped around him toward another exposed strip of wiring. “How long do you think the repairs will take?”

Din shook his head. “Hard to say, but assuming it doesn’t get any worse than it is now… if we both fuse as much as we can back together, maybe we can get out of here within the next couple hours.” 

Omera hummed thoughtfully. She examined the scratched up metal in front of her. “Do you have-”

“Should be in the crate beside the… hole in the wall.” 

She took a few steps backward and took the Crest in from a small distance. “I see now why you were so sure the deal was over.”

Din nodded. “You were right, though. It’s important I follow through on this. The Child needs to learn what it’s like to make good on your word even when it seems impossible.”

Omera didn’t have a response. She stepped inside the ship to grab what she needed. Din returned his attention to the hull with a sudden deep longing welling up inside of him.

They worked in tandem to do what repairs they were able. 

The wind howled through the cavern of ice, a steady reminder of just how frozen this planet was, and he kept an eye on his companion to make sure she wasn’t frosting over as much as his armor was.

By the time they wrapped around to the right side of the ship, away from the hole in the hull, her fingers shook enough that the tools were hard for her to grip firmly enough to use. She had to stop what she was doing to breathe into them, rubbing her palms together for friction. 

Din paused his work to take her hands into his. “You’re trembling.”

Omera nodded. Her nose and cheeks were red, but she smiled through it. “I’m okay. We’re almost done.”

Din took his hands away from hers and tugged one of his gloves off, holding it out to her. “Here.”

With a cautious look in her eyes, she took the glove from him. He watched her slide it over one hand, her dominant one. 

Her gentle smile was a reminder that he got lucky when she agreed to join him. So easily, Omera could've stayed where she was and both of them would have been unchanged by it. She wanted to be at his side for this journey- even for the mistakes made along the way.

“Thank you.”

They continued to work as quickly as they could, fighting the cold with nothing but sheer determination. 

For a while, it was quiet, until Din heard the Child babble something, the noise drawing his attention to the boy. He stood on a nearby mound of ice, gesturing outward with one arm.

“How ‘bout you come over here, give us a hand?” Din asked. “Make yourself useful.”

When the Child seemed to ignore him, instead toddling away, Din sighed wearily. Omera stopped her work on the hull as well.

“Hey, kid,” Din called out after him. He didn’t stop moving, not even as Din walked around the Crest to find where he was going so fast. “I said hey! Where are you going?”

Moving swiftly, Din approached the Child, forcing him to look up at him. He babbled again, gesturing out as he faced a small opening in a nearby cave. He must have seen the Frog Lady venture off of the ship. Winta wouldn’t have gone off on her own; wouldn’t have been able to.

Din scanned the footprints in the snow with his visor. Definitely the Frog Lady.

He took the Child into his arm. “Guess we’ve got to go find her.”

Omera’s voice came from behind him, “I’ll come with you.”

Together, they walked up the path into the ice cave. Once inside, they quickly uncovered the reason the Frog Lady had sought it out: there was a warm body of water. She sat in it, her eggs floating around her.

“Oh, there you are,” Omera said with kindness. She knelt down beside the Frog Lady. 

“You can’t leave the ship,” Din scanned the cave for signs of danger. Seemed like just about anything could have lived there. He settled the Child on the ground and knelt beside the warm water. “It’s not safe out here.”

The Frog Lady croaked and whined, clearly far more comfortable in the hot spring than being out in the freezing temperatures. Must’ve been nice for the eggs, too. 

“Let’s gather these up.” Din pulled the container toward himself and began plucking the eggs out of the water. He listened to the Frog Lady speak again and felt compassion for her, truly. “I know it’s warm, but night’s coming fast, and I can’t protect you out here.”

At his side, the Child leaned in and plucked an egg into his hand. Luckily, Din caught it in time and forced it out of his grip.

“No. No!” He shook a finger at the Child, hoping he could understand. “These aren’t for you to eat.”

It was hard enough dealing with a woman he couldn’t understand while also trying to wrangle a toddler that seemed to have it in for him as of these past few hours.

The Child whimpered, but Din turned his focus instead on gathering as many eggs as he could while Omera did the same.

“We’re working on getting the ship fixed,” Omera said. “It should be done very soon. I promise we’ll get out of here. You’ll be reunited with your husband and you’ll be blessed with many children.”

The Frog Lady croaked in a way that seemed like she appreciated what Omera had to say. Din dropped a few more eggs into the container.

“Oh, no.” Omera suddenly stopped what she was doing. “Din, the Child.”

When he looked at her, he found her attention laser focused a short distance ahead. He whirled around to discover that the Child had encountered a different sort of egg, his head tilted with curiosity as he extended his hand toward it.

He stood, scrambling with the backpack of eggs. “No! Come down from there!”

But, as seemed to be the Child’s prerogative as of late, he didn’t listen. Instead, he stuck his hand straight into the egg, cracking it open and spreading the yolk over his hand.

For a moment, there was nothing. And then, it seemed, as it always was, there was everything. 

Rumbling echoed from somewhere in the great cavernous beyond and he turned to the Frog Lady to get her out of the water, but she was already at Omera’s side, fully clothed.

“Come here,” Din ordered the Child, but he didn’t need to. 

The boy was already anxiously toddling back to him as eggs perched in the ice all around them hatched and out emerged hundreds of small spider-like creatures. He met his kid halfway, scooping him up into his arm.

Then, he slid the Frog Lady’s egg backpack over his shoulder frantically. Just as he did so, a massive spider-like ice creature emerged from an upper alcove, screeching loudly in anger. 

