#ch. hux

[kyluxtrashpit]

And since today is my 7 year kylux-versary, I’m going to give the first tease of my upcoming (likely to be) final kylux fic

12 chapters, estimated final wordcount at over 50k, started in December 2019, and today I’m excited to show you a moodboard and reveal the title. Stay tuned for more teases as it gets closer to completion!

[pinkykats-place]

Armitage Hux x Reader

AO3 Star Wars Fic Recs

Disclaimers!

None of the stories below are mine.

Some contain mature content.

Read tags. Check Ratings.

Note: If you read any of these stories and like them please let the author know with a kudos and/or comment!

Beautiful by orphan_account

Summary: Armitage Hux has taken a wife. Unfortunately for you, you're his new bride. You're trying to battle your fast growing feelings for your husband, but your apprehension is fading faster and faster.

Contains Smut

Complete | 7 Chapters

safety by moonlitcavern

Summary: A two-part hux x reader in which hux shows up at your quarters bleeding and exhausted and perhaps on the verge of an emotional breakdown.

Complete | 2 Chapters | Fluff

Fragile Trust, Fragile Love by KiaraKohana

Summary: Armitage Hux had grown up in a world where he was told not to trust anyone, so why did he seem to let his guard down around you? He felt safe for the first time in decades- perhaps in his entire life. He trusted you. But little did he know there's a lot more to you than what meets the eye.

Complete | 13 Chapters

Cats and Commands by TheJediCode

Summary: You are in training as a communications officer aboard the Finalizer. When you are an assigned an unusual task by your superior officer, you find yourself face to face with one of the most formidable officers in the First Order, who isn't at all what you expect.

Complete | 8 Chapters

Rated - General Audiences

Good Samaritan by CatchYouInTheRye

Summary: Your superior Armitage Hux seems to be having a bad day and you suddenly have the urge to fix that.

Complete | 2 Chapters

Rated - Explicit

That Kind of Love by Irma7x

Summary: Trying to break free of the control that ruled his everyday life, Hux asks for you to try something different together in the bedroom. You carry it through on his birthday.

{One Shot}

Rated - Explicit

Nova Girls by LostLaureate

Summary: An unauthorized transmission from inside the ship.

DATA BREACH: holo-feed.novagirls/cstream/7786-5548283404

“Oh Kriff! I’m so close!”

Had he been in worse health, the sudden 62 inches of ass that filled the entirety of his holo display would have been enough to give him a coronary.

Hux x Cam-Girl Reader

WIP | 5/? Chapters

Rated - Mature

Let Me Take Care Of You by selfinserttrash

Summary: You were a Hall Girl. A glorified errand monkey, you deliver datapads and fetch sandwiches for the most important men in the First Order. You've been reassigned to General Hux's sector, and you quickly find out that he's not as easily impressed as most of the men aboard the Finalizer. One day, you see something you're not meant to, and it ignites something entirely new within you.

After all, you know what they say, the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

Incomplete | 5/? Chapters

Last Updated 2018

Rated - Mature

The Crown by bananakin

Summary: "Chin up, darling," your mother had bitten out with her dying breath, "or the crown will slip."

OR in which a female reader ends up bound to General Hux (and in turn, the First Order) in matrimony.

Incomplete | 26/? Chapters

Last updated 2019

The Temptations of a Kitchen Woman by nelliespector (ilmv)

Summary: Kylo Ren has made a sport out of bothering General Hux. The Supreme Leader is sure Armitage shares Brendol's weaknesses. To prove it, Ren takes away the protocol droid that normally prepares Hux's meals and replaces it with an irresistible Arkanisian kitchen woman who is also required to share the General's bed every night. How long can a sexually frustrated Hux hold out? Can his desire to prove Kylo wrong prevail over... plain ol' desire?

Incomplete | 15/? CH | Contains Smut

Last updated March 2022

[noiriarti]

Inappropriate: Armitage Hux x Reader - Ch. 1

TW: nsfw stuff, mentions of Brendol Hux being an abusive father, mentions of canon-typical violence, mentions of masturbation and sex.

Summary: Hux has to travel to Starkiller Base to check on construction. His favorite lieutenant comes with him, but these horrible, terribly inappropriate thoughts just won't stop.

[Ch. 1], Ch. 2, Ch. 3, Ch. 4

Hux knew he had chosen the wrong career when he packed for the transport. Maybe if he was a radar technician, or a trooper, or some kind of farmer, this wouldn't be happening. He would be trapped on a transport with that stupid child, Ren, for over a full day. As if he wasn't capable enough to check in on the progress of Starkiller Base's construction on his own. As if Ren could do anything but swing a lightsaber. But, when Snoke said to go, what was he supposed to do? Complain like a child that he couldn't stand that long near Ren? Tell Snoke the idea of bringing a liability like Ren to the barely-wired Base was a bad idea? So, he went. But he didn't have to be happy about it.

Fuming, he finished packing two more crisp uniforms, his datapad, and a coat for the journey. He also counted the rotations until his retirement--12,045, to be exact, if he managed to survive that long--and wondered if there was any way he could kill Ren in his sleep, if the bastard even slept. By the time he had gotten to the Finalizer's hangar, he had decided poison would be best, and that he'd move to some penthouse in Coruscant, get 5 cats, and become some miserly old curmudgeon once he was done working.

The hangar was one of his favorite places, following the bridge, because it housed so much controlled chaos. Just like his precious bridge, it was carefully managed, teeming with droids and techs, always working, always awake. He liked the brightness of the lights in both places, keeping him up through the night cycles, always working away at his datapad. At least Mitaka would be on the mission, he figured, and he was tolerable. And punctual, he noted as he walked around their transport, given that he could see a pair of boots under the nose of the ship. As he rounded the front, he came face-to-face not with Mitaka, but with you.

Oh, fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. As was usual when it came to you, he was done for. You had served under him for two years as a Lieutenant, his best strategist even with his rose-colored glasses off. You two worked closely together, which had been just about killing him. These feelings, these stupid stupid thoughts, would nestle in his brain every time he let his guard down. What if he just brushed your hands together, working late one night on the bridge? What would it be like to kiss you? What would it feel like to have your nails down his-- he stopped himself. That was completely inappropriate. And something he would think about a lot more later. With that thought firmly lodged in his head, he just had to act like a human being long enough for Mitaka to arrive, then he could wash it away in the refresher.

"General!" You broke the silence with a smile and a wave. He had asked you to stop saluting when you saw him, partially because you saw each other so often, but mainly because it reminded him of the fact that he was your commanding officer, and that his little crush was inappropriate. So, so, inappropriate.

"Lieutenant," he said, pausing. Small talk. Small talk. Right. "What brings you to the hangar?" he asked. Real smooth, dumbass.

"I'm coming with you on the mission to Starkiller, sir. You requested a Lieutenant come along, and Mitaka is in the medbay for...injuries, so I'm filling in," you replied. It didn't need to be said that the injuries were caused by Kylo Ren. That was the only cause of injuries in the bridge, anyway.

Normally, he would be thrilled to have you replace Mitaka. You were much more enjoyable to be around, and you weren't one of the people who regularly faced Ren's wrath, so it worked out for him. Except for the fact that he would be spending twenty-four hours, there and back, with you. He could feel the blush climbing up his neck, and he tried to defuse it. You had been a couple of years below him in the Academy, you had been on plenty of missions with him, and you had worked late into the night right beside him plenty of times. He knew you. He wouldn't do anything stupid, like thinking about your time in the Academy, when he helped you study for exams in the library and he imagined what it would be like to make out against one of the shelves--he stopped himself again. This was really getting out of hand, and if he kept going down that road he'd get hard in the middle of the hangar.

"I hope Mitaka recovers well, and that his injuries are not severe. He is a good Lieutenant," he said, mentally kicking himself. What the hell was wrong with him?

"Yeah, Dopheld is pretty okay, just some scrapes. It was... avoidable." Despite your careful language, he knew what you were telling him. You had both harbored a dislike of Ren ever since he joined the Order, but, since he entered your orbits, both of you took issue with him. You, more because he hurt your colleagues. Hux, for obvious reasons. Regardless, you were both united in your general dislike of the Commander. 

The pilot stepped out of the ship, telling both of you that you could get on. He gestured for you to go first, out of some semblance of politeness. He kept his eyes pointedly on the back of your head and not your ass as he walked. Back. Of. The. Head. Your hair--he thought about your hair when it was loose, back in social events at the Academy or during balls, and how he had wondered what it would be like to run his fingers through it, or tuck it behind your ear, or pull it--stars, he definitely needed a shower at this point.

As you entered the ship, he was unpleasantly surprised by how cramped it was, and the pilot showed you to your rooms. His was pretty standard fare: a bed, a refresher, a nightstand. At least it's not shared, he thought. He nodded at the pilot and set his bag down, taking off his coat and unceremoniously flopping it onto a nearby chair. He fished out his datapad and sent you a brief comm.

"Shall we meet in the lounge at 1800 for a briefing on the Base? We can also get dinner, if you would like." He typed the last part hurriedly, sending it before he could think better of it. That was normal, right? For work, right? He had 45 minutes to go cool off before he saw you again. Or, stars forbid, Ren.

Ren still hadn't made it onto the ship, and takeoff was in five minutes. Hux smiled to himself. Maybe there was hope that this mission could be fun after all. He was still, rather embarrassingly, flustered from your previous encounter. He shed his uniform quickly, getting to the refresher and turning on the water as cold as it would go. The ship started under his feet, engines whirring and coming to life as it prepared for takeoff. Hux braced himself against the walls of the shower, smiling even wider. 

Ren hadn't made it. There was just you and him, working on the ship for a full rotation. His brain immediately thought of ways to spend the time that were less than savory. Against the wall, for one. On the floor, on the bed. Maybe in the refresher? He leaned his forehead against the shower wall, willing those thoughts away as he felt himself harden. His hand instinctively went to his cock, and he drew in a halting breath. Not now.

This was going to be a hard, hard twenty-four hours.

AN: this has been banging around in my head for a while. man i love my armitage nice and awkward and pining. let me know what you think!!

[crochetedblorbos]

"I am not now, nor have I ever been, adorable."

Character Name: Jonathan Sims, a/k/a The Archivist, a/k/a The Ceaseless Watcher’s Special Little Boy, a/k/a Snoop God’s Favorite Kid

Fandom: The Magnus Archives [Podcast]

Voiced/Written By: Jonathan Sims

Yarn Used: Shoes: CraftSmart Value - Dark Almond Trousers: CraftSmart Value - Taupe Cardigan: CraftSmart Value - Olive Shirt: CraftSmart Value - White Skin: CraftSmart Value - Coffee Hair: CraftSmart Value - Dark Chocolate, CraftSmart value - Grey Glasses: Ashland Decorative Wire - Black, 12 gauge

Basic pattern here.

