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beskarberry · 4 years

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Silver and Steel

Bargaining with Beskar, Chapter 2 (The Mandalorian x f!reader)

It was then you noticed the open wall next to you. The steel panel was slid open to reveal a vault packed corner to corner with more firepower than you had ever seen in one place. Your eyes roamed from blaster to rifle to flamethrower, noticing that not all of them were made for five fingered hands. This wasn't just an armory, it was a trophy case.

Rating: Explicit

Word count: 7.5k

Content warnings: ALOT. Descriptions of violence (a little spicier than canon) blood mention, near death experiences, hurt/COMFORT, fluff, smut exhaustion sex, top!reader.

A/N: I hope y’all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it but yeah PLEASE READ THOSE CONTENT WARNINGS!! It all works out ok in the end! Also good chunks of this was inspired by a particular filk song called Call the Navigator which I’ll link in the replies so the external link doesn’t ef up my post.

<-Previous Next->

"Med pack... junk....junk....spotchka?....is that all you've got?"

You were bent over a deep supply crate, your legs barely touching the ground while you dug through what you had hoped would be the food stock. There were several banged up tins of rations and a handful of miscellaneous junk, but nothing that looked real food. You were clean and dry after your shower, but the energy that had been spent in this very supply room just an hour or so earlier had to be replenished. "Where’s the rest of it?"

The silence coming from the cockpit was expected, but still frustrating. With a huff you grabbed two food tins and made your way through the old ship towards the ladder. At the top though a small antechamber you found your new comrade seated in the pilot chair, fussing with the buttons on the console. On either side and slightly behind his chair were two other passenger seats, though the one on his left was missing a good deal of padding. The cockpit was poorly lit save for the lighted console and the dusty starlight overhead. Though you were in the air, you could tell you were still on Tatooine. Hooray. Why are we still here? The great Dune Sea stretched out on all sides, sparsely dotted with sand people villages, but you couldn’t see any of the large space ports such as Mos Eisley or Mos Espa. In the ships’ darkness you couldn't tell what the lumpy thing was in the other chair, probably blankets or laundry. You went to toss it off the seat when a pair of huge black orbs peeped out from the heap of fabric.

"The fuck is THAT?!" You rocketed backwards, dropping the food tins in the process. The bug eyed creature made a soft cooing noise and lifted the rest of the blanket off itself, allowing two gigantic green ears to pop into view. It didn't look like a threat, in fact it looked kinda cute, but you knew it could still be dangerous. A pair of stubby three-fingered hands made grabby motions at you, the little creature giggling at your bewildered face. " Where'd you find this thing, is it some kind of pet?"

"He's not a pet." Finished fiddling with the console, Mando turned in his chair to readjust the blanket that had slumped off of the small beastie. It squealed happily and wiggled in its comfy cocoon before noticing the food tins that were still on the floor. He pointed the tiniest claw at them and chirped at you, demanding to be fed. "You'd better give him one of those before he gets mad."

It took you a moment to process what he said before scooping one of the tins off the floor, peeling back the lid and placing the dish in the seat next to the little thing. He greedily scooped the mystery mash into his tiny toothy mouth, gibbering between bites. You picked the remaining tin off the floor and leaned against the door frame, watching it happily chow down.

"If it's not a pet then what is it?"

"He's my..." the Mandalorian paused, fishing for the right words to say, "...he is my child."

That was not at all the answer you expected, if he had said emotional support gremlin you would have been less confused. The baby was still making a mess of his dinner, almost dropping his plate before Mando snatched it and set it carefully back in his lap. You had seen first hand that there was a human under all that metal plating, and your tired brain fizzled trying to make the connection between the two very different beings. Mando could tell by your puzzled face that he had some explaining to do.

He told you the tale of how he had been charged to bring the baby in as a high credit bounty, but after he used the reward to get new armor he went back and stole the child away from its captors. He talked about the Mandalorian concept of a 'foundling' and that he himself was one too. At some point you had popped your food tin open and started eating, though you were so captivated by his story that you couldn't remember doing so. When he'd finished you set your empty dish on the busted chair and gently held your hand out for the child to grab with one mush covered paw, who babbled excitedly at his new friend.

Behind you his parental guardian was rigid, ready to take you out if you made one wrong move against his precious cargo. Though he had been the one to steal you away and forgo freezing you in carbonite he still didn’t exactly trust you, your reputation as a hunter-killer was what had driven your bounty so high. He knew you were disarmed, but what else could you be capable of? However, you weren't paying mama-hen Mando any mind. Instead you let the baby play with your hand a bit before he returned to his food. You decided that the only place left to sit was on the floor. Squished into the tiny space between the passenger and pilot seats was cramped, but it gave you a fantastic view out the rounded transperisteel window into the vastness of the night sky.

“Your story sounds awful familiar.” You turned your attention to the metal clad man, watching him fidget with the steering controls. “You abandoned a guild reward for anothers wellbeing, like I did. Someone that didn’t deserve to be dragged back in cuffs. Is that why you picked up the puck on me? Some kind of kindred spirit something or other?”

“We’re nothing alike.” He was watching out the window, focused on flying the ship to unknown destinations, but he was bouncing the leg farthest away from you. So when the cogwheels turn in your head, the machine moves somewhere else. If you hadn’t experienced his human body first hand you could have easily convinced yourself he was a droid.

“Now that’s not true. You told the guild to get fucked because your moral compass was pointing the other way. I didn't just let that quarry go y'know? It was more than that. There was... there was someone she had to get back to. And the New Republic was just gonna lock her ass up and for what? It wasn't right." You remembered that Togruta woman, pointing a blaster at you with tears in her eyes and her belly swollen with a child that did not belong to the man she was being forced to marry. A few thousand credits weren’t worth another child being made an orphan, and you gave her your ship to escape in while you led hunters on a wild-bantha chase away from her. You knew it drove the guild insane but you wouldn’t have it any other way. A tiny green foot poked itself out from under the blankets by your head, bringing you out of your reverie. On reflex you tucked it back into the safety of his blankies.

Though you thankfully didn’t remember much of your early childhood, you knew you had come from Corellia. You didn’t know if you had parents or siblings, but there had been many other young street urchins in your alley behind the shipyard, and all you had then were each other. You never planned on having any kids yourself, but they were still something to be protected. At all costs, if necessary. “I’m guessing this little dude is happy with that decision.”

Mando had begun to take the ship closer to the ground, it was almost totally dark outside but you could see on the radar there was a large mountainous formation up ahead. Carefully, he landed the beat up craft on a sturdy outcropping of rocks, kicking up whirlwinds of dust and sand. Far out over the sand you could see a collection of lumpy looking ruins that were slowly succumbing to the march of the dunes. You guessed this was where your quarry was hiding out.

The baby was starting to get sleepy, his huge eyes disappearing slowly as the weight of his eyelids became too much. His little head rolled forward, threatening to toss him off his seat. Your big mean bounty hunter heart couldn’t take it, so you scrambled to your feet and scooped the baby up in your arms, sitting down in his seat to get him situated in your lap. He fussed and squirmed a bit, but you had learned a no-fail trick from the Corellian ship builders that would often help to sneak orphaned children onto their ships and off that skughole of a planet towards a better life. Many years ago they had done the same for you.

“Oh, I have sailed the midnight sea from Hoth to Arvala-5.

Seen the Cloudshape Falls of Alderaan, met rocks that were alive.

But soon I came to realize as world to world I roamed,

That nowhere in the galaxy could really be my home.”

The songs you knew were often sang by whole crews of starship sailors, loud enough to shake their durasteel walls, but you dropped your voice low and soft to turn the star-shanty into a lullaby. The baby was watching you with glittering eyes, he had stopped his wiggling and curled up tightly against your chest.

“So call the navigator, set the course and go!

We've stars and planets to explore, my wild heart tells me so.

Beneath the metal decking I can hear the engine sigh

And all I need is a mighty ship and a staaaa-aarr to guide her by”

A tiny yawn betrayed his wondrous eyes, and he gave up and closed them shut, rubbing his little hands on his face. You lowered your voice to almost a whisper.

“I've seen a million beauties and I've known a million fears,

And life is what I've found between the laughter and the tears.