It was the mother of the egg that the Child- his child- had just ruptured for a snack.

It growled, furious, and then, there were more of them. Hundreds and hundreds of smaller spider-like creatures emerged from what seemed like nowhere, all of them just as furious as the mother.

He grabbed his pistol from his hip and shouted, “Go, go, go! Back to the ship!”

They scrambled, rushing out of the hot springs with fervor. All he could think about was making sure nobody got hurt, and that inevitably led him to worrying about Winta, who was alone in the Crest.

“Winta’s alone,” he shouted toward Omera. “We need to hurry. We don’t know how many of these things there are.”

It seemed they were only able to outrun them for a little while before the creatures showed their advantage: they knew the caves better than they did. Several appeared ahead of them, earning blasts from his blaster pistol that sent them to the ground.

As they rounded a corner, the largest spider growled at them from where it was following them on the upper ice ceiling. It stuck one of its legs through the ice directly in front of Omera, who jumped backwards, right into his open arm.

They paused only briefly before they were at it again. This time, Din had an idea: he could create an explosion.

He threw three grav charges behind them as they continued to run, launching the last at the largest creature above them. The explosives succeeded in caving in the path for the smaller spiders, and brought the mother spider down to the floor, stopping her assaults on them.

But even as they continued, there seemed to be all the more of these creatures eager to be exploded by the fire of his blaster.

The sound of a blast from a gun surprised him to turn and see that Omera had a weapon in her grasp, her focus firm as she fired at the creatures that were in their path. She must have grabbed one from the Crest. 

He had no time to dwell, but couldn’t help feeling empowered. They were in this together.

The final corner led them straight out of the caves, back to the Crest, and as soon as he could even set his gaze on it, he knew all of their work on it wouldn’t be nearly enough. But, they needed to try.

Omera led the charge to the ship, helping by setting the Child inside before the Frog Lady joined him. Together, he and Omera continued to blast at the spiders.

“They’re just gonna keep coming,” Din told Omera. “We need to try getting out of here.”

She fired off one more blast before going inside herself, and he followed, his teeth gritted when the hold began to fill with the creatures like a wave coming into shore.

He climbed up the ladder to the cockpit behind Omera, and once they were inside, he stood facing the door, shooting at the creatures who wanted their way inside. A few got free, but Omera had his back, firing at them with her gun before they had the chance to do anything.

The door refused to close. Spiders pushed in and piled up by the dozens. He blasted them with his flamethrower, and luckily, the door was finally able to seal.

Little tapping claws on the glass of the cockpit windows indicated that the creatures had begun to crawl on top of the Crest.

“Mama...” Winta sat in one of the chairs, having come to the cockpit on her own accord. She clung to Omera, who sat down in the chair, tugging her daughter with her.

“Strap yourselves in.” 

Din flipped switches as he sat in the pilot’s chair, eager to see if he could get the ship to function. The Child made his way into Din’s lap as if drawn there automatically. 

“This better work. I’ve got limited visibility. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”

The engine whirred. The Crest began to lift, pulling itself out of the ice floor, and for a moment, he felt as if everything would be okay. They were going to make it out of this alive.

Before he could even consider his next thought, something jumped onto them, forcing the Crest straight back into the ground once more with all of its weight. 

The large spider-creature announced her arrival with a screech and jumped straight in front of the cockpit, pressing her claws inside, shattering glass, as if torturing them before she would make her final move.

It attached its ugly mouth to the top of the cockpit glass, sharp teeth extending as it prepared to do its worst.

The Crest shook with each lunge forward and Din heard the Child whimper in fear. Each heartbeat in his chest was a reminder that they’d come so far, but there was absolutely nothing he could do. 

They were stranded, alone, and at the mercy of the creature. He couldn’t save them. 

Omera had trusted him with her and Winta’s lives, and now, they would all be a tasty snack for an enraged monster on an ice planet. Nobody would even know what happened to them.

But then, as if by miracle, the friendly sounds of guns blasting rang out clearer than any other sound, zapping the spider-creature where it clung to the Crest in its outrage. 

Just a few seconds later, it fell to its demise in front of the ship and Din finally could breathe again. 

That was far too close for comfort. He could only imagine what his passengers were thinking.

Turning to the rest of the crew seated behind him, he nodded at Omera. “Well done back there.”

“Thanks,” she said, breathless with relief. “Who saved us?”

Din stood, settling the Child into Winta’s arms so he could handle the men waiting for him outside. “The New Republic.”

-

After very narrowly avoiding arrest by the New Republic patrol, Din and Omera set to fixing what they could on the exterior of the cockpit, having decided that they would all stuff in together there for the rest of the journey to Trask. 

“Why did you run from the New Republic?” Omera asked. 

She passed him one of the tools from the kit at his request and then continued welding. 

“I got roped into a mission to break someone out of a New Republic prison transport. We used the Crest. I didn’t want them to arrest me.”

Omera paused what she was doing, but said nothing.

Din sighed, turning to look at her directly. “Go ahead. Tell me you want to go back to Sorgan.”

She gave him a slightly offended look. Her shoulders fell as she shook her head. “Din… I don’t want to go back to Sorgan.”

He turned his focus on fusing the hull surrounding the cockpit once again. “They cleared me. It isn’t going to happen again.”

“I doubt it could, with your ship in such rough condition.” 

Din laughed to himself through his nose. “You’re right about that.” Pulling away from his work, he turned to her. “I’m sorry this happened. The kid just won’t listen to me. I don’t get it.”