Look. How can you NOT love this pathetic wet cat of a man. (And like most cats, he is also a bastard at times.) He really went through the wringer over the course of the podcast, both physically and emotionally. Thank God he had Martin there for him.

Jon differs from the base pattern as follows:

Shoes: I actually remembered to do the soles in a different color this time! Other than the color, they were done the same way as Joseph’s.

Trousers: I accidentally shortened them. I did not mean to shorten them, but frankly, I miscounted on the first leg and only realized it halfway up the second, so I stopped them at R27 instead of R29, so he’s just a tad bit shorter than normal. (Which is fine, and fits my headcanon for Jon.) I also…well, I’ve finally thrown my lot in on the Great Archival Ass Debate on the side of the Assless, so in R32 (what would normally be R34, but again, everything is two rows lower than normal), I put the decrease in the very back, rather than on either side of R41 as usual. Other than that, they’re the same as Joseph’s.

Cardigan and Shirt: I more or less used the same technique I used for Hux, except that I started a round lower (I think) to make the V deeper. I switched fully to the white for R50 (R52 in the base pattern), then did three stitches on either side of the center stitch of R51 in back loops only to give myself something to hook onto. I then went back later and stitched a collar by making a simple triangle in the front loops of those stitches. I also skipped what would have been R54 in the base pattern and, when I switched to the skin color, I went straight for the decrease to 12 sc around. I was hoping this would make his head less floppy.

Head: I used the loop method again. It’s just easier at this point, especially since Jon canonically has enough grey in his hair that he looks older than thirty. I gave him long hair and left it loose, but at least I got it the right length this time (sorry again, Hux). I was going to give him ears, but honestly, I made his glasses small enough that I didn’t need to. I didn't necessarily plan on giving him buck teeth, but I was in the middle of a D&D session while I was working on his face and white yarn was the only thing I had to hand, so rather than run back to my room for black or dark brown I just went with it.

Arms: When you’re crocheting a character who canonically has a very nasty burn scar on one hand, you have three choices. You can ignore it, you can attempt to replicate it in variegated yarn, or you can crochet a hand and set it on fire. And, well...

...I have a lighter and very poor impulse control. [Side note: I mentioned this to an IRL friend who also listens to TMA, and they said brightly, “Just like the Archivist!] (For the record, burning acrylic yarn doesn’t actually smell as terrible as you might think.) I also decided to cut out the final increase in his hands to make them long and thin. This also means I didn’t decrease for his wrists, which was fine, because I gave him shirt cuffs folded over the end of his cardigan as follows: R9: Join shirt yarn, ch 2, dc in outside loop of each st around, sl st in first dc (10 dc). R10: Ch 1, sc in outside loop of each st around, sl st in first sc (10 sc). R11: Join cardigan yarn, ch 2, hdc in back loop of each stitch in R9 around, sl st in first hdc (10 hdc). Continue rest of arm as normal.

Glasses: These definitely did not turn out like I expected, but eh, they work. I bent the wire into square spectacles and stuck them on. As mentioned, I did them tight enough (accidentally) that I didn’t even need the ears.

Bonus: I deliberately did Jon’s hands so he can hold hands with Martin, or tried to anyway. I realized only after he was complete that I matched the magnet in Jon’s right hand to the one in Martin’s right hand, and there’s not really room to turn them around. I might try pulling Martin’s arms off later and switching them around, but for now…well, at least they can hold hands the other way around.

[starlightsearches]

Eyes on Me Ch. 4

Masterlist

Modern Armitage Hux x F! Reader Warnings: RC is a sex-worker, discussions of sex, language.

AN: Woah!!! Can't believe this fic is back from the dead. I got a comment on Tumblr for the last chapter a few days ago and remembered I had THIS chapter started. I don't have plans for future updates, but if there's any interest that could change!

Warnings: 18+ only, sex work, piv sex, semi-public sex, jealousy, mentions of child abuse and scars from said child abuse, brendol hux makes a teeny tiny cameo, ren is there, some angst at the beginning, kind of choking but not really, forced quiet sex, language, and I think that's it!!

The tires of the black car glide silently over smooth-as-silk streets, moonlight streaming through the dark tinted windows and pooling in the space between your body and his.

Armitage doesn’t speak, eyes tracking the journey out his own window, hands rubbing absentmindedly over his thighs. You can’t blame him for his nerves—you’re feeling them, too, the sleeves of your coat collecting the sweat off your clammy palms.

Silly. You’ve done this a thousand times. 

“You’re sure no one will recognize you?” Armitage asks the window, his breath creating little circles of fog on the glass.

You hum in assent, although looking over the guest list had been a cursory act. Even if you had already fucked every man at the party somehow, none of them would spare you half a glance.

You frown, the fountain of bitterness that wells inside you bubbling again. It’s an old memory, but a harsh one, and it still stings—despite the years between you and the moment of rejection. 

You had been so much younger then, and more than a little foolish. Your client was older, and handsome, and so romantic you’d have sworn that the feelings he had for you were real. 

You still remember the way it felt, that little flash of light in your chest when you caught a glance of him at some overpriced hotel bar years after things had ended, your heartbeat in your throat. You squared your shoulders, feigning indifference as you brushed by. There was that pleasant spark when your arm nudged his own, and you could see your reflection in the depths of his eyes, feeling so beautiful now, graced again by the weight of his attention. He looked at you, and you smiled, ready for the recognition to come, ready for him to want you like he had so many times before.

And then he looked away. The moment shattered. He hadn’t recognized you at all.

Armitage stares into the black night, and you stare at him, a fracture in your heart. Would he be the same? Would there be a time, years from now, when you’d find him with someone else on his arm and no recollection of you? Would he take what he could get from you—confidence, jealousy from other men who looked your way, a good fuck—and then find someone else to give himself to, wholly and without pretense?

Imagining those years passing by, watching yourself grow a little older, a little less desirable to these men who fed their addiction on young girls . . . left alone.

Your eyes snap shut, firm, breathing rhythmically, stopping any tears before they could even appear. It’s not in your best interest to think that way. Not when your income depends on your charm. 

You reach for Armitage, pressing a hand against his arm, stroking gently over the fine material of his suit jacket.

“Everything will be fine,” you promise him, and it’s a promise to yourself, as well. You will keep him happy, and attached, for as long as you can manage. 

Armitage nods, and—to your surprise—seems to relax a little, shifting in his seat to face you, no longer shocked by or shying away from your touch. 

It’s a good thing, but the same old fear spears through your heart. How soon before he was bored of you?

“I have something for you,” Armitage whispers as he slips a dark box from one of the inner pockets of his suit, and you try to take comfort knowing that the answer is not yet. 

It’s heavy in your palms. Heavy in a way that screams of extravagance, and your palms itch at the feeling of it, of the need that drapes over you like a shroud every time you’re reminded that Armitage, and men like him, could afford to give away the kind of money some people would kill for.

You pop the lid open, breathing in the scent of leather and jewelry polish. There’s a gasp on your lips that you couldn’t have faked, even if you wanted to.

Diamonds, nestled tightly in their gleaming settings, connected by a thin string of gold, glow in the damp streetlights outside the window. It slips smoothly from the case, draping elegantly over your fingers, metal cool to the touch. You’re no appraiser, but you’ve spent enough time around fine jewelry to know what something like this would cost.

Armitage is trying not to smile, as proud as you’ve ever seen him. He had certainly agonized about this choice, the same way he agonized about most things. You’d have to write an apology to the poor store clerk who helped him pick it out. Unless they worked for commission.

He makes no move for that inner pocket again, produces no receipt—not that you could ever return something so beautiful, even if you needed the money. 

“Will you wear it?” he asks, but from the look on your face he must know the answer, slipping the necklace from your shaking hands. 

Your instincts in this area are sharp as ever, luckily, and your body turns away from him out of habit, slipping your coat from your shoulders to make room at the nape of your neck. The chain descends, crossing your line of sight again, and you almost tear up knowing that you won’t get to see it again until the evening is over. 

“A small token of my gratitude,” Armitage whispers the words, low and soft against your ear, “for accompanying me tonight.”

His fingers still at the back of your neck, slipping softly down your shoulders, stopping at your arms, skin bare, goosebumps raising in response to his touch, a shiver in your breath.

“You shouldn’t have,” you tell him, meeting his eyes over your shoulder, smiling softly. It seems like the wrong time to mention that this is what he pays you for. Or a part of it.

Armitage smirks, but it has none of the buoyant pride from earlier.

“You’re about to meet my father. I should have done much, much more.”

Brendol Hux’s estate—it felt wrong to call it a mansion, as large as it was—glowed from every window, bright enough you may have been able to see it from miles away, if it weren’t surrounded by a copse of drooping, black trees. A colossal, stately edifice, gray stone and rippling glass, you couldn’t help but think of all those period piece movies you’d been watching on your evenings alone as Armitage led you up the stairs toward the entryway, his posture rigid and tense, like he was walking onto the battlefield. 

There had been a slew of introductions—a towering, important blonde woman who never smiled, a whole host of scowling, old men who refused to look Armitage in the eye, and then the baby-faced younger ones with their neat hair and puppy-dog eagerness. They practically glowed under Armitage’s regard, although he hardly seemed to notice the worship in their eyes.

And then you had met his father. Not the fire and brimstone event that Armitage had foreseen—the conversation was short and austere, and you spent most of it trying to find a hint of Armitage in the man who stood before you, coming up blank. 

Maybe you had been rude, but who could have blamed you? You’ve seen the scars.

Armitage never spoke about them—the flat burns from the end of a cigarette that dotted his arms, stretched thin over the corded muscle, or the narrow white bands across his back that flexed with each shift of his shoulders. He never said a word, even if his cheeks grew ruddy when he felt your fingers brush against them, his eyes turning dark. 

So what if you had been rude? Armitage paid you for lots of things, but your loyalty came for free. 

All that unpleasantness is over now. A glass of champagne in hand, you’ve found a private corner together, sharing smiles and soft words between sips of the fizzy wine, your head buzzing pleasantly each time Armitage strokes a finger over the chain around your neck. 

“Should we go?”

It’s wrong of you to ask—this is his event, and you’ll stay as long as he needs, even if it means ignoring that pleasant ache between your thighs for a little longer. 

Armitage almost smiles, leaning in closer—much too close, given the way so many eyes catch as they cross your path—his breath hot and damp against your ear, full of illicit promises. A shiver blossoms over your skin.

But you never hear whatever sins Armitage is about to share. You’re interrupted, a dark shadow stepping into your line of sight.

“Armitage, you haven’t introduced me to your date.”