Still I will sail the last frontier through worlds both tame and wild,

And marvel at their strangeness with the wonder of a child”

Soft snores were your only applause, the baby having drifted off mid stanza. You hummed a few more lines of the song to be sure he was asleep. The cockpit was as dark as the surrounding sky, but the glint of silver caught your attention. Starlight reflected off the beskar plates in a way that made the black of his visor seem darker than the heart of a collapsed star, and just as deadly. The Mandalorian was watching you intently, completely motionless.

The precious moment with the baby had made you very forgetful of the dangerous situation you were actually in. You had been captured, you were this man’s prisoner and yet here you were all cozy in the chair with his adopted son in your lap. You glared back at him, matching his fierce gaze when the little green bundle moved to get more comfortable, one tiny hand catching claws in the top you were wearing; a tunic that did not belong to you.

“Here, you take him then.” Your voice was hushed so as not to wake the child, and you raised him up gently to try and unhook him from your shirt. Immediately there were two gloved hands coming to lift the baby off of your lap. He was a monolith of leather and metal, but the way he pulled his son in close was so gentle that all the ferocity of his profession dissipated like mist. Mando carefully tucked the blanket under the sleeping little baby and wrapped him up tight before slowly turning away from you and the flight deck to head down the ladder in total silence, leaving you alone in the dark.

You watched him go, the top of his shiny silver head disappearing into the floor. Without the sounds of life in the cockpit the quiet of the night weighed heavy on your ears. He still hadn’t told you why he had kept you out of the carbonite, all you had done was let him use you as his personal play-thing... and maybe murder off some of his bounty hunting competition, but that wasn’t much to go off of. You had done worse for much less. Put your skills to better use, that’s what he had said. Absently you toyed with the end of your sleeve, no, not your sleeve. His sleeve.

That was another thing, what reason did he have to show you hospitality when his first interaction with you had been so violent? Binding you and marching your ass through the desert after he had fucking shot you. Your escape plan had almost worked, ha! All you would’ve had to do is tire him out and run but that had backfired entirely. The apex of your thighs still thrummed with sensation, warm and blissful. Though you’d had lovers in the past you usually didn’t still feel them so deeply afterwards. The smell of the fresher soap still clung to your body and clothes. Clutching at the collar of your sweater you pulled it to your face and breathed deep, letting the heady scent of it fill your lungs.

“Let’s go. We have work to do.” The modulated voice coming from the ladder startled you from your guilty indulgence and sprang you to your feet, but the source of the voice was already back down the ladder. You sheepishly followed suit.

“You plan on telling me what we’re up to exactly?” Down below the Mandalorian was loading himself with ammunition, each and every slot on his many bandoliers was packed to the brim with charges. His pulse rifle was slung over one shoulder, clanking up against a new piece of equipment you hadn’t seen before. Some kind of jet pack maybe.

“I have two bounties to catch on Tatooine. One of them conveniently fell into a sarlacc pit. The other one's hiding out down there." A bounty fob blinked red in his hand; quick flashes indicated that the target was close by. “If you help me with this, you’re off the hook. I’ll tell Karga you’re dead and the guild will stop sending hunters after you. But-” He turned to face you, he was holding your beat-up old back pack by one ratty leather strap. "If for one second I think you'll turn against me, I'll take the half credits for your corpse."

"You're one to talk!" You hissed, storming up to the gunslinger with the ferocity of a lothcat. "You kidnapped me! I didn't ask to be here."

The man in question didn't budge under your verbal assault. "Do we have a deal or not?"

He forced your backpack into your arms to accentuate his point. You ripped it from his grasp and stormed to the other side of the cabin. Everything was still inside; a pack of bacta patches, a few mementos, three busted tracking fobs and some blaster charges. Speaking of blaster-

"Where’s my gun, Mando?" Your question was answered when you turned back to face him. He was holding it by its barrel, extending the grip towards you. You met his visor with contempt, but took the old blaster from him carefully as not to cause a misfire. It would be nice to not be on the run from a guild you had pledged your loyal services to for so many years, that now wanted you delivered back to them in carbonite; and you knew that Karga would trust his favorite hunter. The life of a moisture farmer wasn’t what you dreamed of when you escaped Corellia. Fuck that. "Yeah, it's a deal. One hunt and I'm gone."

If he didn't want you to ogle his wares he should have closed the panel, but instead he joined you at the wall, picking up some extra plasma cartridges and a vibroblade with a curved handle, which he pushed into your hands. "Will that be enough?"

Either you trust me or you don't, pick a side, tin can. You didn't answer him right away, opting to pull a chest holster and another couple of blasters down from the wall. You cinched the holsters tight and tucked a blaster in on either side, slung a disruptor over your back and stuffed the knife in your boot. Once you had everything in place you stuck your fists on your hips like a superhero with a confidant nod. "Yeah, that should be good."

Mando was watching you with intensity, his visor going over each of your weapon choices. He tugged on your holsters’ cross straps to make sure they were secured. You rolled your eyes at him, "I know how to dress myself, sir."

No answer. Typical. He stopped fussing with your straps and turned back to the wall, selecting a heavy multi-ammo bandolier. He stepped closer to you, wrapping both arms around your waist to fit the belt in place on your hips. You tried to convince yourself that it was the cool beskar of his chest plate pressed up against you that sent a shiver down your spine. The physical contact was over as quickly as it had been initiated, and then he was back in the vault fishing out the tiny silver explosives that fit neatly into the circular latches on either side of your belt, handing them to you without a word. Finished with his selection he pressed a few buttons on his vambrace, one to slide the armory shut and another to summon an egg-shaped hover crib to float to his side. Inside its shell the child was sound asleep, a heart-melting smile on his tiny little face. As adorable as he was, you furrowed your brow in confusion.

“Is he coming too?”

“Where I go, he goes.” Mando said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He strode back to the supply crate you had been digging through earlier and packed a handful of rations into a bag for the journey through the dunes. Cool desert air gusted into the stuffy cabin as the access ramp fell open, and the three of you headed out into the darkness of Tatooine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your dreams were hazy and feverish, shots of blaster fire flickered through the fog from unknown assailants. The smell of blood and blast plasma strong in your nose even while unconscious. You saw the sneering face of a Twi’lek twist in agony and purple blood painted his face before he winked out of existence, replaced in your mindscape with bloody hands. Your hands. Then there was cold beskar on your cheek and strong arms hauling you from the carnage. Harsh wind in your ears and the ground spiraling away beneath you. The howling wind so loud you couldn't hear the questions being barked in your face. Pain, the smell of burning skin, then nothing. You felt objects moving frantically nearby, and something soft and green was pressing into your ribs. Your eyes, heavy as they were, fluttered open to see two huge black orbs staring up from your side where bright red blood was staining the sheets under you. Is that ... my blood?

“Hey green bean...what’cha up to?” Your voice was hoarse and weak, scratching its way out reluctantly past chapped lips. Talking made your head pound, you reached up to cradle your aching skull when two leather tipped hands caught yours and held them steady.

“Easy... Don’t move too much. Please.” Your hands were gently set back down at your sides, shooting pain up your arms. A large black and silver body was hunched beside you, frantically sticking bacta patches to your skin.

“Mand...do? What…what happened?” Your voice was barely a whisper, so faint the recycled air of the cabin threatened to whisk it away.

“You got the bastard, but that fucking Twi' managed to get a shot off in your gut point blank before he went down. You shouldn't have survived that but you did.” Is that a compliment? He was wrapping a long gauze bandage around your arm, fixing the bacta patches in place so they could do their thing. It hurt, but not as much as you thought it should have. Down by your side the child had rolled into you face first, passed out cold next to an emergency cauterizer. Mando nodded at his sleeping son, “And if it wasn’t for him, you’d be dead for sure.”

The baby? How is he involved with this? Thoughts echoed loudly in your skull, and you decided that thinky time was over. The little guy had the right idea, you should sleep now, embrace the comfort of the dark behind your eyes, let it swallow you whole.

“Hey hey hey! Not yet. Stay with me, ok? You need to drink something. Here.” An armored hand slid under your head, urging you to sit up just enough to take a drink out of the metal canteen pressed against your lips. “You need to stay awake, just for a little while.” Cool water graced your dry mouth and dripped onto your chin. Embarrassed by your mess you tried to wipe the droplets away but once again your arms were halted in place. A rough piece of fabric dabbed at your face.