Omera lowered her tool into the repair kit and thoughtfully looked at him. “Children are by nature curious. I think you just need to find a way to tame his curiosity.”

“How? He’s… Jedi.”

“Just because he’s Jedi doesn’t mean he isn’t a child.” She paused, smiling a little. “Maybe find something he likes and offer it to him as a reward for listening to you.”

Din nodded. “I wish I knew how long it took his species to speak. He can heal flesh wounds and create force fields, but he can’t tell me what he wants.”

Omera put a hand on his helmet, her smile spreading softly. “You are the best one for this job. You’re his father. He’s your son. You share a bond, even if you aren’t his kind.” 

His heart fluttered, not for the first time at the mention of the word father. Was he really a father? 

He hadn’t really thought of himself as one, even after being told that it was his duty by the armorer. The idea that he was responsible for the Child made sense in his mind. He could care for him and deliver him to where he belonged. But being a father meant something more. Didn’t it?

In his mind’s eye, he saw his own father, a man who had been so kind and giving. A man who had sacrificed himself so that Din could live. Was he capable of that kind of sacrifice? Could he ever display that kind of love for the Child?

Din nodded at Omera, appreciative of her support. “Thank you.”

She studied him for another second and then pulled her hand away from his helmet.

Setting his mind away from the fears deep within, he looked at the work he’d done. Time would only tell if what they’d done in repairs was enough.

“Well… you ready to see if she’ll fly?”

“I think we’ve done all we can with what we have.” 

The ship wobbled and creaked, but eventually, he did get them out of the ice canyon and back out into space. A feeling of relief filled the cockpit, even as the Crest continued to tremble from everything it had been through.

He set the nav computer to their destination and looked over his shoulder at the Frog Lady and Omera. 

“We’re on our way.”

The Frog Lady made a happy noise and Omera awarded him a warm smile, a reward for not giving up on the deal. 

Once they landed on Trask, the first thing he wanted to do was reward Omera and Winta with a warm place to sleep, bathe, and eat. 

In his lap, the Child cooed, peering up at him with a little smile on his face. Din cradled him with one arm and twisted the knob of the lever he seemed to like so much. He dropped it into the Child’s hands and was given a delighted giggle.

“Now, go to sleep,” Din instructed. “It’s going to be a long trip.”

The Child seemed to understand. He played with the shiny orb in his palm for only a moment before settling in, his eyes closing tight. Din’s heart squeezed at the sight.

Maybe their next stop would be a fresh start on this journey for all of them.

[lupinlongbottom]

Burning Bridges pt. 7

Neville Longbottom x Reader

Summary: Chaperoning a Hogsmeade trip wasn’t exactly on the top of (Y/N)’s list of things she wanted to do that weekend, but having Neville along for the ride makes it worth it. 

Word Count: 3.6k

Warnings: None

A/N: Oh boy oh boy! Hogsmeade fun! The plot? thickens. 

Part 1 … Part 2 … Part 3 … Part 4 … Part 5 … Part 6

__

The winter air had begun to dissipate, the sun shining brightly amongst the melting snow in Hogsmeade village. While it was late into February, many witches and wizards were hoping spring would be around the corner, but a ‘fool’s spring’ would have to suffice for now. They knew full well within the next few weeks, the harsh snow and winds would resume like normal, but it did not matter. Many students were enjoying the extra buttons undone on their jackets, a few foregoing mittens and scarfs.

“Remember, you’re a reflection of our school, please be advised to be on your best behavior,” (Y/N) gave a pointed look to two Ravenclaw boys, both snickering at her words. “Mr. Fairley and Mr. Espen, do I make myself clear?” The two boys stifled their laugh, eyes hardened towards the Professor. They nodded, mumbling something into their scarves. “Alright, then. Enjoy your afternoon.”

The students dissipated, running to and from their favorite shops, many favoring Honeydukes or Zonko’s. (Y/N) took a moment to glance over the straggling students, many of whom stuck to their respective friend groups. It was odd, watching the cliques grow and change over the course of a school year. While many friends stayed true to their group, it was obvious when one student was left out or pushed to the side. She knew better than to meddle, but understood that even Professors know more about the student’s social lives than she could’ve even comprehended when she was at school.

“Do you reckon Espen’ll listen to you?” Neville mumbled, stepping over to (Y/N)’s side, pulling her out of her trance.

“Hardly,” (Y/N) said, readjusting her dark coat. “Those two are menaces when they’re together. Flitwick says that they tear up the common room any chance they get, roughhousing.”

“Last week, those two tried pulling out the growing Mandrakes that my second year class had potted in the middle of their lecture,” Neville said, his face twisting in horror. “They’ve been maturing since the beginning of the year, their screams are getting quite close to being lethal. Had to take fifteen points from each of them.”

“For a pair of Ravenclaw’s, you’d think they knew better, But I suppose they think they’re too smart to get caught,” (Y/N) said, glancing up at Neville. He was wearing a puffy beige coat, fur—probably kneazle—lining the hood. He had chosen to wear his old Gryffindor scarf out, many students noting his old House, almost in disbelief. “Pulled out the scarf, huh?”

“Yeah,” Neville said, pulling at the end, “felt like it was as good of time as any to wear it out,” he nodded at (Y/N)’s scarf. “You didn’t wear yours?”

“No,” (Y/N) said, shaking her head. “I leave the House pride to the students.”