He’s a tall man—taller than Armitage, even—voice low and rumbling, like the tremors before an earthquake. His hair is unruly and dark, long enough it brushes the collar of his jacket. The suit is fine, but stretched taut over his broad shoulders, a little too tight to be considered well-cut. His eyes rake over you, shamelessly, from the hem of your dress to where the necklace rests against your collar bone. Armitage scowls beside you.

“Ren,” Armitage says, but it’s less an introduction and more a warning.

You take the hand Ren offers you, stuttering out your name when he lifts it to his mouth, brushing his lips across your knuckles, eyes meeting yours—dark and intense, like fresh coal on a smoldering fire. 

“A pleasure,” he tells you. The feeling isn’t mutual.

But you’ll try to keep up appearances, offering a faint smile as you take your hand from his barely-loosened grip, fingers brushing against his calloused palm. Armitage stiffens, a hand sliding against the curve of your spine, settling stiffly against your hip before pulling you closer.

“So,” Ren asks, ignoring the gesture and the waves of displeasure emanating from Armitage, “how did you two meet?”

Oh, joy—a quiz. Ren is as skeptical as you’ve ever seen a man, but that only strengthens your resolve.

“Online,” you answer curtly, making your lack of interest apparent, broadcasting it with another sip of champagne and a longing look in Armitage’s direction. You don’t care if Ren thinks you’re rude for it. You could be getting railed in the back of a private car right now if it weren’t for him. 

Ren only hums, a smirk on his lips. “Really?”

You nod, but don’t say anymore. For every client you’d ever had, there were about a thousand men like Ren—suspicious types, hoping to trip you up, or expose you—and none of them were as clever as they thought. You know Ren wants you to ramble out explanations, to stumble into a mistake as he collected the pieces he needed to embarrass Armitage. 

You’d let him choke on your stony silence, instead. 

“I had no idea online dating could be so . . . effective. And what is it you do?”

“Philanthropy.” 

A rote answer—you’d attended enough parties with the upper echelon to know that any interest in your career would die as soon as that word passed your lips.

But Ren doesn’t stumble.

“Charity cases?” Ren’s smirk turns into a smile, teeth bared, “is that what this is?”

He gestures with the hand holding his whiskey glass, pointing first at you, then at Armitage, as if the meaning wasn’t already clear.

Armitage flinches, pulling from your side with a half-step, like he might start shouting at Ren, or maybe skip the formalities and punch him square in the jaw. 

You still him with a hand to his chest. Your eyes stay locked on Ren’s.

“No, not at all!” you assure him, words dripping with sincerity, “I’m more than happy to chat with any of Armitage’s coworkers.”

Ren’s smile falls at the insult, and you feel your own grow wider, wicked and petty. Serves him right. 

Armitage radiates with satisfaction, touch possessive as his fingers press more tightly into your waist. He leans in—closer than necessary, lips just brushing the shell of your ear—but his whispered words are plenty loud.

“Let’s go, love. I’m bored.”

You let Armitage lead you away, sending Ren a sarcastic little wave over your shoulder.

You had thought he would take you back through the front doors and into the chill night air, but you’re mistaken. He weaves smoothly through the other guests, around the edge of the party and into a quiet hallway where the light doesn’t reach.

“In here,” he tells you, grabbing a door seemingly at random and ushering you inside. It’s a bathroom—small, but still glittering with gilt-edges and frames and ornate wall-paper—full of fine soaps and plush towels that look as if they’ve never been used.

Behind you, the lock clicks as it slides into place.

“Armitage, what are you—”

He doesn’t give you a chance to finish, and doesn’t answer either, not with words. There’s the press of his fingers, curling in the chain around your neck, pulling you in close until his mouth meets your own.

The kiss is harsh, crushing, tainted with a need you hadn’t seen before. It has your mouth open, a harsh breath sucked through your lips, but it’s Armitage’s tongue that fills the gap, tasting the wine you had been drinking when it brushes against your own. The fastener for the necklace digs into the top of your spine.

Your mouth shifts from his, but Armitage is undeterred, hot breath heavy against your cheek, free hand gripping a handful of your ass.

“You’ll break it,” you admonish him, forcing the meeting of your eyes.

Armitage is unflinching, his body heavy as it presses your hips into the edge of the marble countertop. You can feel the shape of him through the thin fabric of his trousers, feel the way he aches for you. 

He’s unapologetic, nudging your mouth back where he wants it. “I’ll buy you another.”

Jesus. You had been wrong before, in the car. There are no men like Armitage Hux. 

But he does concede a little, shifting his hand like you had asked, fingers circling your neck instead. Armitage keeps your mouth on his with a firm and unequivocal grip, grinding into you, both aching and persistent and you can feel yourself dripping, panting with need that he’s created with so little effort. The air grows hot around you, a thin sheen of sweat blossoming across your cheeks. 

“Armitage.” 

You want to ask him here? now? But you can’t, your desperation is clear in the pitch of his name, the way it crawls from you, clinging to the hollow of his throat and the flush of blood that creeps over his skin. 

Armitage hears it, matches its feverish want, collecting the silky material of your skirt in both of his hands, pulling it up until your knees are bared, your thighs, the black lace that covers you beneath it. 

You help him, so eager, too eager, even, the fabric almost slipping from your grip. Armitage traces his fingers up the inside of your thigh, fits his hand in the space between. Your hips shift against him involuntarily, a gasp from your lungs when the tip of his finger brushes against your clit.

And Armitage watches with ice-gray eyes, drinks in your body’s reaction to him, to his touch at your sensitive cunt, to the other back on your neck, squeezing slightly. Soft, spattered moans spill from your lips with each breath, and his fingers must be damp now, given the way your underwear clings to your skin.

It hasn’t been like this with him. Armitage is never so demanding, never this sure of himself. There’s always been a sense of deference from him, an apology that preceded every touch. The absence of it has your legs shaking, lungs shallow.

“Are you ready for me?” he asks, and you nod against his hold.

Armitage has to take his hands off you to slip his belt from the buckle, and you miss the feeling, unmoored and shaky, knees hollow, palms pressed into the counter to support your weight. You might fall to the floor if he doesn’t hurry.

But Armitage is methodical in this, and everything else, freeing his cock from the confines of his trousers, slipping the condom from his pocket and splitting the wrapper with his teeth.

You had watched him tuck it into his pocket earlier, embarrased, attempting to be subtle, and had found the gesture sweet. 

There’s nothing sweet about him now, as he approaches you again, places one hand at your hip and the other back between your thighs, slipping the sticky fabric out of the way. Your cunt twitches, met by cool air and his soft, probing fingers. There’s a sob on your lips when he just brushes at your clit.

“You have to be quiet,” Armitage warns, and you faintly remember the party just outside the door—his father, and that dark-haired man, the rude one, although you can’t recall his name.

Armitage slips the head of his cock inside your aching hole, presses the palm of his other hand tight against your lips, and you moan into it, feel the vibrations singing through your cheeks.

“Quiet,” he reminds you, thrusting deeper, filling you more until the stretch is divine, an incomparable ache.

Armitage works his way into you, thrusts measured and even, your body nudging against the counter with each movement until you’re sure there will be a silly-looking bruise across your ass cheeks when he’s done with you. You can’t care about that, though, not with the press of his hand and the smell of his skin, and the thick trail of his cock brushing past that spot inside you, the one that has tears slipping from the corners of your eyes, pooling against his fingers and dripping down his wrist.

And Armitage takes it all, watching you fall apart for him, practically unblinking. His own moans come out sharp through gritted teeth, matching the pace of your own, the crescendoing spark that builds and builds in the pit of your stomach. 

There’s his fingers against your clit, coaxing the spark into a flame, tracing the edges of it until you’re afraid that someone might hear the wet, echoing squelch of your pussy. 

Armitage loses some of his well-maintained discipline at the feeling of it, the tremors just beginning to travel through your cunt, clinging to him, inviting him deeper, asking for more. He falls into you, your chest pressed to his, the damp heat of his breath against your ear, and you can feel the brush of his jaw as it tenses, the way his body fights against its own release, desperate to give you yours.

“Come for me,” Armitage begs, “please.” 

You do, because you can’t think of a thing you wouldn’t do for him, if he asked it. Because you’re finding that there is no limit to your loyalty, and because you want to feel him unravel against you, and he won’t if you don’t first.

Your vision darkens, body spiraling, submerged in pleasure, in the feeling of him—the drag of his cock and the weight of his fingers against your clit. In other things, too. Softer things. His breath against your neck, the kiss he presses to the space behind your ear, delicate and wanting. 

Maybe he thinks you won’t notice, occupied as you are. But you do.

He spills soon after with an unmistakable flood of heat, thrusts slowing until they stop, his cock seated inside you. And it feels right. 

Armitage comes back to himself, dropping his hand from your mouth, and you suck in a heavy breath, filling your lungs until your breathing slows, enjoying the press of his chest against yours. Your legs grow steadier, and so you release your grip on the edge of the table, stroking a hand down his spine, slipping a hand through the hair at the edge of his collar.

His lips are quirked at the edges, when he meets your eyes again, giddy, maybe. Proud, certainly, at his boldness. You can’t resist kissing his beautiful mouth, the feeling of that smirk growing into a smile. 

“Now we can leave,” he tells you, pulling back from your embrace. You’re colder without him, goosebumps dotting the skin of your arms.

He slips the condom off, tucks himself back into his trousers as you adjust your own clothing, checking your appearance in the mirror.

There are tear tracks, glistening against your cheeks, and you brush them away with both hands, flushing at the mess he’s made of you.

Armitage doesn’t seem disturbed by this at all, offering you his arm. You reach for him, and then pull back, hesitant.

“Shouldn’t we leave separately?” you ask, “people might . . . talk.”

They would definitely talk, of course. There was nothing a group of rich people liked more than spitting venomous words about each other when backs were turned. No doubt your absence had already been noticed, and there was no telling how many people had watched you walk into this hallway together. 

Armitage remains unbothered, even if his thoughts mirror your own.

“Let them talk.”

He leaves no room for argument, and so you take the arm he offers, stepping from the bathroom door and into the empty hallway.

Previously empty hallway. You almost stumble into a man, an apology already spilling from your lips before you’ve even made contact.

Oh. Not just any man. The man, the one from before. 

Ren.

He turns to face you, annoyance creasing his brow, morphing into shock when he sees Armitage following behind you. 

“Excuse us,” you tell him, slipping past his wide frame, “we were just leaving.” 

Ren nods, stunned into silence, and you hold back a giggle. Armitage takes your hand in his, trailing behind you lazily. You don’t have to watch him to know that he wears his pride like armor, shoulders thrown back, victorious in every sense of the word. 