“I’m not a baby, Mando. I can take care of myself.” The creeping sting of blast-burn that still scalded your skin told you that might not be true. The bacta was just starting to seep into your bloodstream, but it would take some time to work its magic.

“I know that. I was with you down there in the fray. A rancor would have been less terrifying to face than you. But right now I need you to hold still.”

Another compliment? Or was that sarcasm? You’re losing your edge, tin man. You tried to roll your eyes but the effort made your head spin; you glanced around the cabin, trying to avoid meeting the visor that was pinning you to the cot. Strewn about the floor of the ship was what was left of your holsters and weapons, splattered with red and purple blood. You couldn’t be sure, but it looked like one belt had been blasted to smithereens, torn strips of leather the only indication it had been there at all. Farther away you saw a dark block in the carbonite freezer. The Twi’lek from your nightmare was frozen solid, though from his limp posture you guessed he had stopped moving long before he was put in the chamber. One of his long lekku had been cut clean off, and even in carbonite you could see the wound was fresh. Something long and curved stuck victoriously out of the center of his chest. Your vibroblade, lodged to the hilt in his sternum.

Mando was still kneeling on the floor by your side, and though you couldn’t see his face his hunched shoulders gave you the feeling that he was distraught. He still had your head resting in his palm, his thumb absently toying with your hair. Maybe it was the bacta running through your system that made you start to feel warm and gooey on the inside, but the sensation of his hand on your scalp felt... nice. Nice to be touched in a way that wasn't just for survival. Though you had already felt his hands on your body this was something else entirely. Sincere. Maybe it was just the first time somebody near you wasn't trying to kill or capture you. You foolish girl, you've already been captured. Are you so lonely that a gentle touch makes you melt? Maybe it's you that's losing your edge.

"You should have left me for dead, cashed in on that half credit reward."

"That is not The Way." His mantra was rehearsed, spoken as easily as he drew breath, but you could hear the exhaustion in his voice.

“Well... thank you for not letting me bleed out.” You could see the top of the baby's green little noggin still curled up against your side, though the part of your ribs he was leaning on didn’t have a single mark. You looked for the blast wound that Mando was supposedly talking about, but aside from a handful of plasma burns your skin was smooth and healthy; the pool of dried blood under you was the only indication anything had been there at all. What kind of mando magic is that? And what did he mean about the child? Your first thought was how disappointed you were there wouldn’t be a good scar. Your second was realizing your top was missing. Shreds of it were still on your shoulders, but the front had been ripped off completely to get to your vanished wounds. Mando seemed like he didn’t even care, he had been so focused on patching you up that the idea of modesty was thrown out the window, but you couldn’t help teasing him. “There’s not a scratch on me, Mando. You just wanted me topless, didn’t you?”

His thumb on your scalp froze, his visor going from your face to your chest with rapid snaps. Without letting your head drop he used his other hand to tear his cloak from his back and throw it over you and the sleeping baby. “Better?”

Party pooper. “Yes, thank you.” Why is he being so nice? He must have ulterior motives, right? Why keep me alive if not to cash in on that bounty? You decided to push his buttons some more. “This bed sucks. Is this why you're so crotchety? Because you sleep on this Maker-forsaken thing? It’s making my back hurt.”

The cot you were on was spartan at best, more of a cloth covered bucket than a bed. It was recessed into the wall opposite of the armory, bits of machinery and droid parts hanging over the space above you. There wasn’t much of a gap between your head and the durasteel plating of the ship’s hull. Your teasing was rewarded with a long, tired sigh. The hand that cushioned your head moved down to your shoulders, pushing on you so that you sat up straight. You scooped the baby off of your side and into your arms, trying to ignore the dried blood from your wounds that stained the sheets before swaddling the sleeping bean in his father’s cloak. The metal man rose from the floor, letting go of you just long enough to remove his cross-belts and unlatch his chest plate, setting them on the floor with a dull thunk. He squished himself between the wall and your back, his dorsal plate scraping loudly without its cape. He scooched one armored leg around you until it was between your hip and the wall on your side, pulling you into his lap and turning his whole body into a pillow, letting your torso rest on his. He was used to the sharp metal bed frame, but that didn’t mean you should be subjected to it.

“Is this ok?”

You could only nod, your cheeks flushing red with a mix of emotions. It was more than ok, his formidable body was warm and comfortable. His arms wrapped around your waist, helping to support not only you but also his foundling. The spice of him was strong now with him on your back, worn leather and metal and that damn fresher soap that was making a fool out of you. Underneath his steady breathing the sound of something rhythmic caught your attention, it was quick and faint, but unmistakably the sound of his heartbeat. His heart is racing. Listen to that engine purr.

Behind you a man with a name you may never know watched your chest slowly rise and fall with each breath, not with lust but something unfamiliar though not unwelcome. He could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears, whether from the ordeal of keeping you alive or the fact that you were in his arms again he couldn't be sure. He sighed, trying to convince himself to calm down, but the deep breath he took only flooded his senses with the essence of you, threatening to melt the beskar off his head with the heat rushing to his face. He couldn't help the way his fingers traced over your skin, careful not to undo any of the bacta patches. He jumped slightly when your hands found his, but the weight of the child still in your arms made it difficult to reach your fingers. The glove you were touching was suddenly empty, and a bare hand snaked out from under the cloak that kept you modest. With the press of a button the child’s pram floated its way over to you from the supply crates. The baby’s adopted father carefully lifted the sleeping creature off your lap and into his hover crib, another button press on the vambrace and the shield door slid closed.

His hand returned to the safety of the cloak, pulling the other glove off before finding your fingers again. His skin was so warm you couldn't help but imagine his hands somewhere more intimate. Evil, evil bacta... Maybe you wouldn't have to.

"I should thank you properly." It was impossible to hide the tiredness of your voice, but he was close enough you only needed to whisper. His grasp tightened around you, your once plush pillow was now a rigid wall of muscle.

"You should go to sleep." the sound of his baritone words so close to your ear made your skin prickle. Too late for that. Slowly you guided his hand down your belly until your tangled hands bumped into your belt line. A low growl rumbled out of the modulator. “Cyar'ika... you need to rest."

The alien term of endearment made you hum, but you ignored his words of warning and pushed his hand under the tough fabric till his fingertips found your heat, both of you gasping softly at first contact. His free hand fumbled with your button, and after some difficulty you undid it for him along with the zipper. With space to work, with his wrist moved freely, lazily rolling a calloused fingertip against your clit; remembering his lesson from the first time he experienced your body, his touch was light as a feather.

There wasn’t much you could do for him in the position you were in, so you leaned back against him and relaxed, letting him enjoy you at his own pace. The bottom of his helmet was pressed into the crook of your neck, and though it was sharp you could feel something warm and soft underneath it. So there is a real man under there. Scruffy stubble brushed at your skin and sent goosebumps down your chest. Under the beskar his eyes followed the prickling trail that lead under the tattered cloak you still wore to your breasts, watching the way the fabric pointed where your nipples grew hard for him. His other hand couldn’t resist finding its way to your pert peaks, rolling them between his fingers in that way he knew flushed you with heat. Soft gasps rewarded his ears as he worked at your breast and clit, rubbing them in tandem. Your hips rolled into one hand and your back arched into the other, urging him to help you build your climax. He obliged, adding a second finger to pinch your clit softly between strong digits until you fell apart around him.

The pressure that was building behind you and pressing into your spine told you that if you wanted more from him you would have to give him a better angle. You started to get up, but the hands on your sensitive spots held you in place.

“What about your injuries? I don’t want to hurt you.” What injuries? There’s nothing left! His voice was filled with sincerity, a far cry from your first encounter. You didn’t answer him, instead you found each of his hands and squeezed them with a hum, asking him to trust that the bacta had set in and made you comfortable enough to move from your impromptu med bay. He slid his fingers out from your burning core, dragging the wetness from your cunt over your skin until his palms were on your back, helping to push you up off of him. The teeny tiny bed frame made it difficult to spin yourself around until you were facing him, and even more difficult to kick your pants off as you passed over top of him, but he never took his hands away from you to keep you steady until you were seated in his lap.