“Oh come off it,” Neville said, pushing her shoulder. “I know you’d love to wear your (Y/H) scarf out! You wore it all the time, matching with your headband. It became your signature look!”

“I thought my ribbons were my ‘signature look’,” (Y/N) smiled, pulling lightly at the dark green bow that settled in her hair.

“You can have more than one,” Neville said, shrugging lightly. “It’s been a while since we’ve chaperoned together,” he said, eyes fixed at the twisting street of the town. “Probably the first time since the beginning of the year?”

“I don’t normally chaperone,” (Y/N) said plainly, meeting Neville’s long strides down the cobblestone. She wasn’t short, by any means, but the Gryffindor was admittedly taller than her, causing a bit of a chase in her pace. “I normally prefer overseeing detentions instead. Maybe it’s because I can come to Hogsmeade at any time, not just when I’m supposed to make sure the students aren’t going berserk.”

“You’re here now, though,” Neville said, glancing down at (Y/N). “Why’s that?”

“Dunno,” (Y/N) shrugged, flicking her eyes up to him. “Maybe because this feels like a date, almost.”

“Y-yeah?” 

“Almost,” (Y/N) smiled, pushing her hands into her coat pockets. “But not quite. Cant exactly be all couple-y here, can we?”

It had been a little over a week since the two finally spoke about what they wanted to gain from one another, a longwinded road that ultimately lead them to their current space. No one else was aware of the change, however, as (Y/N) and Neville decided it was best to keep it under wraps, especially in front of students. The only other person to possibly know was Hagrid, who saw the two holding hands near his gardens, admiring the groundkeeper’s handiwork on his pumpkins. Hagrid didn’t mention anything, however, so perhaps he hadn’t really paid much attention.

“Right,” Neville nodded. “Not quite,” The two passed a little green building, sloping at the sides. Dogweed and Deathcap, a sign read in foiled gold lettering. It looked to be a Herbology shop. Neville stopped for a moment, eyes now glued to the display in the window. “Do you mind…?”

“Go for it,” (Y/N) said, patting Neville on the back. “I’ll take a quick lap and make sure no one’s died.”

“Thanks!” Neville said excitedly. He disappeared into the shop, a goofy grin plastered to his face.

True to her word, (Y/N) waltzed around the grounds, keeping a watchful eye out for any horseplay or bad behavior. She found herself seated on a bench near Honeydukes, listening to the giggles and squeals of the students within. It was comforting, almost, remembering what it was like years ago.

-

“They’re not that bad, Neville!” (Y/N) said, thrusting a little striped box into his chest. “Go on, then. Give it a try!”

“I don’t care for Bertie Botts…” he said, grasping at the carton. “You know I have rotten luck…”

“Nev, everyone has rotten luck with Bertie Botts, it’s half the fun!” She giggled, tugging her pink hat back to covering her ears. “You’ve missed out on loads of Honeydukes sweets last year, it’s ‘bout time you made up for it, yeah?”

“You brought me some sweets,” Neville said, recalling the various packages and gifts the girl had brought him. He wasn’t allowed to go to Hogsmeade after he misplaced the Gryffindor common room password list he had written. “I had some of your peppermint toads!”

“Still,” (Y/N) clicked, rolling her eyes. “Try it out! I didn’t spend six of my Sickles to watch you chicken out!”

“I’m not a chicken!” Neville’s ears went scarlet, fingers diving into the box. He grabbed ahold of two beans, one beige and one orange. “Here,” he threw the beans into his mouth, chewing quickly. His nose scrunched up, eyes snapping shut.

“Bad beans?”

Neville nodded quickly, finally swallowing the mush.

“What were they?”

“I think…” Neville took a moment, sticking his tongue out, letting it breathe. “One was marmalade, but the other…” he shuddered at the thought. “Tasted of vomit…”

“I’m sorry,” (Y/N) said, holding back a laugh. “At least the marmalade was good?”

“I couldn’t tell you,” Neville said, now shoving the box back into (Y/N)’s loose grip. “The vomit took over.”

“Well, when they say every flavor…” (Y/N) laughed, placing the box gently back into her rucksack, right on top of a new travel cauldron she splurged on. “Come on,” she grabbed Neville’s woolen-covered hand, pulling him forward. “Let me treat you to a butterbeer, to make up for the—uh—vomit!”

She had hardly noticed how his ears went pink.

-

“Butterbeer…” (Y/N) mumbled, glancing down to her snowy boots. “That sounds like an awfully good idea about now…”

Without a second thought, (Y/N)’s boots led her to the Three Broomsticks. The interior was as bustling as she had remembered from her youth, some students here for the first time. She had hardly found the time in her breaks to come down to the pub, visiting only once before the term had started. She placed herself at the counter, awaiting service.

“Well, if it isn’t little (L/N),” Madam Rosmerta gleamed, putting down a freshly polished stein. “Thought you’d be cooped up in those dungeons of yours, no?”

“Hello Rosmerta,” (Y/N) said, removing her heavy coat. She felt like she didn’t need it in this moment. “Caught me at a good time, the headmistress unlocked my cell for the day.”

“Always the jokester,” Madam Rosmerta said, clicking her tongue. “Firewhisky?”

“No,” (Y/N) shook her head. “I can’t stand the stuff, besides I’m technically chaperoning…”

“Ah,” Madam Rosmerta nodded, pouring a glass of butterbeer from the large oak barrel. “Butterbeer it is, then. Can’t let the kids have all the fun, right?”

“I suppose not,” (Y/N) said, smiling at the large pint before her. The sickly smell of butterscotch made her heart grow light, like a warm hug. She brought the foam to her lips, instantly feeling relieved at the taste.