It might be wishful thinking, but you don’t think Armitage will ever forget this.

[girl-among-mts]

Ch 1: 'Wretched and Divine'

a #gingerrose story for #GRW24

Breaking Hux out of New Alliance custody on the eve of his execution marks Rose as a wanted criminal. Together, the pair travel the galaxy, avoiding detection from searching authorities and navigating their odd life- and tangled feelings- as an unlikely, but effective, team.

But they can't run forever.

Rated: M

Ch 1: Tatooine

A03: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56186095/chapters/142732231

[smalltown-fears]

Chapter 6 Update!

‘Tis the Damn Season

Rated M • Ch 6/7 • 48k words

❄️Hux & Phasma’s wedding

❄️Gingerose shenanigans

❄️ANGST 😭

Thank you so much for reading if you’re still here with me!! 🫶🏻 I’m sorry the update took so long to get here, it’s about 12k words so twice as long as normal and had a ton of moving parts. We’re near the end though! One more chapter left, let’s get to that HEA!!

Just know that if you’re one of my readers you are near and dear to my heart thank you SO MUCH! 😭❤️

Chapter 6 here:

[ashturnedtomist]

Keep it Covert Ch. 7

No, Damien’s Right. It IS weird.

Keep it Covert Masterlist

Previous | Beginning | Next

Summary: In which, Freelancer and Lovely meet, Damien is really frustrated for unrelated reasons.

Based off this post

Read it on Ao3!

Huxley was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement while Damien tiredly sipped on a cup of coffee next to him.

“I don’t understand why you had to wake everyone at 3 am last night to do this.” He mumbles.

Huxley seemed to somehow get brighter. “Because that’s when Lovely called! I had to make sure that everyone knew as soon as possible!”

Damien sighed, seemingly resigned as he took another sip of his coffee.

“…it’s 5 o’clock in the afternoon, how are you still tired?” Damien nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice in his ear.

There stood Freelancer with Gavin just behind. Lasko was rapidly approaching as well.

Damien got his bearings before shaking his head. “You try convincing Huxley to go back to sleep after he gets excited.”

They paused. “Fair enough.”

Lasko finally caught up, seemingly out of breath. “I…sorry…parking…down the street…”

Gavin frowned. “Why didn’t you just park in the parking lot?” Damien narrowed his eyes. “In this part of town? I’d like to keep my tires, thanks.”

Gavin gave him a playful smile. “Don’t be so harsh, Damien.”

Damien’s jaw clenches. “Not in the mood.” Huxley laughs. “C’mon, Dames. We’re here for a good time.”

——

The main room was generally empty, save for a pair of vampires flitting around the room and 2 men in business attire whispering in a corner.

One of the vampires broke away and dashed to Damien and Huxley. “Damien! Hux! How are you?”

Huxley grinned brightly. “Hey, you! How are you?”

They brightened. “I’m good!” They peeked around the earth elemental. “Who’s with you?”

Damien tiredly introduced each individual. “Lasko, Gavin, and the Freelancer.” Lasko gave a timid wave while Freelancer smiled. “Nice to meet you!” Gavin grinned, his eyes glinting with mischief. “Nice to meet you, indeed.”

As if an alarm went off, another vampire was at their side in an instant. Lovely perked up. “Oh! I’m so sorry. I’m Lovely, and this is my boyfriend, Vincent.”

He waved, his sleeve rolling down to reveal his red bracelet. “Nice to meet you all.”

Freelancer’s eyes widened. “Wait, are you both vampires?”

Vincent shifted uneasily. “Yes…” Freelancer gasped. “Ohmigosh, I’ve never met a real one before! I have so many questions.” Vincent looked at Damien questioningly. “Freelancer is humanborn.”

Vincent smiles. “Oh. Lovely was a latent electro elemental before turning.” Freelancer’s eyes got even bigger. “What?! That’s so rare!”

Lovely’s face reciprocated their excitement. “Wait, you’re new to all this too?” The pair eventually broke off from the group, babbling to each other about being relatively new to empowered life.

Vincent sighed before turning to the remaining four. “Why don’t you check out the bar? Most of the staff doesn’t get here until 6, but Lovely wanted you guys to come early.”

Lasko tilted his head in confusion. “What? B-but we don’t even-”

“I asked them to do that.”

All four of their heads whipped around to see one of the men break away from the intense conversation he was holding with the other. He held out a hand. “Morgan. I own this place.”

Damien shook his hand tentatively. “Damien. And this is Lasko, Gavin, and Huxley.” He said, gesturing to each respective person.

The other man approaches. “I’m James. Morgan’s…associate.” He said, his eyes scanning all four of them. He cleared his throat. “I wanted to speak with a few of you.”

——

Freelancer was uncomfortable. They didn’t understand why: a.) this random man was pulling them away from a perfectly good conversation, b.) only Gavin and Lasko were allowed to be in his office with them, or c.) why he even wanted to talk to them in the first place.

They glanced over at Gavin and Lasko.

To the left of them sat Gavin. He sat comfortably in his chair, however, they could see that his usual cool demeanor was slightly fractured.

To the right, Lasko was practically vibrating in his seat. His eyes darted around the room while he periodically wiped his palms on the fabric of his pants.

They sighed. “Lasko, it’s probably fine.”

The air elemental bites his lip. “Wh-why would he want to talk to us? What-what is so dif-dif-different about us that-that they had to separate us from-from Damien and-and-and-and- Huxley?”

“Worrying like that isn’t going to help anyone, Lasko.”

“B-but-”

“Glad to see you all.”

Lasko practically jolted out of his seat at the sound of James’ voice.

James raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

“What do you want with us?” Gavin questions lowly.

James sighs and sits down across from the three other magic users.

“I have some questions for you three,” he says, pulling a file out of his desk. He tosses it in front of him and the photographs that spill out make Freelancer’s blood run cold.

“…about the Inversion.”

——

“No, this is weird, Huxley.” Damien says harshly.

The taller man frowns at his boyfriend. “Try not to stress too much, Dames. I don’t think anything will happen. Lovely wouldn’t bring us here to lure us into a trap,” He glances at them out of the corner of his eye. “…right?”

Lovely nods assuredly. “I promise, I didn’t know James was going to ambush them like that.” They place their hand on their chest, ignoring Vincent’s indignant ‘Hey!’ when they say, “I swear on Vincent’s immortal soul. It’ll be fine.”

Huxley turns back to Damien. “See? It’ll be okay.” Damien grumbles something under his breath, still not convinced.

However, his grumbling is interrupted by the front door of the club swinging open.

“God, I need a drink.” Damien flinches at the familiar voice.

His head swivels around to take in the speaker, and yes, there, in all of their glory was, “…Smartass?”

“Damien?”

Tags—

Notes: I am SO sorry it took so long to post y’all, my life is a shitstorm these days.

(I literally have a friend reporting someone in one of my classes for going into intense detail on how he would shoot up the school, I got a boyfriend, and my grandfather almost died 3 times)

[toxicanonymity]

Empire Builders. Ben's Hardware Ch. 3

5.4k / Ben Solo x Rey / ch 1, ch 2

WARNINGS: I8+ mdni. Sexual tension, gaslighting, another woman tries/fails to seduce him, angst, dubcon via uninformed force connection, ben jacks off, unsafe P in V (in force connection). Hardware Store AU explained. Strategic planning humor. Excessive plot. Beta/Star wars consultant: @dark-scape A/N: Written in February 2023. This chapter has far more world building & background than necessary. Like I set up way too much stuff for a miniseries, but I wanted to answer some reader questions. And at least the world is constructed in my head for future use.

Ben opens his eyes and looks around his office.  There's a leather couch, a chaise, an end table, a credenza stocked with high-end liquor.  It's certainly too high-end for the general manager of a local hardware store, but Ben likes things a certain way, and so do the clientele. He zips up his pants.  With Rey, he feels like he's doing nothing wrong.  He has his own rules for himself about the force connection, although they continue to evolve. 

The first time it happened, it took him by surprise. He felt a familiar tingle in his nose, the same faint tingle he gets when he uses the force.  And there she was in her bed.  He watched her for a few minutes, growing more and more aroused.  Then he gave it a shot - he invited her.  And there she was in his house.  After that, all she had to do was want him and he could tune in at will. 

He may tune into Rey's cute little thoughts about him sometimes, and especially her sexy little thoughts, but he only interacts when he's clearly invited.  When she desperately wants him.

In a way, Rey is in control – or, that's what Ben tells himself.  If Rey wants something from him sexually, he makes sure she either asks for it or takes it herself. He merely makes suggestions.  He opens her eyes to the possibilities. Rey may not understand it, but Ben barely understands it himself.  Certainly not well enough to explain it to her.  It would be like trying to explain to someone why water is wet or how to breathe.  It's not Ben's fault Rey doesn't know she's force sensitive. Most people don't know about the force at all, and they're better off that way.  

Ben never had a chance at a normal life.  His parents dedicated their lives and his to using their powers for good.  He didn't understand why teachers asked what kids wanted to be when they grew up.  Did anyone have a choice?  Ben even went to the FBI academy at Quantico and started in the Behavioral Analysis Unit.  It just . . . Didn't work out.  Or, it didn't work out *the way his parents wanted*, to say the least.  

His parents' names followed him everywhere.  Everyone had this very specific idea of who he was and what he was about before they even met him.  Everyone had expectations. His entire career was laid out for him. He'd probably be the director one day.  Without the freedom to be his own person, he grew bitter and angsty.  It was only once he interacted with the most dangerous criminals that Ben realized the choices he could make. 

Ben feels like he's protecting Rey by not cluing her in.  The only thing he feels a little guilty for is using a Jedi mind trick on her.  It's a little gross in principle, but he was  protecting her by making her forget what she saw between him and Hux.  Ben works for dangerous people, and Rey is far too curious for her own good. If Rey were to find out the store is funneling supplies to a dangerous criminal organization, it would not only ruin the whole set-up, but her life would be at risk.  

-----

Ben goes back downstairs to the store and passes Hux on the stairs, who's on his way up to the office.  Hux asks, "Want me to run those numbers for tomorrow?"

Ben has no idea what Hux is talking about.  He sighs, "What's tomorrow?"

Hux looks worried that Ben forgot.  "Uh, the retreat, right? Corporate?" He uses finger quotes when he says corporate. 

"Fuck me," Ben mutters under his breath.  "Yeah.  Thanks." 

How could he have forgotten? He knows how - Rey is a total distraction.  Empire Building's strategic planning retreat - what a joke, but Ben doesn't have a choice.  Who plans a retreat a week before Christmas? An organization that considers itself your only family.

Ben wants to get out of it.  "Hey, Hux - shouldn't one of us stay here to watch the store?" 