Straddling his waist you rolled your hips over where his cock was hidden from you, making him shudder under your legs. His arms glided from your knees to your hips, languidly making their way up your sides and past your breasts to the last remaining tatters of the black knit sweater he had allowed you to wear. Hooking a thumb under its ruined edges, he slid it up over your arms and cast it away into the darkness of the ship. His hands went right back to working at your breasts, massaging them like dough in time with your grinding hips. You took a moment to admire how he looked underneath you, his remaining armor glinting in the hazy ship light as his hands searched for every sensitive inch of your chest. You knew from legend that his helmet could never be removed in front of you, but you’d never heard anything about the rest of his clothes. Where his chest plate had been was a strappy flak jacket dotted with magnetic fasteners. Your hands went slowly to the first clasp, and the hands that were so indulged in you froze, his body stiff between your legs.

“Is this ok?” The irony of you repeating his question from earlier back to him made your lips turn in a sly smile.

“Y-yes.” His voice was nearly imperceptible, and you realized that he was shaking. You looked to his visor, watching him nod in consent before you continued. He dropped his hands to your hips, pulling down on your thighs and rutting up into you while you busied yourself with the complicated under armor until it fell away at his sides, revealing a pair of suspenders and an identical black knit tunic as the one that had been shredded off of you. You didn’t have the energy to peel every article of clothing off of him, so this would have to do. Without his cloak bunched around his shoulders you were able to see the flesh of his throat, so warm and inviting that you wanted to sink your teeth into it.

You bent down to nibble at the exposed skin, and the filthy moan that rattled out of the helmet sent shivers down your spine. The taste of him was exquisite, better than you could have imagined under all that fabric and leather. The overwhelming cocktail of his scent straight from the source made you bold. You kissed your way around the edge of his helmet where the metal met his skin until you found his pulse point and made good on your desires. His body convulsed when you bit down, sucking at the tender skin until you left blooming marks that would be there for days.

“Cyar'ika... Please...“ There was that word again, you didn’t know what it meant but the way he breathed it like a prayer felt like warm honey in your belly. Releasing his tormented neck you ran your hands down his broad chest until your thumbs bumped the leather suspenders that lead you down to his waist line where you were able to tug the edge of his shirt free, giving you a delicious window of his tummy; well-muscled and dusted with dark brown hair.

“What’s wrong, tin man? Nobody ever touch you like this before?” He was still shaking while you ran your hands under the edge of his shirt and through the soft treasure trail of fuzz from the top of his belt line to the bottom of his ribs. He couldn’t answer you, his breath caught in his throat at the sensation of your hands on his skin, but you were starting to put the pieces of his puzzle together. No, probably not.

You decided not to torture him any longer. The fabric of his pants was nearly stretched to capacity and wet with your slick. You had to stretch one leg out onto the floor to get enough of a footing to lift yourself high enough off him that you could free him from the canvas prison. His cock nearly burst out of its confines, and your face flushed red at the sight of him standing proudly at attention, twitching in your hands with a flood of shimmering precum made just for you.

His chest was heaving, ragged breaths forcing their way out of his modulator before you’d even taken his length. You used your hips to notch him at your entrance and his grip on your thighs clenched like a steel trap. Slowly you lowered yourself onto him, letting him fill you until you were stretched wide. Your eyes met his visor, though from the way it was tilted you knew he was watching himself disappear into you. His arms wrapped tightly under your ass as he thrust into you hard enough that he lifted you off the cot, quickly scooting both your bodies down the bed until he was flat on his back. You tried to stay upright, but his pounding soon had your head spinning until you were falling forward into his chest, digging your arms around his shoulders in a way you were becoming familiar with. Your hands found their way to the back of his helmet to where his hair line started, sneaking a few fingers under the metal edge to tangle in his curls. The Mandalorian’s hands were on your waist, holding you in place while he rocketed up into you, filling the ships cabin with the sound of wet slaps. His thick cock hit different from this angle, grinding up against the sweet spot deep inside you with each rut until you started seeing stars behind your eyes. He could feel you building up around him and he quickened his pace until you were gasping his name.

“M-mando! I... I’m gonna....” Your muscles coiled with heat until you burst, your sweet cunt fluttering around his still pumping cock until he went cascading over the edge of ecstasy with you, his helmet vibrating with a guttural roar. His feverish body shook, giving you a few short thrusts to milk the cum from his cock until it spilled out from where he was lost inside you.

His shaky arms held onto you so tightly, as if you would blast away into space if he let go. The endorphins flooding his head made him want to pour his heart out and tell you everything, bare himself in body and soul for the first time in his life. He wanted to tell you how nice you had looked in his clothes, how the loose knit fabric draped over your breasts was a work of art; even more so when you were standing before him armed to the teeth in his hunting trophies. How seeing you slice that fucking Twi’lek to ribbons was more graceful than any ballet. The sight of the bloody hole that had been burned into your side had made his skin crawl. Mando wasn’t ready to explain the child’s healing powers, he barely understood them himself; but if it wasn’t for the baby he would have been burying your corpse instead of tending your wounds. Instead of experiencing your living body like he was now.

His heart fluttered at the thought of his foundling healing you with his baby sorcerer magic, his tiny green paws pushed on your side where the blood was spilling from your wound. The thought of you dying for his bounty made him sick, but pride flushed the sensation away when he thought back to that first day with you up in the flight deck. How when his baby boy was restless that you acted, not with malice but with tenderness and care. He'd never wanted to rip his helmet off faster in all his days than when you sang his son a lullaby, the sweet tune of it filtering through his sensory equipment, and he longed to hear it as it was meant to be. In that moment he had been entranced, but the fierce glare of his visor had made you feel threatened. He didn't want that. He wanted to make you feel safe. The same way you had made his child feel, the same way you made him feel now. Like the galaxy itself couldn’t tear you from him.

But the ugly truth was that soon it would all end when you both went your separate ways. All the feelings he wanted to confess to you died in his mouth, leaving a bitter taste that brought him back to reality. You still straddled his waist, and though the blood had long since left his cock it still sat neatly in your heat, letting him feel your gentle heartbeat around him. Carefully he pulled himself free from the apex of your thighs and rolled you both sideways onto the unforgiving cot, letting gravity shuffle you down until you were nestled in the crook of his arm. He couldn’t help brushing a stray lock of hair from your face, meeting your half lidded eyes with his own behind the visor.

“I don’t think I can get to the fresher this time.” Your voice was barely a whisper, and the edges of sleep crept unbidden to your eyes; the traumatic activities of the day finally winning over your endurance. “You’re probably going to have to burn these sheets.”

Mando hummed with indifference, though for you he would burn all of Tatooine down if you asked. All the lovely thoughts that had danced through his mind came rolling through again, haloed in the warm light of afterglow. Only one made its way past his lips, sneaking out of the helmets’ modulator like a prayer.

“How does the song end?”

“Mmm?” You were so close to sleep, so cozy and full of cum that you knew would be a fun mess for morning-you to clean up. You wracked your brain trying to remember what the hell he was talking about. The star-shanty? “Why, do you need a lullaby too?”

“N-no. Just curious. When you leave, my foundling might ask me about it.” Liar. The calloused hand gliding up and down your spine brought the original contract you made with him ringing through your skull. One hunt and I’m gone.

“Leave? I’m not going anywhere until I see you tell Karga face to face that I’m rotting in a sarlacc pit. No take-backs. That old dog will probably dance when he hears he won’t have to part with his credits and I want to catch it on holo-corder.”

The rumbling sigh deep in his chest sounded more like an engine powering down than a mortal man, and it told you more than words ever could. The arm you had around his chest was met with strong fingers that intertwined with your own. He doesn’t want me to go. Who are you, Mandalorian?

“Tell me anyway? Please?” His arms tightened like a fortress around you. His words were distant, echoing out from somewhere in dreamland instead of right by your ear. Alright you big softie, if you’re going to beg me. You sighed heavily against him, trying to recall the songs of your distant past.

“The nights are long between the stars, and lonely too for me,

I wonder how I might have fared with home and family.

But the bonds of friendship I have formed will last my lifetime through,

Security is not for me, my dreams are all of you.”

The same soft snores that had been your original encore with the baby now ghosted in your ear, muffled by the mysterious beskar helmet but still unmistakable. Like father like son.

The weight of his arms around you was like nothing you had ever felt in your years on the run. You had traveled so far and met so many living beings but not once had you let another share your bed while you slept. You could get used to this. The thought was the last you had before sleep overtook you, your body slumping against his while you dreamed of silver and steel.