“Nothing quite like it,” Madam Rosmerta said, watching (Y/N) take another gulp. “The memories associated with that drink. Probably my favorite thing about it, besides the taste of course!”

(Y/N) merely nodded, too focused on finishing her cup until the last drop passed her lips. She hadn’t intended to finish the entire thing so quickly, but the honey-colored liquid was too inviting to pass up. “Do you mind…?” She raised the glass to Madam Rosmerta’s eye line, watching her smile grow. 

“Not at all, sweets,” Madam Rosmerta filled the glass again, the foam almost pouring over the sides. “How’s life been for you, Professor?” Her last word dropped over the tip of her tongue languidly.

“It’s been alright!” (Y/N) said cheerfully, carefully eyeing her glass. She felt the burbling in her stomach, almost afraid to take another sip before it settled. “I love my work, I adore most of my students—”

“That’s the same schtick Longbottom tried to pass off on me last week,” the barmaid scowled, leaning on her elbows. “Wouldn’t tell me the truth, but he seemed rather ruffled as it were, so I didn’t push it.”

“Oh yeah,” (Y/N) nodded, “the wine he bought from you, it was excellent!”

“Yeah? Been sitting on those bottles for a while…” Madam Rosmerta said, idly glancing at the spare bottles under her bar. “I’m glad you—wait,” the barmaid’s eyes went wide, almost to the size of the pints before her. “You!”

“M-me?” (Y/N) stammered, slightly concerned.

“I knew it! I knew Longbottom was planning a date!” Madam Rosmerta said, practically dancing a jig. “He wouldn’t say much, said he needed it for a ‘special dinner’.”

“I—well—”

“No need,” Madam Rosmerta rose a hand, effectively shutting (Y/N) up. “Your pink cheeks give it away, sweets.”

It was true, (Y/N)’s cheeks had grown to a lovely shade of scarlet, much more than a glass of butterbeer could’ve given her.

“Oh, calm down. I revel in young love and romance,” she pointed to a table near the corner of the inn, two Slytherin girls were sipping their glasses and laughing. “Those two have come nearly every weekend. The one on the left always buys for her, I think it’s sweet…”

“Yeah…” (Y/N) nodded, her eyes glued to the foam atop her glass. “Sweet…”

“You were always so sweet on him too, you know,” Madam Rosmerta said thoughtfully. “Every time I saw the two of you together I hoped you’d hit it off,” she looked at (Y/N)’s timid posture. “I’m glad I was right!”

“It’s only been a week,” (Y/N) said, finally bucking the courage to look at the barmaid. “Besides, a lot has happened in the last five years for us to—”

“Wait!” As if by lightning, a thought struck Madam Rosmerta, leading her to fumble through the stack of papers nearest the bar. “You and him went to the Potter’s wedding, right?”

“Oh—erm—yeah, we did…” (Y/N) said, knowing full well what Madam Rosmerta was going to bring up next. “Don’t tell me that you—”

“I knew it!” She slammed the paper atop the bar, directly in (Y/N)’s eye line. “I knew that these were the two of you!” Madam Rosmerta’s manicured nail pointed at the infamous picture of (Y/N) and Neville, holding each other romantically close, almost kissing. “I recognized your dress from the photo before, and then when Neville came in the next day going on about his dinner…”

“Could you keep it down? Just a bit?” (Y/N) said, almost hissing. “No one else at the school knows, well, the students don’t, I should say. Can’t say much for faculty…”

“Ah, making it a bit more fun for yourselves? Keeping it in secret?”

“This is why I don’t come down here often, Rosmerta,” (Y/N) smirked, finally taking a sip of her second glass. “But, no. We just—we’ve been fighting for this for so long that it’s nice to have it be between just us for now, you know?” Another sip. “Besides, the students are terrible gossips…”

“I understand,” Madam Rosmerta said, sighing lightly. “I’m just ecstatic for the two of you, finding each other after all this time… Really gives an old lady some hope, you know!”

“I bet,” (Y/N) giggled, taking another sip of her butterbeer, reveling in the taste.

“Though, I will say, I thought that you and that Knight fellow were courting…” Madam Rosmerta said, trailing. “He frequents a visit every now and then. Talked my ear off about you.”

“Oh…” (Y/N) said, glancing down. “I suppose we were… ‘courting’, in a sense. Nothing official, really,” she shrugged, taking another sip. “If I’m being honest, he’s not really much who I thought he was. Said some… unsavory stuff after I… well, after I tried to break it off.”

“Ah,” Madam Rosmerta clicked. “It’s the ponytail. Nothing good comes from a guy with a hairstyle like that.”

“Rosmerta!” (Y/N) said, spitting out her drink.

“You know it’s true,” Madam Rosmerta said, shrugging. “He’s an odd fellow, but he’s a regular so I put up with it. Always goes blabbering about his Muggle hobbies and the like. Photography, flower pressing, and you, were amongst other things he’d go on about.” 

“He was into pressing flowers,” (Y/N) said, nodding. “Made me look at his various journals. It’s an interesting hobby, to say the least.”

“Still, Knight is an odd fellow, would bring his Muggle camera in from time to time. Small enough to fit in your hand, all ‘digital’. Muggles are so fascinating, I’ll admit,” Madam Rosmerta said. “Glad you got out of it when you could. You deserve better.”

“Yeah,” (Y/N) smiled. “I think so too.” 