"Yup, that's why I'm attending remotely. I'll be here in the office and go down to the store during the breakout sessions." 

"Actually, I wouldn't mind staying. You deserve the break," Ben offers.

"Ben, no offense, but you know nothing about running a hardware store.  That's why I'm here in the first place."

"It's only two days," Ben says.  He's annoyed, but can't really dispute the assertion that he doesn't know what he's doing.  He's a hobby carpenter, which used to give him a false sense of handiness, but he's eaten his fair share of humble pie since opening the store.  If he had to run any other department besides Wood, he'd be in trouble.  

Hux sighs. "Alright, I wasn't supposed to say anything, but you're being honored.  You can't skip out." 

Honored? That intrigues Ben.  He tries not to seem too excited, though.  "Whatever," he says.  "Yeah, run the numbers, but run them by me before you share anything."

A buzz saw whirrs in the distance as Ben steps back onto the floor of the hardware store. He wants to learn to manage the store himself, he just doesn't want to learn from Hux. He walks by the key-making station and the staff member greets him.  He thinks about shadowing the keymaker to learn something new, but he goes to Lumber instead. They're filling an order of custom-length 2"x4"s.  

"Want a break? I've got it," Ben says.  The woman stops the saw and offers Ben her protective glasses.  He takes off his jacket, puts on his apron, and rolls up his sleeves.  He pulls on a pair of canvas gloves.  He can feel the woman checking out his ass as he bends over to get the first piece of lumbar lined up just right. "15 minute break," he tells her. "You don't have to clock out."  She walks off then Ben fires up the saw and cuts the wood.  

He's finishing up by the time she comes back.  He gives her the goggles back.  

Ben puts his jacket back on, collar popped, and goes out to the nursery and picks up the water dispenser.  He waters the tropical plant section and inhales the fresh smell of lush foliage mingling in the air with the sawdust from carpentry.  He thinks about how much he enjoys the hardware store.  He would love to just manage the hardware store one day and have that be his whole job.  If only things were that simple. 

----

The next morning, Ben drives his bulletproof Range Rover with dark tinted windows to the retreat, which is two hours away.  He dresses in all black and lays a charcoal blazer in the passenger seat.  He pulls up to the hotel at the last possible minute.  He opens the glove box and puts his old beat up Glock in the back of his pants.  He doesn't carry it all the time. It's truly gnarly, but it works, and it's a family heirloom.  It was returned to him from the District Attorney's office after his grandfather died.  He puts on his blazer and makes sure the notched Mandarin collar is standing -  he doesn’t like his neck exposed.  Then, he tosses his keys to the valet

There are two huge guards at the door dressed darkly in plain clothes.  Ben knows one of them and gives him knuckles. 

There are only a couple dozen people attending but they've branded it like it's some huge event.  Ben would prefer to sit with his back to the wall in any given room, but there's a seat reserved for him in the second row. The retreat kicks off with a speech from the Emperor, which is a big deal. No one knows his real name and Ben has never heard of him appearing in public before.  He hangs on every word at first, but it's a pretty general speech about the importance of loyalty and how prosperous they are together.  Yawn.  Then he talks about adversity.  

He continues, "As we all know, we had some challenges last year. Now, I don't have anything against journalists - heck, my granddaughter is one - but they tend to stick their noses in places they shouldn't." The crowd murmurs. Ben starts listening closer again   

"And it's not like the old days where we can take care of one problem and it just goes away.  They've gotten smart.  They've gotten digital.  Setting up dead man switches and whatnot.  Anyway, after the Post article last year, and the boycotts, each of our biggest suppliers suddenly grew a conscience at the same time. Construction came to a total standstill.  For two months we built nothing." He lets that linger in silence for a moment, then continues, "Until one of you had an idea." His eyes twinkle as he looks at Ben.  A few people quietly cheer.  Someone behind Ben pats him on the back and Ben turns his head a little and smiles on acknowledgement but keeps his focus straight ahead.  

In truth, Ben saw the Post article coming.  The way they were handling their business it felt inevitable.  But it would have been a big risk for Ben to try to change how they were doing things.  Instead, he started anticipating the fallout and plotting to save the day.  

"Ben's Hardware, ladies and gentlemen." He gestures to Ben.  "We're back in business."  He makes Ben come up to the front and presents him with a ruby signet pinky ring.  When he sits back down, Ben sees Hux sends an applause on the Zoom screen behind the speaker podium.  Ben's tries not to roll his eyes. 

"That was real strategic thinking, and it got us out of a real jam. I want all of you to start thinking strategically.  That's why I've brought in a consultant this weekend." He  gestures to his right and an attractive young woman stands up. "This is Paige.  She's going to get all of you thinking like Ben."  She smiles at Ben and he swallows.  

Ben wonders how much Paige knows and what's in store for her.  This is sloppy.  He manages a small smile.

----

The first session is a SWOT analysis of Empire Builders.  Paige talks through their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.  It turns into somewhat of a post mortem of what led to the Post article and boycotts. 

Strengths: Reputation, resources. 

Weaknesses: Disloyalty, competing priorities

Opportunities: Services. Diversify disposal. 

Threats: Attention. Regulation.

This is a load of crap, and Ben is 100% sure Hux is just eating it up, scribbling notes and making stupid plans.  He rolls his eyes at the thought.  This is worse than a load of crap, he realizes.  Nothing good could possibly come from openly strategizing about how to expand this criminal enterprise.  

Ben could have walked right into a different crime family and taken his grandfather's seat, but that would have been the easy road, and he wouldn't have been met with true respect.  He knew he was capable of sitting at any table he wanted, and chose a different family.  A rival family.  He's climbing from the ground up by merit.  He whacks off a bad egg here and there, but he builds his reputation with brains more than brawn.  He's bringing the family into the 21st century.  

As part of his plan to make himself indispensable, Ben shared one of his many good ideas - the hardware store.  He shared just enough to climb one more rung on the ladder, and now they want all these goons bumbling around trying to bring something fresh to the table? He would hate for this family to implode before he has a chance to destroy it himself and build his own dynasty. 

In the SWOT session, they discuss some of the points together, but it's awkward because no one knows how much Paige knows about the organization or when she's supposed to get whacked.  They keep trying to be vague, but they're really conspicuous about it.  Ben tries to peer into Paige's inner world to find out how much she knows, but he realizes he can't see anything at all, much less read her thoughts.  He wants to test a hypothesis that the sexual attraction and tension with Rey is what's creating their connection.  

-----

They take a break and Ben takes off his blazer.  He leaves it on his seat and goes to the bathroom.  He looks in the mirror as he washes his huge hands, then he unbuttons two buttons and rolls up his sleeves.  He feels kind of slutty doing this, but in a hot way, if he's honest.  He runs his long fingers through his dark hair and swallows. When he sees his Adam's apple in the reflection he remembers his most powerful weapon.  He should've made an acceptance speech.  

Before they get back from break, Ben approaches Paige with a twinkle in his eye.  He talks about nothing.  He uses the lingo.  He gesticulates with his massive hands and shifts his weight flirtatiously as they talk.  He flashes his charming smile and compliments her on the dumb SWOT analysis.  He tries to keep talking.  He crosses his arms and watches her eyes drift to his forearms.  When it's time to re-start the session, he heads back to his seat and glances back. She's definitely checking out his ass.

"What do we mean by 'diversify disposal'," someone asks, and  Paige doesn't know how to answer it. So she doesn't know everything after all. 

One of the big wigs chimes in.  "You'll recall the Post article was primarily the result of a specific disposal that was discovered at a construction site. Which led them to look at other construction sites, pulling permits, and employment records, and so on and so forth.  All that fuss started with one sloppy disposal."   

The man still looks confused. The big wig makes a subtle gun gesture out of view of Paige.

"OH, disposal," the audience member realizes.  "Okay and diversify that how?" 

"Well primarily by considering properties that don't trace directly back to Empire Builders. And techniques that lessen the residue over time." 

"Like lye?" The man asks.  Paige swallows and doesn't know what to say.

Ben interrupts and saves her. "Have we thought about *reducing* disposal?" He asks the big wig.

The big wig laughs. "It's a core part of our business model." 

"Reducing unnecessary disposal? That's when things get sloppy, right?"

"Go on."

"Like say you hire a person for one job, like a conference, but they have a diverse business skill set.  That person could potentially be reassigned to, say, logistics and supply chain management?"

"Instead of. . ." The big wig is thinking.  "Right.  Good question Ben. Let's take that offline." 

-----

After the session ends for the day, Ben goes to the hotel bar.  He wants to check in on the store but needs a drink before he can even think about talking to Hux. Mainly he's curious if Rey came by.  He knows she wants to. Ben orders a whiskey on the rocks and thinks about Rey.  He feels like she has all the control.  He only gets to see her when she shows up to the store.  He thinks about the way she blushes under her freckles and her dimples and her perky tits and how bad she wants him.  He's horny. 

As Ben examines his drink in his large hand, a sultry voice startles him.  

"Ben's hardware, huh?" It's Paige.  She slides her small hand onto his shoulder and puts her other hand on the back of the stool next to him.  "Anyone sitting here?" He must have really worked his magic earlier.  

"No, please." He welcomes her to sit. His sleeves are still rolled up.  

She orders him another drink. "Another one for him. And one for me." 

Paige reaches for Ben's large hand and inspects the ruby signet ring on his pinky. She wants to try it on.  It's too big for even her thumb. One of the big wigs watches casually from the end of the bar. 

Paige asks too many questions, and Ben doesn't give her any answers.  He doesn't want to put her in more danger than she's already in. Also, part of him wonders if she's a trap. Maybe they've realized what he's known all along - that he's the future of this empire - they need to know he can be trusted and won't get distracted by competing loyalties.  Even if it's not a trap, Paige isn't Rey, so that works against her.  

At the bar, Paige is all over him. It turns him on.  He's not that interested in her, but he's only human.  She finishes her drink and slips Ben a key to her room.  She scribbles her room number on a napkin with lipstick.  He wants to leave the key and the napkin on the bar, but he wouldn't want a worse guy to bust into her room in the middle of the night, so he takes them with him.  

Ben looks at his phone and has a missed call from Hux. He decides not to call him back, lest Hux think Ben answers to him.  Plus, Ben is exhausted from being "on" all day.  He's a solo creature and having to pretend to enjoy "the family" really takes it out of him.  Especially with all eyes on him as an honoree. He felt like he couldn't let his guard down for even a moment.  