<-Previous Next->

TAG LIST

@mandoinevarro @mrsparknuts @cookiejuicedesu

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian x you #hurt/comfort #fluff #smut

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sunnydaleherald · 2 years

Text

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Wednesday, June 8 – Thursday, June 9

Willow: Okay, that's a little blacker than I like my arts. Anya: Oh, don't be such a wimp. Willow: That, that-that wasn't just some temporal fold, that was some weird Hell place. I-I don't think you're telling me everything. Anya: I swear, I am just trying to find my necklace. Willow: Well, did you try looking inside the sofa *in Hell*?

~~Doppelgangland~~

The Sunnydale Herald is still looking for at least one new editor! :) Contributing to the Herald is a great way to get your Buffy on. You can find out more here.

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Dirty Work by badly_knitted (Buffy, PG)

What We Hold Onto by Gabriel_Is_My_Guardian_Angel89 (Angel/Spike, M)

Cheating by EllieRose101 (Buffy/Spike, worksafe, collection rated R)

Perfect Clarity (and Croutons) by EllieRose101 (Buffy/Spike, G)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Bloody Petals: Breaking Tradition by madimpossibledreamer (Buffy/Yakuza AU, Kendra, Faith, Xander, Buffy, Teen)

Drusilla's Soul - Chapter 22 by DarkJanet (crossover with Blade and Digimon Adventure 02, Drusilla, Fanged Four, M)

Touch - Chapter 16 by girlpire (Angel/Spike, E)

Silence In the Night - Chapter 3 by kitkatt0430 (Buffy/Anya, Tara/Willow, T)

To Start Again - Chapter 1 by summers-maclay-lehane (Buffy, Scoobies, T)

Chasing Sunrise - Chapter 1 by summers-maclay-lehane (Giles/Jenny, T)

Filks and Fables - Chapter 1 by CSM_Scriptator (Buffy/Willow, E)

Le chemin de la destinée, du courage, et la force de ses convictions, les chemins de son cœur…. Le commencement, Ch. 69-70 by Violette-Milka (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only, in French)

The Slayer and the Vampire, Ch. 28 by violettathepiratequeen (Buffy/Spike, PG)

Seven, Ch. 23 by Holly (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Use It or Lose It, Ch. 25 by Dynamite (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Aprés, Ch. 13 by Ninereeds (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Mortal Allies Series, Episode 5: War and Roses, Ch. 29 by Passion4Spike (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Unliving Conditions, Ch. 7 by MrsAkers (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Someone To Lean On, Ch. 8 by MaggieLaFey (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

What Lies Within, Ch. 9 by cawthraven (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

House Keeping, Ch. 4-5 by Cosmic Tuesdays (Buffy/Spike, PG)

Stray, Ch. 1-2 by Feanix88 (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

(Accidental) Dark Lords and Ladies of Sunnydale (Chapter 1?) by AnimeRonin (Scoobies, FR18)

You Can't Fight Fate - But You Can Decipher Him, Ch. 73 by Hermionetobe (Batman crossover, Dawn, FR13)

Psych-Out Wolves, Ch. 6 by calikocat (crossover with Psych, Xander, FR21)

Scattered Echoes: Second Generation, Ch. 12 by Myrabeth (Buffy/Spike, M)

[Images, Audio & Video]

"I Will Remember You" Bangel gifset by andremichaux (worksafe)

Episode poster: 👨‍👧‍👦 110. Parting Gifts 👨‍👧‍👦 by tmcarlee (Wesley, worksafe)

Episode poster: 🌴 411. Doomed 🌴 by tmcarlee (Scoobies, worksafe)

Behind-the-scenes photo: Being a vampire on Buffy was always the best! by FanTheManIsHere

Behind-the-scenes photo: Me as a WEREWOLF on Buffy by FanTheManIsHere

Behind-the-scenes photo: Here's another pic of me in the WEREWOLF makeup by FanTheManIsHere

[Reviews & Recaps]

Buffy Rewatch 2k22: 1.7 Angel by handsofabitterman

Season three is so great because it’s the point at which the show comes into active conversation with itself by herinsectreflection

Not me somewhat reading two different Buffy trilogies at the same time? by oveliagirlhaditright

The ATS episodes featuring the BTVS characters so clearly reveal what ATS is missing as a standalone show ("Disharmony") by theowritesfiction

Have you watched the unaired pilot? by Lostsoul666 and others

My fav episodes of [AtS] season 4. What are yours? by AJ_Babe

Question for those who read the Angel comics [are they worth reading past After the Fall vol. 4?] by Lobothehobosexual and others

[Appreciation for Kristine Sutherland's acting in The Body] by goffasni420 and others

PODCAST: Buffy Boys 155 - Ranking the Vampire Slayer [5 - 1!]

PODCAST: Angel On Top - 4.14 Release

PODCAST: Pop Culture Role Call: Postmodern Goats - Angel S02E15 - Reprise

[Community Announcements]

Event Announcement: Mystery Challenge Month 2022 at Elysian Fields

[Fandom Discussions]

Alyson Hannigan must have found the black eyes contacts uncomfortable to wear by girl4music, brunnismemorybank

Headcanon: Connor utters the word “hello” to Dawn exactly one (1) time and Spike is immediately like... by disco-tea and tuoshpreecq

what i want to know is was drusilla’s name drusilla when she was human by voices-not-echoes

Creative ways to rewatch? by TomatoLover97

Discussion of 7.17 "Lies My Parents Told Me" (cont'd) by TomatoLover97 and others

Does Anyone Else Hate the Slayer Line Origin Story? by RedFlamer, Plasma, Bop, Faded90

Titles of episodes in English and other languages by Antho, Stake fodder

Cordelia’s Fate Spoils S4 continued by LWP, Anchovy and Stoney

Why does the WCouncil know so little about the Fanged Four? continued by multiple authors

Do you think SMG gets enough credit for her contributions to developing Buffy (the character and the show)? hosted by Excellent-Durian-509

Re: if you could change any of the characters by Individual_Syrup_848, idabbleincrazy89, and others

Xander, Trauma, and Toxic Masculinity by LilSawzy

Poll: Do you think it's a bit odd that Riley never mentioned to Buffy that Spike was in her bedroom in S5 EP 8 'Shadow' sniffing her sweater? by Opening_Knowledge868

Was Willow’s downfall into darkness foreshadowed? by Madido24 and others

Poll: Have you watched all of the spin-off show Angel? by Aqzu36

Buffy the Vampire Slayer & The Art of Bad Things Happening in Basements. by Lyra

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

#btvs #buffy the vampire slayer #angel the series

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festiveferret · 3 years

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When the World Starts Ending

For the filk challenge, wynnesome and I changed the lyrics to “If the World Was Ending” by JP Saxe feat. Julia Michaels. (OG song here, if you want to listen)

Wynnesome also did an amazing recording of the song! LISTEN HERE!

Lyrics:

[Verse 1: Steve] I was distracted, chasing bad guys I didn't see it when the invasion happened But it really got me thinkin', did you ever think of calling? I guess I don't even know where you've been living It's been a year now, think I've figured out how How to let you go, you let communication die out

[Pre-Chorus: Steve] I know, you know, we know, we were both failing each other 'cross the board I know, you know, we know, we were both failing at striking an Accord

[Chorus: Steve] But if the world was ending, I could come home, right? You'd let me in and I could stay the night Could you love me after all of it? Make these years feel so irrelevant

If the world was ending, I could come home, right? The sky'd be falling and I'd hold you tight Cause together we could conquer this I'd find the strength to fight from just one kiss If the world was ending, I could come home, right? Right? When the world starts ending, I will come home, right? Right?

[Verse 2: Tony] I tried to imagine your reaction It didn't scare me when those aliens landed But it really got me thinkin', all those times I missed it Didn't kiss you in the darkened compound kitchen Ah, it's been a year now, think I've figured out how How to think about you without it smashing my heart out

[Pre-Chorus: Tony] I know, you know, we know, we were both too stubborn, sure that we were right I know you know, we both, know that he's your friend but I thought so was I...

[Chorus: Tony] But if the world was ending, you'd come over, right? You'd come over and say, "Fuck this fight" Would you choose me over all of it? Would we find a way that we could fit?