__

“…really, you needed all of these?” (Y/N) laughed, noting Neville’s rather large parcel from his shopping trip. They had returned from Hogsmeade, warming up in (Y/N)’s chambers with a fire and fresh hot tea.

“Well, I needed a few more seeds for my next lecture and they were having a bit of a sale so…” Neville sat, twiddling his thumbs, now realizing the gravity of his haul. “It’s not like I won’t use any of it!”

“I know,” (Y/N) smiled, settling herself on the plush couch, closer to Neville than she’s sat in the past. It was strange, she noted, how comforting being so close to another person could feel. “You’re good about things like that.”

“Oh! Speaking of,” Neville leaned forward, rustling through his paper bag, reaching to nearly the bottom. “You had said a few days ago that you needed some more of this… so…” In his hand were a few sprigs of greenery, looking almost like weeds. “I’ve been trying to grow a small plot of it, but it won’t do you any good until it’s all grown so…”

“Dittany,” (Y/N) said, taking the handful of green into her own fingers, feeling the wax of the leafs. “Yeah, I needed a bit more for my demonstration on the Wigglenweld Potion for my first years—I had completely forgotten to pick some up!” She pressed the green clump to her chest. “Thank you, Neville. I appreciate it.”

“It’s not a p-problem,” Neville said, stammering slightly.

“Well, now I feel bad,” (Y/N) said, settling into her crevice in the couch. “I didn’t buy you anything…”

“You didn’t need to buy me anything,” Neville assured her, “it’s a gift.”

“Wait a second,” (Y/N)’s eyes lit up like a flame, hustling over to her kitchen cupboards. “I know I have some extra… aha!” In her hand was a fresh box of Bertie Botts, unopened and unassuming. “My mum sent me some a while back, but I haven’t opened them yet.”

“Bertie Botts? (Y/N), you know how much I don’t like—”

“Yeah, I know,” (Y/N) hummed, practically skipping back to the couch. “But being out today reminded me of the day that you—”

“Ate the vomit bean? (Y/N)…”

“Oh come on,” (Y/N) said, flopping back on the couch, a little closer to Neville than she had sat before. “I know it isn’t much, but please just,” she placed the box in his lap, “accept the box, for now. Consider it a placement until I can find something more suitable.”

“I told you,” Neville said, shaking his head. “I don’t need anything in return, the dittany was a gift,” He pressed the box back into (Y/N)’s hands, closing them tightly around the striped box.

“Fine,” (Y/N) huffed, removing the Bertie Botts from her grip. “Then… at least…” (Y/N) hesitated for a moment, almost unsure of herself. Leaning forward, she pressed a chaste kiss to Neville’s cheek. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Neville said, his ears turning pink. “What’re you going to do with the beans, then?”

“Dunno, eat them?” (Y/N) said, tone teasing. “Probably not for a while though, they tend to be more of a party game than anything. Not really planning too many of those of late…”

“I suppose not,” Neville chuckled. He glanced around the apartment, eyes scanning the surroundings. “Hey, where’s Edgar? He’s usually around, no?”

“I sent him out this morning, with a letter to my mum. She spoils him with mice and treats, so I don’t think he’d be on his way until at least tomorrow,” (Y/N) said thoughtfully. “You should see her owls, terribly spoiled, the whole lot of them.” 

“I can imagine,” Neville said, imagining a flock of rather round and near flightless owls. “I’m sure he’ll be around sooner than later.”

There was a slight tapping on the glass window, the sound of a small beak perhaps.

“Speak of the devil…” (Y/N) said, smiling towards the sound. She waved her wand, allowing the window to open. An owl flew into the living quarters, visibly tired. The near snow-white of her feathers shone against the firelight of the room, the ends of the feathers shining a bright pearl sheen. She was visibly not Edgar.

“That’s not Edgar,” Neville said, plainly.

“That much should be obvious,” (Y/N) said, cracking a grin. “She’s a barn owl like him, though. Young,” she noted the letter in the owl’s beak, accepting it into her hand. “That explains it.”

“What? Who’s it from?”

“Ginny,” (Y/N) said, glancing at the neat penmanship of the envelope. Rustling in her cabinet, (Y/N) pulled a small box out, prying a small brown tuft from the container. She passed the treat to the owl, patting her head lightly before seeing her off, shutting the window into the night.

“You keep—”  

“Mice?” (Y/N) laughed, noting the terror that flicked across Neville’s freckled face. “Yeah. I find it’s in the best interests of the owls who run the post to enjoy a nice treat for flying for so long,” (Y/N) said, placing the box back into the cabinet, filled with various potions ingredients.

“But… still. Dead mice?”

“It’s what they like to eat,” (Y/N) said, shrugging lightly. “I know Ginny said that Harry had bought another owl, I didn’t imagine she’d be so beautiful.”

“She reminded me of Hedwig,” Neville said, “she’d hang out in our dormitory sometimes.”

“Yeah,” (Y/N) said, thumbing the envelope. “It’s unlike Gin to send an owl this late,” her eyes grazed the wax seal, a scarlet ‘P’ adorned the color.

“Shouldn’t her and Harry be on their honeymoon? It’s been a week since the wedding, you’d think they’d be living it up in the tropics or something.”

“Yeah, you’d think,” (Y/N) said, peeling the wax seal off the envelope, pulling the letter out. Her eyes danced across the lettering, looping with every stroke of the quill. “Harry was called on a last minute Auror mission, so they moved their honeymoon to a later date.”