-----

Ben retires to his hotel room alone he washes his face and hands and grabs the hotel lotion.  He props up two pillows and lies down on top of the bed without unmaking it.  He crosses his large feet and studies the pattern of his argyle socks.  He really prefers stripes these days.  He should overhaul his sock drawer.  He reads the label on the lotion, then moisturizes his enormous hands. He holds the napkin in his hand and runs his thumb over the room number, which is just a few rooms away.  

He recalls the way Paige looked at him and gets hard. He starts to think about whether he should just do it.  It's not like he and Rey are dating - they haven't even gone out once.  On the other hand, hooking up with Paige wouldn't do anything but physically get him off, and he still wouldn't be satisfied.  He runs his long fingers over the mark on his neck.  There is only one person who can satisfy him now.  His eyelids are heavy.  

Ben palms himself through his pants and  debates whether he should try to force connect with Rey.  If he does try to connect with her and she isn't already thinking about him, it could startle her or make her question everything.  He decides to take care of himself  instead.  

-----***------

Ben takes takes off his slacks and hangs them on the back of a chair and lies back down.  He leaves his shirt on and pulls his boxer briefs down. He closes his eyes.  He wraps his hand around his hard shaft and despite how big his cock is, it almost looks normal sized in his massive hand.  He's proportional.

He's almost too tired to do it, but his arousal wins over.  He spits in his hand. He thinks about Rey sitting in his lap and begins to slowly move the skin on his shaft, lazily and in short, firm strokes, just getting warmed up. He thinks about her furrowed brow and her soft little sighs and how her warmth felt against his cock.  

Before he can get far, his nose begins to tingle. Ben yanks up his boxer briefs and palms himself through them as he closes his eyes to let it happen.  

But before he can see anything, Ben hears a moan echo from the bathroom of his hotel room.  He lies there frozen, wondering if his ears deceive him.  Then, he hears splashing and squeaking from the bathtub.  He jolts up and grabs his Glock from the nightstand. He holds it in both hands, his arms straight, and slowly approaches the bathroom.  He turns the door knob with one hand  and pushes it open before resuming his stance. Steam billows out of the door and the mirror is fogged up.  

The door creeps open the rest of the way on its own, and Rey is in a robe.  Thank God she's facing away from him.  He lowers his gun and quietly rushes back to the bed, taking huge strides. He puts the Glock in the nightstand but doesn't close it all the way.

The sink faucet turns on, then off.  Rey emerges from the bathroom and looks around curiously.  She doesn't  look surprised to see him. He hasn't done it on purpose, but the collateral gaslighting might be driving her mad. Surely she hasn't figured out how this works.  

Ben is lying on the bed in his boxer briefs and button up shirt.  He's still hard.  Her eyes meet his. "Ben," she says.  It's the first time she's said his name to him and it's the sweetest sound.  Her eyes scan his body, resting on his underwear longer than anywhere else.  She looks away shyly then he sees her remind herself it's not real. She gains confidence and smiles demurely at him.  "Where have you been?" she asks. "Where are we now?" She crosses the room slowly.  

Ben ignores the questions.  "Well, you found me,"  he says. Her eyes rest between his legs again.  He's emboldened by her continued belief that this isn't real.  He adds, "And you found me in quite a state." He strokes his hard length from outside his boxer briefs.  "Is this what you were looking for?" He looks down to his lap then meets her eyes again as he strokes himself slowly.  He knows it's what she wants. He still wants her to say it. 

Her hair is damp.  Her skin is rosy.  He's disappointed to have missed her bath, but glad she's here now.  Rey approaches the nightstand, then stands facing the bed, not far from him.  Ben wonders how much she can see in this room.  Can she see the napkin? The Glock in the nightstand? If she can, she ignores them.  She lets her robe fall open "Maybe so," she says.  That's close enough to a yes for him. 

Ben sits up in the bed and pivots to face her. He sits on the edge of the bed and takes both her hands in his.  He spreads his knees.  She stands in between his legs, close to the bed.  They search each other's eyes. He can feel all her thoughts even stronger now.  She wants him bad.  He scoots closer to the edge of the bed, barely on it.  His large feet are firmly planted on the floor. 

She wants his body against hers.  He brings his hands around her waist to the small of her back.  Her figure is striking and her skin is so soft and smooth.  He gently nudges her closer. His knees are spread wide with plenty of room in between.  She comes as close as she can and his clothed hardness meets her bare skin. 

She starts unbuttoning his shirt.  She looks even prettier with no makeup.   He strokes her damp hair, then cradles her pretty little head in both of his massive hands and brings her face to his. Their eyes close.  Her lips part.  Their mouths meet softly, then the kiss grows hungrier.  She wants Ben inside her.  He slips his tongue into her mouth and she meets it eagerly.  She finishes unbuttoning him as they make out.  

Ben moves his hands down each side of her neck, then to her collar bone.  He slips the tips of his fingers under each side of the robe and slides his hands gently to her shoulders.  She shrugs off the robe. His hands slide from her shoulders down to her breasts and cup them gently.  He takes one nipple into his mouth and moves his other hand around her back, down her spine as he tongues then sucks her breast. 

Her skin is supple and her ass is round.  He grabs a cheek in his large hand and pulls her into him, then his hand slides down her ass crack between her legs.  His middle finger reaches her pussy and she’s so fucking wet.  He releases her breast from his mouth and grabs her ass with both hands.  He stands up and lifts her off the ground in one swift motion.  Her legs wrap around him.  He turns around and lays her down on the bed and their faces meet again. His nose brushes hers as their lips come together.  As he reads her mind, he’s struck by the intensity of her passion for his nose.  He’s so fucking hard.

Her fingers curl under his undershirt.  He takes it off and she marvels at his physique - his sharp shoulders, his broad chest.  Her hands trace his hard pecs,   then his abs, and his happy trail.  Then she slides her hand inside his boxer briefs and seizes his huge, swollen cock.  Her hand feels so good.  He thrusts into her and her other hand grabs at the hem of his briefs.  He takes them off.  She wants him inside her so bad, but he wants her to say it.

He reaches a large hand between them to finger her while she strokes him.  As his long digits slide against her slick folds, he says, “You can have whatever you want.”  He knows there’s only one thing on her mind and it’s his cock.

“I want all of you,” she says.  She releases his cock and it smacks against her hip bone, then he removes his hand from between them and grinds his hips into her.  His hard cock slides along her folds and her head falls back.  Her neck is so delicate.  It’s hard to resist putting his hands around it but he doesn’t want to scare her.  

“Take it,” Ben snaps hastily.  “Take what you want.”  She opens her eyes wide and grabs his cock again.  She swipes a bead of pre-cum around the head, strokes him for a second,  then rubs his cock against her folds again.  She wraps her legs loosely around his back.  

Ben kisses her deeply on the lips and grinds into her hard.  He can feel her wanting something beyond his body, beyond this room.  “I want it to be real,” Rey says.  

“This isn’t real?” He asks with a twinge of guilt. It’s an inopportune moment for this conversation, in his opinion. He just wants to be inside her.  

“I want you in real life,” Rey says.  

He slides off her and rolls onto his back, breathing heavily.  He cradles his massive, aching erection in one hand, loosely stroking it.  “I do too,” he says.  

“How do I know?” she asks.  She rolls over on her side to face him and hooks a leg over his closest leg.  Her face is quizzical, but he can still see the want in her eyes. She traces his pecs and her nipple grazes his bicep. 

“You just know.” He laughs. “I know you know.” Rey climbs up and straddles his big thighs, hovering her lower abdomen near his cock as she searches his face. He'd say almost anything to fuck her right now, but he settles on something reasonable.  “Give me your number or something,” he says. "then I'll make sure you know it. I promise."  

She relaxes.  "Okay."  She seems to view this experience as some way of accessing her intuition or some kind of mystical guidance on how to get with him in real life. She feels like she has her next step now.  She'll give him her number.  

“Can we still have fun meanwhile?” He asks and his hips lift up under her. 

She smiles.  The only thing on her mind is his cock now.  She grabs it again and scoots forward more, her warmth hovering over his aching balls.  He sits up and kisses her passionately as she grinds into him.  

He nuzzles his nose against hers.  “Whatever you want,” he says.  Her hips roll into him more intensely until she rolls off of him and back onto the bed, lying face up, pulling him onto her.  He brings his whole body down into hers and she grabs his cock and nestles the tip at her entrance.  Ben kisses her deeply as he plunges into her.  She moans as the thick head parts her seam.  

He gives her a few seconds, then thrusts again, further into her.  She digs her fingers into his back.  Her cunt is so hot and tight.  He feels like he could come at any second already.  “More,” she says. 

He pulls out an inch or two then plunges all the way in and she moans.  They sloppily kiss as he thrusts into her again and again.  They sweat and their hot bodies slide against each other.  He knows he’s hitting that special spot deep inside her.  He knows she’s close. And so is he, his pleasure is building rapidly.  

As Ben pounds into her, Rey begins to whine and her face contorts.  “Yes, yes, Ben."  He feels a pang of pleasure in his balls at the sound of his name in her mouth. She says it again and he kisses her desperately before his name is gone from her lips, like he's catching it in his own mouth.  She comes and her walls clench around him, and he starts to come, too.  He slowly thrusts into her as his cock erupts.  When his balls are empty, he pries his lips away from hers to look at her.  His hair falls into her face and she tucks it behind his ear.  

There’s a knock at the door. For a moment Ben hopes Rey can't hear it, but her face screws up.  Ben ignores it and kisses Rey's neck sweetly, trying to make her forget about it.

Another knock.  "Ben, I know you're in there," Paige says from the door.  Rey's eyes water.

Ben wants to explain.  ,"No, it's not - hold on.  One second," Ben whispers to Rey. He gets up and starts toward the door.  When he glances back, Rey is looking at the napkin and key on the nightstand.  Before Ben can answer the door, Paige says "Whatever, you've got my key."

Ben turns around to come back to bed, but Rey is gone.  He stews over it for a while, but there's nothing he can do.

-

The second day of the conference, Paige starts off cold toward Ben, but she tries to cozy up to him more during the breaks.  He tries to play nice but he's upset about the night before.  There's no way she could have known, but it still bothers him. He replays Rey's thoughts in his head and he's fairly sure her infatuation and attachment will win out over apprehension.

Paige's presentation talks about waste and efficiency.  One of the types of waste is underutilized resources.  Ben doesn't want to say it in front of Paige, but he feels like his capabilities are underutilized.  There are so many times they forgo mind tricks in favor of straight-up offing someone.  It would be cleaner to just to make them forget.  

Of course, a mind trick doesn't always work.  He can't imagine it would work for someone like Mitaka who worked full time for them.  What memories would the person be left with?  Plus, there are different rules for snitches. But as far as Ben knows, a mind trick would've worked for the disposal that ultimately led to the Post article. Ben keeps his mouth shut, though. He doesn't want to draw more attention to himself by bringing up his capabilities.  Plus, he knows better than anyone that sometimes your temper just gets the best of you.