If the world was ending, you'd come over, right? No more words, I could just hold you tight You could come back in and you'd be home And we would never have to be alone

When the world starts ending, you'll come over, right? You'll come over, right? You'll come over, you'll come over, you'll come over, right?

[Pre-Chorus: Steve and Tony] I know, you know, we know we were Waiting for each other and it's fine I know, you know, we know we weren't There for each other and it's fine

[Chorus: Steve and Tony] But if the world was ending, you'd come over, right? You'd come over and you'd stay the night Would you hold this broken heart for me? Would you see how good that we could be?

If the world was ending, you'd be (I'd be) at my (your) door So we could give this thing a try once more Be united like we should have been and we could sign our vows with matching pens

If the world was ending, I'd forgive it all Set our pride aside and we would never fall standing together we would save the earth Or else Avenge it with all that we're worth

[Outro: Steve & Tony] Hmmm When the world starts ending you will come (I can come) home, right? Right?

#stony #filk #song lyrics #steve tony games #civil war

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nonconstories · 3 years

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Starting on the last two requests! We check in with Jeremy’s pack (Pack Animus) and how their omega Rose is serving Gage and Sebastian during the full moon. Afterwards, we return to Willow Hill for more sexy gargoyle shenanigans! (BTW, are there any established characters you guys would like to see get plowed by a gargoyle???) These should be done by this weekend, but I’m slogging right now.

We also have a new commission in the works which I’m really excited about; expect that next weekend if all goes well.

To show you guys some of the random thoughts I’ve been having, click under the cut for world building details and character facts.

Stay Liberated!!!

I mentioned several bands in “Teeth and Karma”. Sounds From Detention bills itself as a ska-punk band but in reality, they’re very corporate and closer to poprock that happens to imitate ska. Flying Geology on the other hand, is an actual ska band. Specifically they are “two toned”; a politically minded band with members of multiple races. Princess of Mars is hard rock/metal with a noticeable filk influence.

Kase is obsessed with music. It is his primary hobby, his biggest passion. He’s been sneaking into concerts since he was 13 and has A Lot Of Opinions about vinyl verses CD verses cassette tape. He prefers hard rock, grunge, most subgenres of ska, and certain types of country rock. He has a love-hate relationship with nu-metal and has also recently admitted he likes art pop.

Kase is a visual artist working primarily with acrylic paints and oil pastels (though he does enjoy charcoal sometimes) and generates income for his pack by creating album art, poster designs, and merch for various bands.

Jill is a musician. She plays the harp, citole, oud, portative organ, and a type of small, square frame drum whose name escapes me. She also embroiders quite well and frequently puts flowers, stars, clouds, and swirls onto the hems, collars, and sleeves of her dresses. A couple of years after they get married Jill starts getting orc body art done to embrace her husband’s culture; she also tries to learn orcish instruments and orcish crafts.

I have several blonde characters and I’m autistic and obsessive so: Alice and Garrick are ash blonde (grey tones, pale yellow, sometimes looks white) EJ is more of a honey blonde (more yellow, a richer and more even color), Pike (if he survives) has more brown in his hair but is def golden toned, and Caelum is straight platinum blonde/white (think Dany on GoT)

I also have two characters with features described as “bat-like”. The gargoyle in Trespasser and Avix in Check Your Runes Twice. There’s a difference, however! Avix’s nose is more like a FRUIT BAT. A closed nose that is long and broad and rounded. Kinda like a puppy snout or a fox muzzle! (He likes when people rub it). The gargoyle has an INSECT EATER nose. Open with wavy-edged nostrils, like a vampire bat.

I’m actually very into names and symbolism conveyed through naming. I have rules written out for how my fictional races get named. Orcs use middle english names only. Demons get names of angels, names of demons (in lore), or corruptions of Latin words. Avix’s name is a deliberate misspelling of the Latin word “avis” which means bird. His friend, the genderfluid lust demon is named “Zophiel”, which is a deliberate misspelling of the folk angel Jophiel.

Even in human characters I put thought into name choices (even for nicknames). Caelum is a Latin name meaning Heaven. Ronan is an Irish name meaning seal. Kase (according to some sources) is a Celtic name meaning vigilante or wakeful. Alice’s name was chosen not for it’s meaning but for its cultural connotations: Alice in Wonderland and Go Ask Alice. Her and her brother’s surname, Darrow, is a reference to the Darrows from Mystery Incorporated: a mystery solving, ghost chasing family from the turn of the 20th century. Levi and Garrick are named after LARP characters I had years ago with my spouse (where I got their appearances too).

I call the monster from Morsel “Moss” cuz it’s cute.

Out of Context Facts: A demon cult is directly responsible for EJ and Alice having sex for the first time. Jasper and Alice know each other and are not-terrible almost-friendly terms.

Questions I Still Need To Answer: Where did Caelum get all this fucking money? What the fuck happened to everybody’s parents? Does Pike survive the bite and what does the pack actually do with him after that? NEVER MIND I FIGURED IT OUT ITS SO GOOD.

#Not Stories #idk I just wanted to talk to you guys

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haberdashing · 3 years

Text

Under And Over

Irene’s investigation of the dirt monster leads her to unexpected places. A Mabel/Heart of Ether crossover, and spiritual sequel to Birds of a Feather, though it should be readable without having read that first.

on AO3

Irene knew that going back into the forest alone (not counting the phone in her hand, cracked but still recording just fine) was probably- no, definitely a terrible idea.

But Irene also knew that there had been more to that living pile of dirt and branches than a family of rabbits, no matter what Aden thought, and she wanted to prove it, to learn the truth of what lay within the forest.

She had her phone, she had her radio, she would be fine. Probably. Hopefully.

“So, my big monster-hunting trek with Aden yesterday was... kind of a bust.” Irene laughed a little to herself at that understatement. Aden probably thought she was crazy before, if he hadn’t already come to that conclusion. “Maybe the problem was that two of us were there, and it didn’t want to show itself to both of us at once--strength in numbers and all that. Maybe I have to be alone to see it.”

Irene clutched her phone tightly as she added, “Well, I’m not entirely alone, am I? I have you, Rose. I’m recording this for you, after all, even if... if you’ll probably never hear it.”

A soft sigh emerged from Irene’s lips as she approached the spot where she’d seen the monster before. “The pile is still there, same as before. Doesn’t look like much right now, not when it’s standing still. I can see how Aden thought it was just a rabbit’s warren, though I still think... well, this should help me figure out the truth, one way or another.”

Irene looked at the pile of dirt and branches for a moment before turning around, making a point of looking away from it. “Aden was right about one thing, though, staring at it probably isn’t going to help. I was looking away when it started moving before, so...”

Irene waited for a moment, watching the trees shake in the breeze. The branches behind her rustled, the noise growing as she hesitated to look back.

“Okay, let’s see. If it really is just a bunch of rabbits living in there, I swear-”

Irene never got the chance to finish that sentence.

The ground underneath the branches moved and swelled, and Irene had to suppress her initial instinct to run away--she’d done that already, and it hadn’t gotten her any answers, only a series of new questions that remained unanswered. Instead, she watched the mass of dirt rise and writhe, moving slowly but steadily in her direction-

Until its movement suddenly because fast and steady, faster than Irene could manage to outrun (especially with her ankle still aching from the previous day’s fall), and this time, when the chase was over, Irene wasn’t the victor.

Her phone flew out of her hand, falling unceremoniously to the forest floor and shattering; Irene winced at the sight of it, even as the ground pulled her under. Aden was right, she should have backed up all of her recordings, but, well, it was too late now.

The earth engulfed her, and soon Irene was falling and falling and falling, with thickly-packed dirt on all sides of her, no sign of when her fall was going to end-

Until it suddenly did, leaving her on... was that a wood floor?

The landing wasn’t as bad as Irene had feared, but then, that wasn’t saying much. At least she was still conscious at the end of it all. At least she was able to get up afterwards, even if it made her muscles groan.

“I... I don’t know where I am now. Under the dirt, somewhere, it pulled me in, but it- it looks just like someone’s house, with light streaming through all the cracks in the walls. And symbols. Lots of weird symbols all over the walls... maybe Valencia would recognize them all, but I sure don’t.” Irene laughed at that, a sharp ugly laugh.

“I don’t know why I’m still talking to you. Even if my phone’s still working somewhere, there’s no way it could hear me from down here... it won’t have any of this, it’ll just seem like I... disappeared.”

Irene paused for a moment as the words sank in.

“Is that what happened to you, Rose? One mishap, one run-in with the wrong monster, and then you’re gone forever? Do they even have monsters like that in Seattle?” Irene made herself laugh, though she wasn’t feeling it.

“I don’t know what these symbols mean, I was kind of hoping one of them would look like a rose, that I could take that as some sort of- of cosmic sign or whatever, but no such luck. There is a rabbit, though, made of white light, shining through the wood. Follow the white rabbit, right? Like in Alice in Wonderland? It’s as good a plan as any, I figure.”

The rabbit symbols were all facing the same way, so Irene wandered in that direction, examining the area around her as she walked. The walls looked like those of an old wooden house, but some of them were leaking water through the seams, while others had--was that a deer there, hiding in the walls?

Whatever this was, it was definitely not a normal house, even if it might have looked that way at a glance.

The first door is the door of stone.

Out of nowhere, a wall of stone appeared in front of Irene--a wall of stone that, upon closer examination, she recognized.

“Oh, it’s--remember that park by our house that closed after sunset, or said it did, with the gate and those big stone walls? I can- I can see the mark you made here, Rose, from that time you stepped wrong when we were breaking in, and that one chunk of rock came off, and you sprained your ankle getting down after... what is that doing here?”

Irene shook her head. “Doesn’t matter, I suppose. What matters is, there’s something engraved on it now, and I know that wasn’t there before. It says...”

“My first is in fire, in frenzy and fame,

My last is in knowledge, in kindness, in knack.

A silence is central to knowing my name,

An absence once heard within learning or lack.

My whole is a term used for calling one’s kin,

And calling us, too, if you dare to begin.”

Irene let out a long sigh. “Christ, it’s a riddle. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t a goddamned riddle-”

A deep breath, slowly exhaled, then another. “It’s fine, I can do this, I can handle this. Let’s see. Fire, frenzy, fame--all start with F, so it must be a word starting with that... and ending with K, then? Though two of those are silent Ks, good thing this was written out so I could see them... maybe that’s what that whole ‘silence is central’ thing is about, a, a silent letter in the center of the word?”

Irene started pacing back and forth, though her eyes remained fixed on the wall. “Starts with F, ends in K, silent letter somewhere in there probably... unless it’s a word that means silence or something instead... ‘an absence once heard within learning or lack’... a silent L, maybe, or, or they’ve both got the letter A too I guess? ‘Calling one’s kin’... ‘calling us too’... it’d be a lot easier if I knew who this ‘us’ was in the first place...”

Irene ran one finger against the cold stone of the wall as she paced. “F, L, K... throw a vowel in there, you get falk, felk, filk, folk, fulk... Folk, is that it? Calling one’s kin, like, folks... or, or maybe the ‘us’ is supposed to be the fair folk, from old-timey folklore, or something?”

The door rumbled before disappearing as abruptly as it had appeared in the first place, and Irene stepped forward into the space it had been occupying, continuing to head in the direction that the rabbit symbols were facing.

“Okay. See, I said I could handle it, right? There you go. Riddle: handled.”

Not long after, though, another wall appeared, this one made of darkened brick.

“...I jinxed it, didn’t I? Of course. Of course we weren’t done with the riddles. That’d be too easy. Alright, what do we have here...”

“My first is a pronoun, assumed when untold,

That rhymes with another that’s hidden behind.

My second is beauty man coaxed to unfold,

A thing once created for others to find.

I live in your insides, in shadow and bone,

Yet I carry tidings of love when I’m shown.”

Another deep sigh. “Alright, uh. pronouns. We’ve got I, me, you, he, she, they... ‘assumed when untold’ could be a lot of those, really... But rhyming you’ve just got he, she, me... I guess some people use he as the default? Unless it’s not a pronouns it’s rhyming with, but I’m not sure what else ‘another that’s hidden behind’ could be... so, starting with he, maybe?”

“‘Beauty man coaxed to unfold’... nope, not getting that bit, though I’m guessing it’s another word. So, two words, first one is he... ‘I live in your insides’, ick... wait, ‘tidings of love’... hearts are inside of us, but they’re symbols of love... He, art- art is beauty... Is that it? Heart?”

Again, the wall rumbled and fell away, and Irene walked forward.

This time, though, the corridor ended not in front of another wall, but in front of a door.

The third door is the door of nature.

“Is that my office door? Sure looks the part, though it’s a pretty generic-looking door I guess, just plain wood... and, yup, we’ve got another riddle:”

“I once went above, heading towards the sky,

But also am found growing close to the ground.

As past becomes present, no longer I fly,

And much has been made of my name’s simple sound.

One lost but not found, one here and yet far,

I know that you seek me, wherever you are.”

“These just keep getting tougher, don’t they?” Irene shook her head with a shaky laugh. “‘Past becomes present’... so it, it used to fly, to go upwards, but it doesn’t anymore? And now it’s near the ground? ‘Simple sound’, so probably a short word...”

Irene leaned against the wooden door, letting out a long breath as she looked at the carved letters. “I bet you’re better at riddles than I am, Rose. You always did like wordplay and such, you’d probably have this figured out in a heartbeat...”

A beat, and then it clicked. “Wait- Rose. Rose as in rising, but past tense, grows near the ground, ‘a rose by any other name’... ‘One lost but not found, one here and yet far’... I am seeking you, Rose. I always will. Is that you, Rose? Are you the answer?”

The door squeaked open, and Irene saw a chaotic scene unfolding behind it.

It looked like there was a party of some sort going on there. Music, lights, all the stops pulled out. But a lot of the guests looked far from your usual party-goers, and some of them didn’t even look human...

Irene took a few tentative steps forward, but she didn’t even notice the door closing behind her.

No, what she noticed was a familiar face chatting with two extravagantly-dressed woman Irene didn’t know, a face that made Irene’s heart ache and yet also made it whole again.

“Rose?”

“Irene!”

Rose’s embrace was warm and firm and right, and Irene never wanted it to end.

#heart of ether #etherpod #mabelpod #mabel podcast #personal #my writing

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chimaerakitten · 4 years

Audio

(via https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2eF2BW8QhNO2UesloUNkuk?si=SfOWQO6CTQy28MPE0ndjMA)

so, now that I am officially free of both finals and my work on the TQT title sequence animation, I thought it would be a good time to turn to my other bit project for this fandom, Chi’s crazy-long chronological playlist. I started this. One week after ROTT came out. ONE WEEK. I thought I’d get it done and written up in two or three days. It is now. December the 15th. Two months. TWO MONTHS, THIS HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY DRAFTS

Bellow the cut: A writeup explaining the position of each song + a little bit more commentary on it from me (spoilers. everything is spoilers all the way through ROTT below the cut):

This is a mix of some pretty typical fanplaylist fare (there is. A lot of Bastille on here) some Queen’s Thief must-haves (can you really have a Queen of Attolia playlist without Achilles Come Down?) and my own really weird music taste (Filk like Tin Soldier and Courage Knows No Bounds)

Some of the ones I’m most proud of are Monster by Starset for the Mede camp scenes in ROTT (I mean, it starts with “Under the knife I surrendered” It’s kinda perfect) Laughter Lines for Relius and Teleus (I have it on good authority that that caused a lot of heart pain for other fans) and Soft to be Strong for Irene and Relius.

without further ado, the song list:

“Eddis”—Warriors

“Thief!”—Second Child, Restless Child

The Thief

Whatever it takes—“I can steal anything”

Tin Soldier—“Nobody would mistake you for anything but a tool, Gen.”

Centuries—“His name would be carved in stone on a stele outside the basilica, and mine would be written in the dust.”

Everybody Wants To Rule the World—“He doesn’t want the queen…He just wants the pass through the mountains so that he can invade Attolia.”

Patron Saint o’ Thieves—Eugenides and the Sky God’s Thunderbolts (I will be honest. This one was chosen based on title and Vibes, tm, not lyrics)

The Only Exception—“But if there hadn’t been one that I loved, I wouldn’t have landed myself in the king’s prison.”

Thief—Before braving the temple of the Aracthus.

Come Wayward Souls—Inside the temple.

History Has Its Eyes On You—The answered prayer for silence.

The Queen and the Soldier—“You are more beautiful, Your majesty... But she is more kind.”

I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)—Walking to Eddis.

Stand By Me—“Oh, It’s you, Eugenides.”

Family—Helen, Eugenides, and the Minister of War.

“Destruction”—Dread Sovereign

The Queen of Attolia

Run Boy Run—The chase through the palace.

Icarus—Eugenides, caught.

When the Chips are Down—“I still think tradition might hold the best solution to my problems with you.”

Achilles Come Down—Eugenides, after returning to Eddis.

Heroes—The Secret War and the expectation that Eugenides will die soon.

Burn It Down—Burning Sounis’s navy.

Sit Still Look Pretty—“It was her fiancé who gave her the name shadow princess.”

Heroes and Thieves— “She pulled the bedclothes up as far as they would go and suppressed a perverse wish to have her old nurse come to chase away the darkness, perverse because she didn’t know if she wanted the shadows to be empty or not.”

Thousand Eyes—The plan to take Ephrata.

We Remain—“There’s an easier way for a man to become king,”

Black Water—“She reached up to push the wet hair out of her face, wondering when she had sunk so low that she had begun torturing boys.”

Simple Song—"I watched you walking between the rows of cabbages and then dancing under the orange trees. I was above you, in one of the trees.”

She’s Always a Woman—"Eugenides had accepted gladly and read carefully, trying to see whether Attolia could be the monster in human guise she was accused of being, or only a woman who ruled without the support of her barons.”

Queen of Peace—“Just asleep,” Eddis reassured her.”

I’m Not Calling You A Liar—“I sometimes believe his lies are the truth, but I have never mistaken his truth for a lie.”

Losing My Religion—“You made a mistake,” Attolia agreed. “You trusted your gods. That was your mistake.”

Pompeii—The vision of the volcano.

All I’ve Ever Known—“Love I am not familiar with.”

Love Love Love—"Who am I, that you should love me?

A Healing In This Night—“And she believed him.”

The King of Attolia

Bow to the Crown— “He dropped to his knees before his queen and lowered his head almost to the floor.”

Shut up and Dance—"Her queen danced like a flame in the wind”

Carry Your Throne— It was not a kiss between strangers, not even a kiss between a bride and a groom. It was a kiss between a man and his wife.”

It’s Alright—"If it was embarrassing to wake like a child screaming from a nightmare, how much more embarrassing to be the reason your husband woke screaming.”

Believer—“like a god revealed” and the fall of the house of Erondites.

I CHOOSE YOU— “He was very likable—Eddis would have married him.”

Hunger— “I did not say that I am afraid. He is, though, I think. Afraid of his own desire for power.”

Soft to Be Strong—"I have learned that there is a flaw in your philosophy. If we truly trust no one, we cannot survive.”

Gold—Eugenides on the crenellations.

True & Destined Prince—“He is an Annux, a king of kings.”

“Knife Dance”—Human

A Conspiracy of Kings

Things We Lost In The Fire—The raid on the villa.

Constellations—Sophos and Moira in the dream library.

Welcome Home, Son—“I didn’t want a choice; I wanted to stay right where I was and build walls and share poetry with an avid audience and enjoy a swim with friends, but I didn’t want it to be my choice.”

Words as Weapons— “Eugenides looked me in the eye as if I were a complete stranger and said, “The simplest way to end a war is to admit you have lost it.”

Share Your Address— “You made a proposal in your previous letter. Perhaps it was only hypothetical?” “It was not.”

I Love You—“When I was working in the fields, I knew how unfounded my hopes were,” he said. “I was a poor excuse for an heir of Sounis when I made the proposal and then became even less than that.”

Iron—“I will go to Melenze. And hope to delay the Medes long enough to find some other solution to their imperial expansion. Of course, that assumes the king and queen of Attolia intend to honor the laws of hospitality and allow me to travel safely to the border.”

Young Volcanoes—“Just what makes you think you can get away with that?” he asked the young man standing over him with a butter-won’t-melt-in-my-mouth expression incongruous on his scarred face.”

The Fates—Sophos’s naïve speech before the first vote.

Handmade Heaven—Shooting Hanaktos and Akretenesh, lifting a hand to the sky for a lightning bolt that will not come.

I Bet My Life—"There is no reason I can see that I would not be honored to join Eddis to you.”

Flaws—“Eddis stared at him for a long time, knowing that forgiving someone because you have to is not forgiving him at all.”

For The Dancing And The Dreaming—“Are you certain that you want to be my wife?” “Absolutely,” said Eddis, quietly. “Eternally certain.”

Blood Brothers—"He had been saved by the men Eugenides sent, though he did not yet know the ferocity with which the king of Attolia had stripped those men from other posts, the capital he had expended, the secrets that had been revealed in order to send help to Sounis.”

Thick as Thieves

I’ll Believe In Anything—"If there had been any alternative, I would have taken it, but I could see none, and there was no time for hesitation.”

You’ve Got A Friend In Me—“Head wounds bleed, but we can stitch it up, I’ve done it before, don’t be afraid. Kamet, I wouldn’t tell you this if it weren’t true. I swear to you, I am not going to leave your dead body beside the road to Perf. I didn’t come all the way to this godsforsaken cesspit so that I could go home and tell my king I failed him.”

Desert Song—Costis and Kamet crossing the empire, eating caggi.

Empire—"It would be possible, I supposed, for an outsider to see disruption and think the empire might collapse, but it was too all encompassing, too well sewn together to come apart. As each smaller nation was absorbed, it was integrated into the whole, enjoying all the benefits of being in the empire.”

Fell In Love With A Girl—Kamet’s story of Marin the dancing girl.

Foreigner’s God—Kamet’s encounter with Ennikar while Costis is in the well.

The Hell If I Go Home—Kamet trying to leave in Sukir.

Stray Italian Greyhound—“If you had told me in Sukir, I would have let you go.” / “Costis,” I said, using his name for the first time since he had told it to me, on board the riverboat at the start of our journey. “Costis, I’m sorry.”

Poet—"I began this narrative in the palace of Attolia but have only recently neared its completion. I will eventually send it to Relius, when I am sure it can be delivered without interception, and I hope he will be satisfied with my account, as I would be honored to have it added to his library.”

All This And Heaven Too—“Immakuk and Ennikar,” he said. “Where?” I snapped my head around to scan the dock, and he nudged me with his elbow. “Idiot. Us,” he said.”

Return of the Thief

How Far We’ve Come—Exordium.

The Great Escape—Pheris finding a place for himself.

The Heart Is a Muscle—“Someone loves me very much, even with all my faults”

I Will Wait—“His heart is unlikely to be in his work.”

Laughter Lines—Relius and Teleus saying goodbye.

Stole You Away—“Attolia says she leaves with you”

Poison & Wine—“I think they have to show their worst selves sometimes”

United at War—“Sounis will not run…nor Eddis.”

This is War—Arrival at Leonyla.

No Light, No Light—“All wars make men monsters, all wars and all men.”

Survivor’s Song—The Etisian winds came early.

Daniel in the Den—The ambush and the Mede Camp.

Monster—“Nahuseresh tells me I am not king. We’ll see if he really prefers the Thief.”

Natural—“Once, when I said he had saved me, you said I had saved him. From what?”

Tomorrow I Leave For Battle—Before the Naupent.

March of Cambreadth—The Naupent.

Courage Knows No Bounds—A pyre that burned for three days.

Bad Blood—The pardon of Sejanus.

Call the Names—The naming of Hector and Eugenia.

Here’s To Us—Dancing on the Roof.

I lived—Pheris, and the gods were pleased.

“Alyta’s Missing Earring”—Falling and Empire

final note: I did my best to have songs have at least one meaning in the pace they were put, plus more meaning when considering the series as a whole—for example, “Tin Soldier” appears early on in the context of the king of Sounis and the Magus using Gen as a tool, but if you loop back around to it after Return of the Thief, Gen being “weapon more than child” gains a whole new meaning. "She’s always a woman” is an Irene song in the context of QOA, but the more we learn about Helen, the more it applies to her, etc. etc. Not every song is like that, but I wanted to give the playlist at least a bit of re-listen value, in the spirit of the books’ reread value.

#TQT #QT #ROTT #return of the thief #the queen's thief #the thief #the queen of attolia #the king of attolia #a conspiracy of kings #thick as thieves #Spotify playlist

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