“That’s unfortunate…”

“I’d say…” (Y/N) said, continuing to read the letter. She let out a small chuckle. “Poor Gin, she has to deal with the whole Daily Prophet fiasco on her own, she said she practically knocked down their office building.”

“Sounds like Ginny,” Neville laughed. “Probably gave them a piece of her mind, plus or minus a few hexes I’m sure.”

“Of course she did,” (Y/N) laughed alongside Neville, glancing back down to the note. “It says that she tried to find who was responsible for sneaking the photos—she joked about the one of us, I suppose I’d have to fill her in at some point, but I bet she already—”

(Y/N) stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes growing wide at the final words on the letter. She felt like she couldn’t breathe, like all the air was caught in her throat.

“(Y/N)?” Neville asked, his expression worried. “(Y/N) is everything okay?”

“She found out.”

“Ginny? She found out what?”

“She found out who took the photos, who sold them to the Prophet,” (Y/N) said, pressing the note to Neville’s chest. 

He opened the note, the words highlighted by the orange glow of the fire. Every other word felt useless against the bold lettering of a singular name.

Lancelot Knight.

__

General Tag List: @maralisa124 / @leighxlover / @hey-its-me-rai / @missihart23 / @biatheintrovert / @luna-xxxxx / @chocolaterumble / @why-am-i-sad-and-sleepy / @steve-thotgers / @greeneyedthief / @kitkatkl / @thelightsideoflife / @thataudreydork / @badgirlsdeaddreams

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[josephinelouiseobrien]

High School Reunion (1)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x OC

Synopsis: Jada Hale was Penelope Garcia’s best friend. They’d been through everything together - high school, relationships, breakups, a stalker, college, getting arrested and then joining the FBI. So when there high school reunion rolls around Penelope refuses to let Jada skip it - even if that means forcing a certain doctor to be her date.

Trigger warnings: talk of stalking, mentions of toxic relationships, mentions of panic attacks

Masterlist

——————————————————————————

“Where’d you find this?” Jada Hale questioned as she watched a video of a much younger version of herself twerk on a boy who she now couldn’t recall the name of. Slowly the brunettes gaze traveled to her blonde best friend who sat beside her, laughing quietly at the found high school memories.

Penelope Garcia couldn’t wipe the smile off her face as she spoke, “remember Samantha Curtis?”

Jada begrudgingly nodded, “I wish I didn’t.”

“She found it when she was putting together the slideshow for the reunion.”

Jada froze, her eyes widening slightly before returning to a squint in belwilderment. ‘I had to have heard that wrong’. “Wait, like high school reunion?”

Penelope nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Yeah. I cant believe it’s actually been ten years since we graduated.”

“Only ten?” The brunette mumbled, before an alarming thought came to her. Her entire body lurched forward, her hands grabbing onto penelopes arm. “Wait, Samantha didn’t add this to the slideshow did she?”

Penelope laughed, “no, there wasn’t enough room for videos anyways.”

“Thank god.” Jada let out a breathe of relief as she leaned back in her chair. “Nobody can see this video.”

“She what video?” Derek Morgan’s voice caught the girls attention and both, Penelope and Jada, attempted to exit out of the provocative video. But it seemed none of their frantic tapping could stop derek from seeing it. “Who’s that?”

The man leaned forward to get a better look as Jada sunk into her chair. She’d give anything for the floor to just swallow her whole at that moment. “Sorry.” Penelope winced as she glanced from Derek to her best friend.

“Wait, jay is this you?”

Her coworkers knew very little about what she was like before coming to work for the Behavioral Analysis Unit. All they really knew was that her and Penelope got mixed up with some bad people - got arrested and then recruited by the FBI. Nothing more. “Yeah.”

Dereks eyes widened, “you had pink hair?”

“Can we just shut it off now?” Jada questioned leaning forward and effectively shutting the monitor off. “Before anyone else sees it.”

Derek chuckled, not seeming bothered by it in the least bit. Then again it wasn’t him who’s reaction she was nervous about - it was her bosses. Hotch could be pretty forgiving but she highly doubted she’d have a job if he ever saw that monstrosity of a video. “Why didn’t you tell me you were such a party animal, Hale?”

“Because I’m not.” Jada groaned her tan skin tinting a crimson shade in embarrassment.

Penelope raised her eyebrows in a suggestive manner, “well you better put your party girl pants back on because the reunions next week.”

Jada’s eyes widened as she rapidly shook her head, “No. No, I’m not going.”

“What? Why?” Penelope whined, grabbing onto Jada’s arm as she pouted. “Come on, everyone liked you in high school - it’ll be fun.”

Jada shot Penelope a knowing look hoping to god that she’d just drop it. “Pen.”

“Is this about-”

“It’s not about anyone-”

“So it is about him.”

“No!” Jada snapped, her body almost curling in on itself. “It’s not about him. I just - I just don’t want to go, okay?”

The brunette was quick to stand up, heading for the door with her head hung low in shame - she never exploded in Penelope. Ever. “I’m gonna go see if JJ needs help finding a case.” Her words were mumbled but neither Derek nor Garcia had time to question her as she practically raced out of penelopes office.

——————————————————————————

Jada was uncharacteristically quiet as she sat at her desk. Her knees were tucked under her chin as she scribbled onto the notepad in front of her. Sometimes writing down calming things helped her - it grounded her.

So she listed everything and everyone that made her safe. Starting with the two people she was the most comfortable around; Penelope and Spencer Reid.

“Hey, kid,” upon hearing dereks voice, Jada flipped her notebook over. She didn’t need anyone seeing her private list of safety.

Jada sighed, “listen if this is just gonna be an interrogation - I’m not in the mood.”

Derek shook his head, “no, it’s not. But, I think you should talk to someone-”

“Did Penelope tell you?” Jada questioned, her eyebrows raising a sigh leaving her lips. She loved her best friend but sometimes she could be such a big mouth. “I’m fine I’m telling you, I haven’t seen... him in years and-”

“Woah!” Derek was quick to stop her, “Garcia didn’t tell me anything. She said it was against girl code, but I still think you should talk to her about whatever it is that’s bothering you.”

Jada’s gaze cast down to her hands that rested on her desk in front of her. “I just feel like I’m letting her down. I know how much she wants me to go to this reunion but I - I can’t.”

“Why can’t you?”

The brunette ran a hand down her face in exhaustion. Quietly she shook her head - she wanted to tell him but she convinced herself it was nothing. He hadn’t bothered her in years - she had nothing to be scared of.

Yet she still found her palms growing sweaty at the thought of him. Her heart racing at the sound of his name. Her lungs giving out at the sight of a picture of him - why was her body giving out distress signals when, logically, she knew she was safe.

Jada sighed, “I just can’t.”

“Kid, if I’ve learned anything its that it’s better to let down those walls you hide behind.” Derek explained, “let the people who care about you help - if not me at least talk to Penelope.”

Jada sighed, nodding as she stood to her feet. Her fingers twisted in the sleeves of her sweater as she walked towards her friends ‘bat cave’ as they called it. Penelope was quick to pull her into a hug the minute the brunette walked in.

“I’m sorry.” Jada sniffled our sadly, her voice quivering. Suddenly it was all coming back to the surface and she couldn’t stop it.

“No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you.”

Jada shook her head, “no, it was my fault. I know you just want me to go and have a good time.”

Penelope sighed, “okay, but I know what he did to you. I shouldn’t have tried to push you into a situation where you aren’t comfortable.”

“But, I want to go.” Jada mumbled, “just everytime I think about seeing him I nearly work myself into a panic attack. We’ve done everything together I don’t want that to stop now.”

Penelope sighed simply pulling Jada into a hug. She didn’t have a solution at that very second but she’d come up with one. The blonde sighed as she pulled away, “well, I mean you haven’t seen him in years right?”

“That’s the weird part.” Jada mumbled as Penelope handed her a tissue. “Sometimes l be walking to my car, or just taking the trash out and I’ll think I see him - but it has to be some sort of figment of my imagination, right?”

Garcia nodded, “yeah, but I still think you should talk to Hotch or something. If he’s still following you-”

“He’s not.” Jada state’s firmly, “he can’t be, it’s been seven years.”

“Jay.” Garcia pleaded, her eyes begging her friend to tell someone besides herself. They made a promise that if he ever popped up again that they’d go to the cops.

“It’s not him.” Her tone of voice made it clear that the conversation was over. Still Penelope was giving her a look, one that screamed ‘stop lying to yourself’. “You know what, just to prove it to you, I’ll go.”

“To the reunion?” Penelope asked a smile coming over her face before she too grew to have doubts.

“What’s wrong?”

Penelope sighed, “well, now you have me getting all nervous. Maybe we should see if derek will go with us, that way just in case something goes wrong we’ll have him there.”

The idea alone out Jada at ease and she quickly nodded. “That would actually make me feel a lot better.”

So the two girls made their way towards where Derek was making a cup of coffee - Reid was with him. “I see you two made up.” Morgan commented smiling at Jada specifically.

The brunette rolled her eyes, “we were never fighting.”

“Whatever you say.” The man laughed, glancing between the two once more. “What do you guys need?”

Garcia glanced to Jada before looking back to Derek, “would you be our date to our high school reunion? Just in case anything happens?”

“What would happen?” Reid questioned, his eyebrows furrowing as he realized he was completely out of the loop. “On average only about twenty to thirty percent of your high school class even attends the reunion. And I doubt it’ll get rowdy, it’s a high school reunion - your all adults now.”

Garcia sighed, “it’s more complicated then that.” Her gaze was then returned to Derek, a pout set on her lips. “Please.”

“When is it, babygirl?” Derek asked giving in as he pulled out his phone to check his schedule.

“Next Saturday.”

Derek sighed, “I’m going to visit my mom that weekend, I’m sorry babygirl.”

Jada sighed her fingers fiddling with her sweatshirt sleeves again. She was actually looking forward to going now that she thought someone would be there to back her up. Not that she didn’t totally love penelopes back up but she just wanted someone who could pull the trigger on a gun if need be.

Upon realizing the change in Jada’s demeanor, Spencer realized that Garcia wasn’t the one who wanted backup at the reunion - it was her. “I’ll go.” Spencer found the words leaving his little before he had time to even think them through.

But as Jada’s head snapped up, her gaze landing on him as a smile lite up her face - he found it hard to regret his decision. “Really?” Spencer nodded and Jada jumped onto him, nearly tackling him to the floor in a hug. “Thank you!”

Derek chuckled at the gesture, patting Reid on the back. Only he realized they still didn’t know why Jada was so freaked out about seeing her old classmates again. “We still don’t know why your so freaked out about this reunion, jay. Maybe you should tell pretty boy here just so he knows what he’s walking into.”

All eyes were on the brunette and a sigh slipped past her lips as she nodded to Garcia. Jada still couldn’t speak about what had happened and so Penelope was usually the one to tell others what had happened for her.

“Then we have to start at the beginning.”