After the session, during the social hour, Ben gets invited on a hunting trip.  He says he should really get back to the store.  A big wig slaps him on the back and asks if he can tour the store the day after tomorrow.  Ben agrees. 

Ben really can't wait to get back to the store.  

-

Thank you for reading!

[enkisstories]

The wrecking of the Steadfast (Ch. 6)

Rey and friends are reunited and need to decide where to go from here. The decision is taken out of their hands when General Pride's Sith troopers attack New Harvest and force the group into hiding in the forest. And they still have that shaky ally former General Hux tagging along... But while in his inner monologue Hux leans heavily into his "Future Emperor Armitage I." image, his words and actions beg to differ.

Read it here: Chapter 6 or from the beginning

Outtake:

As the rebels made their way to their speeders, Finn stepped in line with Hux. Reading the room, Rey left her bike to Finn and took the seat next to Poe in the car instead.

“Makes one wonder, huh?” Finn said. “Think kids are in the cards for either of us?”

“Why not? I had a thorough education in how not to parent.”

“Yeah, same, and thanks to the same shithead.”

They mounted the bike. Only after they had followed the speeder for some time already, did Hux speak up again: “But without an army, we can neither secure our territory, nor expand it. We need soldiers, and they don’t drop out of trees battle-ready.”

“Oh, I don’t know”, Finn snarled. “In the end it’s a matter of motivation. Maybe ask the former career criminal you’re dating what makes him throw his life into the line again and again?”

“Our POE?”

“Used to be a smuggler. In his defense, if I got that right, by the time he realized what company he’d fallen in with, he had been in too deep already to easily quit.”

“Oh, I can empathize with that! To some degree, at least.”

“Did you know that I wanted to run away? I wasn’t a defector to begin with, just a deserter. I wanted to stop doing your dirty work, but couldn’t commit to actively opposing it.”

“What? When did that happen?”

“Right before my past caught up with me, showing me the folly of my plan. I don’t know if that helps at all, but… those doubts concerning your decision? We all experienced that at some point, one way or another. Chances are you’ll run away and we’ll have to pull you out of some roadside ditch before all is said and done.”

“You fully expect that?”

“I’ve been there myself.”

Hux saw Finn let go of the speeder bike’s handlebar and reach for his blaster. That was an odd follow-up to what had sounded like encouragement up until now.

“Hey, hey! I’ll…”

Finn drew the weapon and almost without looking fired three shots in quick succession into the underbrush. Following the line of fire with his eyes, Hux now saw a person sized crimson-red object between the trees. It quickly dived behind a large rock, but another one that had been standing right next to it keeled over. And now it became apparent that those things were not just people-sized, but also people-shaped.

“Sith Troopers?”

“Two less now”, Finn confirmed. “The third dodged.”

“Did you feel them in the Force?”

“Haha, no! See, I relied on the sensors in my stormtrooper helmet for years. When I had them no longer at my disposal, I felt blind and deaf. But I quickly adapted, and now don’t need the aid anymore. My senses are much sharper than they were before.”

[...]

Four troopers emerged from the trees, a trio and the survivor of the first trio that Finn had attacked. Moving in formation, they kept pelting Finn’s and Hux’ bike with blaster shots, pinning it on the spot, unable to escape. The passengers slid off and dashed behind the nextbest tree. It was wide enough to provide cover for both of them and return the fire from there.

“Pinned behind a tree instead of a speeder bike is what we in the field call an improvement”, Finn snarked.

“You see me at my cheerfullest at the good news”, Hux replied. “So what next?”

“You can’t tell?”

“I usually point at stuff and then it explodes.”

“Well, we’re the extra steps between those two points.”

Finn reached around the tree and fired.

“Damn! Missed. – One on your side!”

Hux shot and scored what would have been a perfect hit. The Sith trooper, however, didn’t even notice it.

“The blaster is doing nothing!” Hux complained, after two more of his attacks had bounced harmlessly off the Sith armor, only for Finn to drop the target with a single shot.

“You have to hit the weak spots”, he told Hux, re-adjusted his aim and down went another Sith trooper.

“Which would be…?”

Finn gave no verbal answer, but the next moment Hux felt his vision blur. The two remaining Sith faded out, only a handful of points of interest on their bodies shone brightly.

“Can you see?”

“Yes, but…”

The highlighted targets were moving and additionally tried to shoot Hux while he took aim at them. The strategist simply lacked Finn’s trained reflexes and the Force couldn’t grant them to him the same way Finn used it to convey the armor’s weak spots to his companion. When he realized that his method wasn’t working, Finn retracted his mind and the world returned to normal. The Sith troopers had momentarily ceased their fire and retreated behind cover.

“Switch”, Hux whispered.

“Huh?”

“Switch sides with me, Finn! By now they should know that shots from your side mean death, while I’m harmless. I bet my revoked pension they’ll advance on my side any moment.”

“Okay.”

Finn maneuvered around Hux, who slid to the right. They waited a couple of breaths and indeed both remaining troopers approached from the direction that would have exposed them to Hux’ line of fire. Only now they met Finn’s instead and went down in short succession. The duo’s could have been a flawless victory, if not for Finn groaning:

“Ouch! One of the bastards hit me into the arm!”

“Sucks. I know you’re averse to arm injuries. Partial to the leg, weren’t you?”

Finn turned around, preparing to give a sharp retort, but the companion flashed him a genuine smirk.

“Battlefield banter. You do that in the Resistance. Did I get it right?”

“Uh… yes. Yes.”

“Alright.” Hux produced a neatly folded handkerchief from his pocket, folded it once more and pressed it on Finn’s wound, then secured it with a bandage.

“Whoa, you’re always prepared!”

Hux shook his head. Here, covered by the dead of night, hiding behind a bug-infested tree, he admitted to his fellow defector:

“Prepared for a variety of situations in which I have only a vague idea how to use the stuff I brought.”

There. He'd said it and was still alive.

[whispers-everywhere]

Mmm fuck I love videogame male characters

Meme template: https://www.deviantart.com/blueberry-lollipop/art/Blueberry-Meme-842344318

Characters list:

Ser/gea/nt Ar/ch Dor/nan (Fall/out 2)

Sol/dier (Te/am Fort/ress 2)

Lee/pky, Fee/nger and Boo/raw/chick (Van/gers: on/e f/or th/e ro/ad)

De/dan (OF/F)

Lam/bert Hei/sen/berg, Br/ad (Ha/ve a ni/ce de/ath)

Grave/lord Ni/to (Da/rk So/uls)

The Pe/ni/tent O/ne (Blas/phe/mous)

The Sin/gu/la/ri/ty / HUX-A7-13 (De/ad by day/light)

Al/es Man/say / The ma/gi/cian (Ray/man Ori/gins)

The de/aler (Buck/shot rou/lette)

Car/los Ca/la/ca, Fl/ame Fa/ce (Gua/ca/melee!)

Fau/st (Gui/lty Ge/ar Str/ive)

AM / All/ied Mas/ter/com/puter (I ha/ve no mo/uth and I mu/st scr/eam)

Bi/g Da/ddy (Bio/shock)

Man/uel "Man/ny" Cala/vera, Hec/tor Le/Ma/ns (Gr/im Fan/dan/go)

[voidcat-senket]

WIP Folder Game

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

@iwishtocountthestars tagged me because she clearly wanted to be harassed by me about some WIPs

Anyway here's what I've got, split stuff for the nerds: Original Fiction: Part 1 Part 2 Lahan Lahan in Kor Vandi Lahandi Fanfiction: -some of these are more obvious fandoms than others Rick the Sentinel a!kylo a!poe o!hux (I'm leaving this in just for you but you already have it) Bode POV Tanalorr Greed Academy Ch 2 random killugon shit Tricolor

Tumblr handles: tagging six people because that's how much fanfic is there idk @storybookprincess @queenofalpacam @sunderedazem @nightingalesighs @mmuffncakes @skepsiss

[tomatette]

Well, now you gotta tell us about "Ch. 2" because that title is just too exciting!

It is, isn't it?! Lmao, you will be surprised to hear it's the 2nd chapter of a fic! *gasp!*

Yeah, I'm fiddling around with the 2nd part of a ficlet I have posted on Ao3 already. But I felt like I wasn't done telling the story, so this exciting title happened.

It's basically Ren's pov of this one. Or less his pov (because he's not around for most of what happens to hux) and more a ... what happened to Ren in the meantime ... XD

[noiriarti]

fanfic masterlist!! ╰(*°▽°*)╯

Find me @noiriarti on tumblr and AO3!

Anakin Skywalker x Reader

Just Practice: (NSFW, modern best-friends-to-lovers kissing practice AU) Ch. 1, Ch. 2, Ch. 3, Ch. 4, Bonus Chapter / AO3 Link

Winner Takes It All: (NSFW, academic rivals to lovers modern AU) Ch. 1, Ch. 2, Ch. 3, Ch. 4, Ch. 5, Ch. 6, Ch. 7, Ch. 8, Ch. 9, Ch. 10 / AO3 Link

Trying New Things (NSFW)

Armitage Hux x Reader

Inappropriate: (NSFW) Ch. 1, Ch. 2, Ch. 3, Ch. 4 / AO3 Link

The Arrangement: (NSFW, modern roommates/cuddle-buddies AU) Ch. 1, Ch. 2, Ch. 3, Ch. 4, Ch. 5, Ch. 6 / AO3 Link

Born At Night: (NSFW, modern cam girl and cafe AU) Ch. 1 / AO3 Link

[crochetedblorbos]

"Dying's not so bad. It's staying dead that sucks."

Character Name: Gerard “Gerry” Keay

Fandom: The Magnus Archives

Voiced By: Jon Gracey

Yarn Used: Skin: CraftSmart Value - Off-White Shirt/Trousers/Shoes: Red Heart Super Saver - Black; heidi & jo iron-on applique Hair: CraftSmart Value - Curry; Tulip Colorshot Fabric Spray Paint - Black Face: Park Lane 10mm plastic eyes - hazel; Red Heart Super Saver - Black Tattoos: Red Heart Super Saver - Black

Basic pattern here.

Okay, so if I’m being honest here, this particular Gerry is 100% influenced by the version in “Awake and Unafraid” by blasphemous-lies-and-deceit, who is amazing and deserves all the love. (Not that I don’t want to hug canon!Gerry too, but holy hell.) I will also confess that I had to undo him at one point; I’d been working on him steadily for a while, and then set him aside in favor of NaNoWriMo, whereupon he promptly got swallowed up by the hellscape miasma that is my room. I finally unearthed him in a moment that can best be described as “I have discovered every single godsdamned thing I have been looking for in the last six MONTHS and also the Ark of the Covenant and Jimmy Hoffa, and yet I cannot find the one specific thing I am looking for and which I only purchased a week ago” and started working on him again. Unfortunately, I had no idea where I was in the pattern and what variants I had actually done, so I unraveled most of his torso and started over. This is why it has taken me almost a year between Hux and Gerry.

Oh, well. At least I can confidently tell you that I altered the “base” pattern as follows:

Shoes: Black combat boots, baby! Like with Mini and Hux, I kept the color the same, but otherwise the shoes are the same as before.

Trousers: I was trying to give him baggy black jeans, so I wanted them to come down over his shoes. Thus, when I got to the top of the boots, I did a round in the front loop only to give myself a little ridge, then did a round of treble crochet in the front loops of that before going back to sc for the rest of the trousers. (I think. I forgot to write this down as I was doing it and it’s been, as previously mentioned, around six months since then at time of writing.) I also wanted to give him some artistic rips in the knees, so I switched to the white I’m using for his skin and did front-loop in the black around it to give it a bit of texture and make it look like they are, in fact, torn across the knees. Deliberately or not, your call.

Shirt: I wanted Gerry to be wearing a kind of baggy, shapeless shirt, and also to be a bit taller and lankier in the torso, with a slightly longer neck. I also put him in all black because that’s how he’s always described, so I worked him the same way as Joseph (just without changing color) up until R36, and then: R37: Ch 2, hdc in each fpdc around, sl st in first hdc (38 hdc). R38-48: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (38 sc). R49: Ch 1, [sc in next 17 st, inv dec over next 2 st] twice, sl st in first sc (36 sc). R50: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (36 sc). R51: Ch 1, [sc in first 2 st, inv dec] 9 times around, sl st in first sc (27 sc). R52-53: Ch 1, sc around, sl st in first sc (27 sc). R54: Ch 1, [sc in first st, inv dec] 9 times around, sl st in first sc (18 sc). R55: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (18 sc). R56: Switch to skin color. Ch 1, sc in back loop of each st around, sl st in first sc (18 sc). R58-59: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (18sc). I also added an iron-on patch to give him a design on his shirt. (Fun fact, I bought three different patches and kept losing them before I could find my iron, which I had stupidly put away where it belonged.)

Head: I always picture Gerry as having a long, thin face and a slightly larger nose, so I followed the base pattern for his head up to what is R60 on the original pattern (but is R64 on this pattern due to previously-made changes), and then: R65-70: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (42 sc). R71: Ch 3, dc in next 26 st, puff st in next st, dc in next 15 st, sl st in first dc (41dc, 1 puff stitch). R72-77: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (42 sc). Continue from R72 on original pattern. Unfortunately, I didn’t stuff him as much as I should have, so his neck is kinda floppy. I’m working on a solution to that.

I also used safety eyes for the first time here! And oh my God they saved so much time. I wasn’t sure they were going to work in the package, but once I got them in his face, I liked them a lot! I embroidered a little smirk for his mouth. Used yarn this time because I finally had a yarn needle to do it with and didn’t feel like digging for my embroidery floss by the time I got to his mouth, and I like it.

Hair: Yeah, I’m a ginger!Gerry convert, what of it. Anyway, because his hair is always described as “badly dyed”, I initially considered using a variegated yarn, but couldn’t find one that would do what I wanted it to do, I decided to badly dye it myself. I wrapped a hank of yarn around a piece of cardboard, tied it off, and cut it, then spread it out on said cardboard and sprayed it with black fabric spray paint I found in the clearance aisle at Joann Fabric. And, as if it knew why I was doing it, it just…wouldn’t…take. I must’ve sprayed, rearranged, sprayed again, let dry, untangled, discovered that I’d just done the surface, resprayed, moved, and sprayed again about twelve times before I thought I’d got it. I hadn’t. Finally, I gave up and sewed the mottled orange-and-black mess onto his head (which was a headache and a half, especially since I wanted him to have a side part), discovered that it was neither as long nor as thick as it had looked before I put it on his head, debated starting over, decided not to, took him back outside, and covered his face with a paper towel, then sprayed the hair again, this time while it was already on his head. That way a) it dyed the scalp as well, and b) I could hope it stuck. (It also occurred to me that I was doing this on the front porch, right on the EDGE of the porch, and that it was, if not raining, at least very humid, and I wondered if that was affecting it, so once I’d sprayed his head down, I brought him inside and let him cure that way.) The yarn still soaked up a lot of the dye, but at least it’s more or less evenly covered…and it does, in fact, give the effect of a bad dye job, so…success?

Arms: I did Gerry’s arms the same way I did Hux’s, except that I gave him short sleeves rather than long ones. I also made them a little bit longer than normal, partly because Gerry is a little bit taller and partly because I was an idiot and wasn’t counting properly.

Trenchcoat: I may have made this slightly more complicated than necessary, but I like how it came out, so: Ch 48. R1: Dc in third ch from hook, dc in each ch across, turn (46dc). R2-5: Ch 3, dc in each st across, turn (46dc). R6: Ch 3, dc in first 17 st, fpdc around next st, skip next st, inv dec, dc in next 4 st, inv dec. Skip next st, fpdc around next st, dc in same st, dc in next 17 st, turn (43dc, 2 fpdc). R7: Ch 3, dc in first 18 st, bpdc around fpdc from prev row, skip next st, inv dec in back loops, dc in next 2 st, inv dec in back loops. Skip next st, bpdc around fpdc, dc in st behind, dc in next 18 st, turn (41dc, 2bpdc). R8: Ch 3, dc in first 19 st, fpdc around bpdc from prev row, skip next st, inv dec twice. Skip next st, fpdc around fpdc from prev row, dc in same st, dc in next 19 st, turn (39dc, 2fpdc). R9: Ch 3, dc in first 19 st, bpdc around next 2 fpdc, dc in next 19 st, turn (38dc, 2fpdc). R10: Ch 3, dc in each st across, turn (40dc). R11: Ch 1, sc in eacn st across, turn (40sc). R12: Ch 1, sc in first st, ch 1, skip next st, sc in each st across, turn (39sc, 1ch). R13: Ch 3, dc in first 38 st, dc in ch sp, dc in next st, turn (40dc). R14: Ch 3, dc in each st across, turn (40dc). R15: Ch 1, sc in first 38 st, ch 1, skip next st, sc in next st, turn (39sc, 1ch). R16: Ch 3, dc in first st, dc in ch sp, dc in next 38 st, turn (40dc). R17: Ch 3, dc in each st across, turn (40dc). R18: Ch 1, sc in first st, ch 1, skip next st, sc in next 38 st, turn (39sc, 1ch). R19: Ch 3, dc in first 9 st, inv dec, dc in next 18 st, inv dec, dc in next 9 st, turn (38dc). R20: Ch 3, dc in first 9 st, inv dec, dc in next 16 st, inv dec, dc in next 9 st, turn (36dc). R21: Ch 3, [dc in first 8 st, inv dec] three times, dc in next 3 st, turn (33dc). R22: Ch 3, dc in first 6 st, [YO x4, insert hook into next st, pull up loop, YO and pull through 2 loops x6]*, ch 6, skip next 3 st, repeat *, dc in next 11 st, repeat *, ch 6, skip next 3 st, repeat *, dc in next 6 st, turn (23dc, 4 extended stitches, 12ch). R23: Ch 2, hdc in first 7 st, sc in ch sp 6 times, hdc in next 13 st, sc in ch sp 6 times, hdc in next 7 st, turn (27hdc, 12sc). R24: Ch 2, hdc in first 7 st, inv dec in back loops 3 times, hdc in next 13 st, inv dec in back loops only 3 times, hdc in next 7 st, turn (33hdc). R25: Ch 1, sc in first st, hdc in next st, dc in next st, tc in next st, dtc in next st, [YO x4, insert hook into next st, pull up loop, YO and pull through 2 loops x6]*, ch 4, inv dec in hdc 10 times, hdc in next st, ch 4, repeat *, dtc in next st, tc in next st, dc in next st, hdc in next st, sc in next st, turn (13hdc, 2sc, 2dc, 2tc, 2dtc, 2 extended stitches). R26: Sl st in first sc, sc in next 5 st, sc around chain and into edge of extended stitch 4 times, sc in next 11 st, sc around chain and into edge of extended stitch 4 times, sc in next five st, sl st. Fasten off. Sleeves: Join yarn to st in armhole. For row 1, ch 1, sc in first st (mark starting st), sc in next 19 st around, join (20sc). For rows 2-10, ch 3, dc in each st around, join (20dc). Add buttons to sc rows of front opposite ch sp if desired. (I do so desire, I just haven’t done it yet.

Tattoos: Gerry’s tattoos are embroidered on in backstitch. I only did three (one on each hand and one on the back of his neck), because I was doing it in yarn and it was way too thick for anything tinier, but what the hey, he doesn’t technically have “joints”. (The ones on his knees don’t show because the holes are sagging below the joints. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!)

[starlightsearches]

star my beloved!! ☺️

I am here for the wip ask game! and also just to say hi and I hope you are doing well! 💕

I must say that when I saw the two "His Pilot" chapters in there I was instantly like 👀👀👀👀

I actually saw the first chapter of that story on ao3 quite a long time ago I think?? (I think ao3 is where I saw it???) but I somehow didn't realize it was yours until I saw the chapters on your masterlist later and then I was like omg!!!!

anyway, all this rambling to say that I read the first chapter a while ago, absolutely loved it, and then promptly no longer had much time to read further 😭😭 however, I have sooooooo been meaning to get back into it because I loved what I read so far, so when I finish posting 'time after time' stuff (bc all the last minute editing and formatting is eating away at my free time rn lmaooo why am I like this 😭) I'm gonna do a little "His Pilot" read-through and probably totally spam your notifs if that's okay 😅

but all this to say that if you're comfy with it, I'd love to hear any snippets or thoughts you have to share on those chapters! ☺️ and soon I will be caught up on the lore!! 🥰

sending you so much love always!! 🥰💕

CHARLOTTE!! So happy to see you in my inbox, bestie!! His Pilot is a very old story of mine, so it would make sense if you found it on AO3. I would love for you to spam my notifications whenever (or if ever) you do get around to reading it, of course!!

🚧 WIP Title Ask Game 🚧

For His Pilot Ch. 7, there’s a scene I’d really like to share but that would be a spoiler, so here’s a little fluff from the morning after chapter 6 ends 😉

And for His Pilot Bonus Ch. 4, I’m sure there’s some serious angst most people would have hoped for from Hux’s POV, but I didn’t want to write that 😇 so we get some other angst instead: