#got confirmed in the finale of the series but it's canon

[somegaymernerd]

when the less popular ship gets confirmed as canon

[spacerockfloater]

Alicent and Criston have every right to be together.

I’ve read a lot of posts regarding their non-existent hypocrisy and I’d like to clear some things up.

First and foremost, stop using Alicent’s “Where is duty, where is sacrifice?” line against her or Nyra’s outrageous “Exhausting, wasn’t it?” speech because you think you’re eating when you’re, in fact, starving. Alicent has done her duty and sacrificed herself. It’s the only thing she’s been doing for the past 20 years. She gave the man she was forced to marry four children and she took care of him despite all the shit he put her through. She has lived all her life based on her principles and now her husband is gone. She mourned him, she buried him, it’s been more than 10 days since his death (confirmed that E1 S2 takes place 10 days after Lucerys’ death) and she is finally fucking free. She deserves a sliver of comfort. Alicent is the only one in this series that’s been faithful and dutiful to a T, yet look where that got her. If someone has the right to break the law a little bit, it’s definitely her.

That being said, I don’t know when it was decided that Alicent is a pious saint that can do no wrong, but I need to remind y’all that following a religion does not magically prevent you from sinning. Is she committing fornication? Obviously. However, you are all under this impression that this is hypocritical on her behalf because she berated Rhaenyra for it when they were younger, without considering that her anger was justified for a myriad of other reasons, such as (but not limited to): 1) the fact that Rhaenyra’s freedom to marry whomever she pleased was a privilege granted to her thanks to Alicent’s efforts, who supported her even if Rhaenyra hated her, yet her friend casually threw that away, 2) the fact that Rhaenyra lied to her by swearing on her morher’s grave and never even mentioned Criston, 3) the fact that Rhaenyra had the guts to call her “sister” while lying to her face, 4) the fact that her lies resulted in Otto getting fired since Rhaenyra misled Alicent so that she speaks to Viserys in favour of her friend and betraying her own father by siding against him (a decision she wouldn’t have made if she knew the truth), leaving her completely alone and friendless at court, even if he was right all along and finally 5) the fact that Rhaenyra is the most sought after bachelorette in the whole world and by having sex she undermines herself (Rhaenyra knows this well, hence why she denies these accusations) and literally endangers herself, because had she been married to any other man but Laenor and had this man found out his wife and future queen is not a virgin, imagine the fucking horrors she could have been subjected to. Like, I hate to break it to you, but a 40-year-old widow, who’s had four kids and has completed her duty to the point where she is actually no longer needed and could leave the palace to go live the rest of her life in peace somewhere else and no one would notice her absence (literally though, she has birthed heirs, her husband is dead, her son is a grown adult king, her job is done there), having sex, is not the same as an 18-year-old princess and future heir in her prime, whose purity is linked to her worth, getting caught drunk in a brothel, hooking up with her uncle and losing her virginity to her guard, all in one night. Viserys himself was outraged. There’s lows and then there’s lows, y’all.

By the way, the crazy assumptions that Alicent has been cheating on Viserys with Criston for a while now need to stop. When Olivia Cooke said that they had filmed a messy sex scene with Fabien Frankel in a recent interview, she never said this was for S1 of HOTD. I don’t know where y’all got that from, but even if it was true, that scene has been scrapped so it is not canon. And don’t make me laugh about Daeron, a dragon rider who canonically has Valyrian features, potentially having brown hair. You’re all so blinded by your hatred for Alicent that you want her to be a lying hypocrite in order to make yourselves feel better about Rhaenyra’s mishaps, that you don’t get that the whole point of her and Criston getting physical is that she is a tortured woman who is finally able to break free, not that she has been a hypocrite all along. You’re heavily misunderstanding her arc.

Finally, when it comes to my good man Criston, y’all have lost it completely. No, Alicent is not raping him, unless he tells her to stop and she closes the door behind her like Rhaenyra did that is. No, Criston did not lie about how important his honour is to him. There’s a whole article on how Clare Kilner, the director of E4 S1, decided that Cole removing his armour slowly was necessary because it symbolises his inner conflict and uncertainty over breaking his vow: should he soil his cloak for the sake of the woman he loves? And he does soil it, because he thinks she loves him back. But that honourable man dies the day Rhaenyra tells him that he’ll never be anything more than a side piece to her. This man stops giving a flying fuck about his honour, oath, position and life. He is trying to kill himself. And you know what stops him? Alicent. Alicent is the only thing between him and death, the only person to show him kindness and understanding, to pull him up from the lowest point in his life. I don’t think you heard Alicent in E7 S1: “No, you’re sworn to me!”. Y’all. His life is hers. He doesn’t care about Rhaenyra, his job, Viserys, anyone else at this point. Only Alicent exists in his mind, Fabien himself has said time and time again that his loyalty to her is unwavering. He only exists for Alicent’s sake. He’s who you wish Daemon was. Crying that “Criston is a bad knight and a liar because he broke his chastity oath yet again!” is so pointless because that knight has been dead since Rhaenyra’s marriage to Laenor. What does an oath mean when you find out the people you swore it to have betrayed you? Why should he keep his promise to the people who abused him?

[poppadom0912]

Excuses

Warnings: Mentions of fainting, diabetes, canon-typical injuries

Summary: You suffer the consequences just because your teacher thought you were making excuses.

A/N: First fic of 2024!!! I had plans that I was going to post weekly in the new year just like last year but things went downhill. This january and february has had its very good but also really bad moments and even writing this was a struggle. I've found myself in a weird place of wanting to write but struggling and all of a sudden not being able to balance my schoolwork and writing. So I took a lil step back to solely focus on my work but looking at everything now, my fic updates will be much less frequent but hopefully just as or if not, more fun to read.

I feel bad for not saying or posting anything since the new year but I'm here now and hopefully will be more alive. I've got lots planned for you beautiful people, several series and way too many fics in my drafts that I cannot wait for you all to read. This wasn't as long or as juicy as I intended but my brain completely failed me so I hope this is good enough. I initially wanted to post this at the beginning of March but I finished the final editing today so here you go!!

Final note before we start, I have general knowledge about diabetes but that's all from my grandma. I have no idea if it's the same for teenagers so I'm sorry for any mistakes. Happy reading!!

Your biology teacher had been on maternity for three weeks now and you were seriously contemplating life.

Because of the crappy rules surrounding maternity leave, when your teacher refused to return before her three months ended, your school had a supply teacher fill in for her till she came back.

Since day one, you knew you hated her.

It was mid lesson and you knew as soon as you started feeling sluggish that your sugar levels were dropping. Your thoughts were only confirmed when your Dexcom receiver let you know of your decreasing glucose.

This wasn't a usual occurrence. Will and Jay always made sure you had eaten enough and you had the means to maintain the needed glucose levels so that nothing happened.

Alas, you were up late revising and you were stressing about keeping up your good grades. Jay was rushing you out the door because he needed to go to a scene he'd just been called to and Will was out walking Kol and hadn't seen you leave.

In conclusion, it'd been a hot minute since you last ate something.

The school were well aware of your diabetes. It was one of the very important things your brothers stressed them about when you first started.

Most students knew about it actually, having seen your Dexcom and not understanding since a diabetic child apparently wasn't common according to them.

So, when you randomly pulled out a snack from your bag mid class, no one questioned it and instead would make sure you were okay. There'd never been a problem before in school and everyone wanted it to stay that way.

However, this new teacher, Mrs Byrne was apparently completely unaware of your medical condition.

"Y/N. You know the rules about eating in class." She said strictly, pulling away all the attention from the board onto you.

She stopped you in the middle of opening the packet of fruit gummies. You frowned, looking at her confused along with your classmates.

"I have diabetes." You said bluntly, continuing to open the packet. "I don't eat this and I'll pass out."

Mrs Byrne only rolled her eyes, smiling at you condescendingly. "I've heard that excuse hundreds of times, give those to me."

You scoffed at the audacity, refusing to hand over what was yours.

It was when she started walking towards your desk with a pep in her step that the entire class got involved. Their raised voices overlapped, some angrier than others over what was happening.

However, you too were Stubborn alike to your brothers so you kept as firm of a grip of the packet. You turned a blind eye to the anger fuelled cover teacher. You continued to smile as she spewed threats of all sorts.

Due to your frustration and annoyance over the teacher who wanted to take your gummies away, you didn't notice how everything started change; how hard it was to move your eyes and lips, your limbs getting heavier and you thoughts slowly getting muddled up.

Lost in a daze, you were no longer able to fight back when she pulled harder, successfully snatching the small packet out of your hands. It was now that the class got furious, your friends were already up and at your side but now they were verbally attacking the teacher.

Fed up with her petty behaviour, you were going to get up and go to the nurses office who would take care of you but getting out your seat was harder said than done.

With one of your friends help, you weren't too sure who was helping you from your hazy sight that cleared when you blinked too many times.

You were wobbly on your feet, taking slow and hesitant steps towards the front of the classroom but before you could leave, you felt your legs give out and everything went black.

*****

It turned out that supposed crime scene that he was imminently needed at was nothing but a prank by a bunch of college boys resulting in a grumpy Hank putting them in cuffs and having them fined for a very reasonable reason.

That's how the rest of the unit found themselves finishing up paperwork, catching up about life in general as they debated what they were getting for lunch.

Jay was smugly sitting back, eyes flickering between Kevin and Adam who were bickering over something trivial when his phone rung, catching everyone's attention.

They were all so bored and normally when one of their phones went off during work hours, it meant something came up and they were needed.

In interest, everyone turned their heads towards Jay and waited for him to tell them they got a crime scene.

Picking up his phone, Jay's brows furrowed at the number, confused as to why your school was calling him in the middle of the day. They'd only call him if two things happened: You'd gotten in trouble or you got hurt.

"Hello. Is this Y/N Halsteads brother Jay?" A voice he couldn't recognised asked, most likely some lady from the main office.

"Yeah, that's me." Jay confirmed, sitting up in preparation for whatever he was going to be told.

"So sorry to interrupt you sir but Y/N collapsed in class." The lady said with guilt laced in her words. "Your other brother didn't pick up the phone. We called to let you know we had to call the paramedics and they've taken her to Chicago Med."

"Uh yeah." Jay said, collecting his jacket and keys. "Yes, thank you."

Not waiting for a reply, Jay hung up and quickly knocked on Hank's office door frame.

"Sarge, I gotta get Y/N-"

"Go get her. We're done here."

*****

Wanting to pull his hair out, Will rubbed his eyes in frustration, glaring at his patients scans that only confused him further. He was tired and was coming to half way through his twenty four hour shift.

"Dr Halstead- Uh, Dr Rhodes in T4." Maggie stumbled, looking down at her brick and making sure she read it correctly.

"What's wrong?" Will asked, confused as to why Maggie changed her mind which she usually never did.

"It's Y/N."

Now fully awake, Will followed Connor towards the ambulance bay where you were being rolled in. You were groggily sitting up on the stretcher, you hair a mess and a few scratches around your face and hands from when you fell.

"Sylvie, what happened?" Will asked the blonde paramedic while looking you over. He desperately wanted to check you over himself but let Connor do his thing. He really did not need Ms Goodwin on his case today.

"Teachers didn't tell us much but her classmates said she collapsed after not being able to eat." Sylvie relayed the minimal information she knew, shrugging her shoulders when the two doctors looked at her weirdly. "No one would tell us anything more."

"Y/N, it's Connor. Can you hear me kid?" Connor said while pulling out his penlight. He was like another brother to you, his concern just as high. "Can you tell me what happened?"

You groaned, mumbling nonsense with your eyes screwed closed. Your words were mostly unintelligible but Will understood them mere seconds later.

Fixing the problem you complained about, Will turned down the lights and let Connor continue fussing over you.

It didn't take long to find out the cause of your collapse, Will sighing at the news when he read the numbers from your tests.

"I thought she was always on top of her sugar levels." Connor said, closing the room door so you could sleep in peace.

And what he said was completely true but they weren't aware of why you couldn't today specifically of all days.

"She is." Will said, rubbing a hand down his face in frustration. "Maybe her dexcom malfunctioned or something."

Connor hummed, agreeing with his friend.

"Hmm, maybe."

*****

Arriving at Med, Will gave Jay a detailed rundown of everything he new about your medical state but also the events pre your hospital arrival.

Getting a good look at you, holding your hand in his and kissing you on your forehead, Jay was more than happy to leave you in your oldest brothers safe hands while he got to the bottom of this entire ordeal.

He noticed Sylvie was still at Med, Foster mentioning they were running low on a few supplies so they needed some stocking up. Jay took this opportunity to interview the two paramedics and try to get further understanding on this situation that wasn't making much sense to him.

Arriving at your school, Jay had some thoughts in mind but they weren't very concrete and his confidence wasn't as strong as he'd like it to be.

Walking into the school, Jay immediately noticed an entire class sitting and standing around in the corridor waiting in front of the principals office.

One of the girls who had been sitting in a chair had caught sight of Jay, her eyes widening before she smiled, gently nudging the girl next to her and pointing in his direction. The girls reaction was the exact same.

This created a sort of domino effect as the boy next to her noticed Jay and everyone was telling the other of his sudden arrival. The once silent corridor was now beginning to fill with murmurs and whispers, all their eyes glued onto his figure that moved down the corridor, their shocked faces quickly changing into smiles and smirks.

It seems that Jay had a reputation of sorts.

"Why are you making so much noise? What did I just say about talking-"

The principal cut himself off from his scolding when he suddenly noticed Jay's presence, his face blanching as all the pieces clicked into place.

"Detective Halstead! What a surprise, we weren't expecting to see you so soon-"

This time Jay cut him off, not too bothered about his lack manners. "My brothers with Y/N at the hospital so I thought there was no other perfect time."

The principal remained silent.

"Now, why don't you explain to me why my sister fainted under your watch?"

The students behind Jay couldn't help but snicker knowingly.

[a-star-that-burns-brightly]

So uh. Maybe I'm just really stupid, but despite being in this fandom for a year now I for some reason was convinced that Killcheroy killing herself was like, canon, because of how widely accepted that theory is in the fandom and spoken of as if it's fact. But after looking through all of Fuuta's stuff again (voice dramas, music videos, the like,) I've come to realize that not only is Killcheroy's actual cause of death never actually confirmed, but I've also realized something else: Y'all I really do not think this girl killed herself lmao. In fact, I am very confident that she didn't kill herself, mainly due to the fact that, as we know, Milgram has a very specific motif when it comes to characters who have committed suicide or have themes of suicide in their character

Mahiru and Kazui's victims both have a shoe off, because both of them died via suicide

Muu is often presented with only one shoe, because she is implied to be suicidal

Fuuta's victim also has a shoe off, because as we know she died of-- ...Huh? Oh shit. Both shoes are intact. Now I've seen people, though often briefly, point that out before What I don't see pointed out however is that Backdraft has three perfect opportunities to follow up on the shoes motif, and just doesn't.

These are the first two I wanna talk about. Killcheroy's shoes are perfectly in view, yet both of them are still in tact. Since this whole scene is basically a creative reenactment of Killcheroy's death, wouldn't it make sense for one shoe to be off if suicide was what took her out? But at the same time, these scenes are still depicting her when she is 'alive,' so maybe it wouldn't make that much sense for a shoe to be off in this particular scene. But what about after she burns up? That's where the third scene comes in

Even after she dies, her shoes are not there. Milgram is a series that loves including small, blink-and-you'll-miss-it details. If Killcheroy really killed herself, there's no way her shoes wouldn't be visible in these shots as Fuuta's running away, right? And this shoe motif, coupled with the fact that when looking at what we have, there's no actual evidence that Killcheroy killed herself (to my knowledge) makes me doubt this theory a lot more than I had when I originally assumed it was canon. So what do I think took Killcheroy out? Well, though we have no evidence that she killed herself, we do have evidence that Fuuta doxxed her.

(x) Storm Pazuzu Should we destroy her?＾＾Just because you’re a middle school girl doesn’t mean you can act like this lmaooooo don’t go easy on her just because she’s cute  QRT Miss Magic I got permission from the store owner, it’s allowed as long as I’m only replicating it for personal use. Storm Pazuzu Yeah, yeah, thanks for the late excuses QRT Storm Pazuzu I think I’ve got all her details now. Based on her previous tweets I’ve worked out her school. The fact she lives so close is hilarious lol Judgement☨Onizuka You’re the worst offender of all

And the fact that this scene transitions

to this one, where Fuuta is reacting to the news of Killcheroy's death, leads me to believe that this doxxing was the final bridge that caused Killcheroy's death. Now, a lot of life-threatening events can result from doxxing, for a while I was even pondering the possibility that Killcheroy was swatted and killed that way. But I think someone in Fuuta's group killed her, because the text in the MV makes it a note to specify that Killcheroy "lives close" to Fuuta and presumably the rest of his friend group since they all go to the same university and live in the same area. I can see people arguing that that would remove a bit of Fuuta's agency and responsibility from his murder, but I don't think I would agree with that. Regardless of what truly happened to Killcheroy after the doxxing, whether she was killed by someone in the group, or swatted (which I think is less likely, but is still a possibility), this presumed culprit was only able to do the things they did because Fuuta gave them the tools to. He gave them a target, Killcheroy, who he demonized and dehumanized into the role of Petulant Witch, and enough details of her location for anyone in the area to find her and enact punishment in the most direct way they can. Fuuta's story, to me anyway, isn't just about the consequences of cyberbullying and cancel culture, but also the cult-mentality of it and how others are influenced into it.

(x) Storm Pazuzu The people in charge here are shit. I could do a much better job

Fuuta did not come out of the womb cancelling people, but due to the injustice he saw around him and his desire to Do Something About It, he was influenced into this cesspool of online toxicity and cancel culture.

Now, it's his turn to influence justice. And boy, did he.

[tricktack]

A list of (almost) everything MatPat got wrong about GenLoss:

"Generation Loss is an ARG." Generation Loss is actually quite transparent about not being an ARG. It has elements similar to an ARG, such as audience interaction, but there is a clear barrier between the story/characters and real life. One of the defining features of an ARG is the lack of this barrier.

"Ranboo is the Founder and orchestrated the entire show from start to finish."

"The teasers ask the audience to kill the Founder, and the finale ends with the audience voting to kill Ranboo, implying they are the same person." It was heavily foreshadowed that there are many generations to come, and also confirmed by cc!Ranboo several times. Killing the Founder in Generation 1 wouldn't make sense. That, and just because Ranboo died doesn't automatically prove that he's the Founder.

"Ranboo always makes choices that keep the performance on track." He is being controlled to do so. One of the very first details you can possibly notice in the series is that when the mask comes on, Ranboo is not in control of his actions.

"Ranboo doesn't participate in searching [in ep 2]." The Showfall announcement on twitter says that interactive elements are limited on episode 2, giving Ranboo no commands or agency of his own to actually help other than the limited audience polls. also the mask was reset in episode 2, placing him under even stricter control.

"Ranboo knows what is happening and will do anything to keep the show going." Since the very beginning teasers, Ranboo has been labeled The Hero. This name alone makes it obvious that Showfall has intended for Ranboo to be the protagonist, and thus the one that makes it to the end. Again, he's under control- even if he knows what's going to happen, none of his reactions or choices were truly his.

"Ranboo locked Sneeg in the basement, that's how he knows Sneeg was there for 6 months." There's no evidence that Sneeg actually was there for 6 months, given that the cabin is canonically just a set that they use. All we have to go on for this is a throwaway line (which GenLoss is full of throwaway lines). And Ranboo somehow "knowing" how long Sneeg was there isn't a direct implication of guilt, again considering that it's the set of a show.

"The Puzzler is scared of Ranboo." The Puzzler is the Bad-At-Being-A-Villain archetype. Him going "woops sorry" when he almost accidentally kills Ranboo is not him being "scared" of Ranboo. It's him being the goofy villain that Showfall wrote him to be. (Sidenote: Interesting that Matpat was implying that Jerma may have flubbed some lines, when the entire point of his character was to be as incompetent as possible. Saying the wrong thing was kind of... the point of the character.)

"Ranboo believes he is doing everything to help humanity." Yeah he lost me there. I don't even know what that's supposed to mean.

"Ranboo's death was staged" I'll give this one the benefit of the doubt. He may not have actually died, or he may have been brought back, but it's not because he was actually the one behind it all.

"The cooking show cutaways prove that Ranboo is still alive." The cooking show cutaways are obviously prerecorded, even in-universe. You have to consider that even in-universe this is still a live show. They would've had to have been prerecorded anyway. Even if these cutaways had been filmed after the fact for a prerecorded show, the cutaways still could've been recorded between episodes, as canonically there was a day in between each episode (where it's implied that characters go into an idle state).

Using cc!Ranboo's explaination about the rerecorded/remastered aspects of the Founder's Cut as evidence that gl!Ranboo is manipulating the footage. This would be a very interesting take on the idea and definition of Generation Loss as a concept, however cc!Ranboo has stated many times before that the Founder's Cut is solely to get past the limitations of the live setting. It also would not make sense that gl!Ranboo would be the one manipulating the footage, but we're too deep down the "Ranboo Is The Founder" rabbit hole to talk about that.

"The Founder's Cut will replace the original VODs, slowly changing the details until a distorted copy is left." Again, cool concept. But Ranboo has already confirmed that this is not the direction that the series is going. The VODs will still be up and the Founder's Cut is not meant to replace them, just make them easier to watch.

Conclusion: MatPat focuses too much on throwaway lines, in-universe jokes, and whiteboards, and ignores blatant visual clues such as the mask, morse code, and... just about everything really... for 16 minutes.

[dailycass-cain]

2023 was another big stepping stone with Cass. The character was featured in A LOT of stuff this year amongst a few negative antics.

But unlike prior years the good really outweighed the bad. BY A LOT.

So let's take a look back one final time #CAINAISSANCE2023...

The year started STRONG with the release of Batgirls #14 aka the BEST solo story that involved the character this year.

I've gone in LENGTH on how AMAZING this tale was. If you haven't read it DO SO. You don't need any context but to just take in the masterpiece given.

Writers Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad gave artist Jonathan Case just this canvas of an issue to tell AN EPIC mostly silent issue.

If there's a tale Batgirls will be remembered for it'll BE THIS ISSUE.

I've lost count to just taking in the gorgeous art Case delivers here and just letting the actions and emotions tell the tale.

The only regret is well no full payoff to what is fully learned within this issue.

It just hits EVERY mark and is something any Cass fan CRAVED, but never got in Batgirl Vol. 1. Batgirls #14 was a worthy issue that should be talked about amongst fans of Cass for quite some time.

February gave us Cass's grand entrance to Ram V's Detective Comics run (#1069) and what an entrance it was! Literally, I can't let it go of how AMAZING it was.

And the run itself? It just keeps delivering as THE Batman book out currently.

It's a slow burn and when the run lays the payoffs IT HITS THOSE PAYOFFS. The series just ended an exceptional bi-weekly event that featured Cass and well, I'm extremely curious where this run goes with the character.

If anything, I just want MOAR from Ram V or a smaller secondary story involving Cass. But given the various characters he's been rotating and given next year is 2024 (more on that later) I'm keeping my fingers crossed for ALL OF THIS.

This run does work in trade but I digress you'd be missing the GORGEOUS covers this series has been shelling out. If anything BUY the single issues and read the run this way until you get to the present.

Or reread them like I've been doing. 😋

The early half of 2023 marked Cass's surprise return to an actual role in mega crossovers. She took part in the final issue of Batman vs. Robin being one of the random factors to stall the possessed Batman until ALL of DC's magical users came to cast it out of him.

The weakest of the crossovers the character was involved in I have to say was Gotham War. It was a nothing burger that made me swear off the Chip Zdarsky run of Batman completely.

Honestly, I feel more rewarded reading Tec more. Unless Chip pulls off a miracle turnaround in 2024.

But I digress Zdarsky was only half of the problems with the other being Tini Howard and yeah, if you were a Bat Family member who wasn't Jason Todd (how did that mini turn out to be more entertaining then the ENTIRE event?!)?

This story SUUUUUUUUCKED. Quite possibly the worst Batman event story since War Games/Crimes for me.

Sadly, the most disappointing stories I'd have to say are on equal ground in Beast World and Knight Terrors. As there was interesting concepts with Cass involving them, and both stories just go NOWHERE.

I feel more so robbed with Knight Terrors as the design for Cass within it went hard. It's just that you give us THIS design and tease us with this little nugget and give us NOTHING?

COME ON!

Beast World was a whole nothing burger as well, save the pretty art and a full confirmation that Cass's old NML is now canonically her defacto one again.

Even if we had it mentioned earlier last year and again in the best crossover event involving Cass...

WHICH WAS IN LAZARUS PLANET: DARK FATE #1. It gave us Alyssa Wong returning for a THIRD time to write Cass and they were joined by Haining on art which introduced us to the world of Xanthe.

That in itself led to a spinoff mini-series that had Cass in it with SPIRIT WORLD. It did more with the new character Xanthe and laid out their origins and powerset nicely while also laying some seeds for MAYBE future Cass stories.

Again, I feel like a repeating record on how GOOD this series was. Like, I can't wait for the trade next year to take it all in again. But besides the creative team delivering it gave us Dustin Nguyen AND Marcio Takara drawing Cass again OFFICIALLY AS BATGIRL!!

Even when this series ended, I STILL WANT MOAR!! Like what memories did Cass lose? What the heck happened with Spirit World twisting her memories of Batgirl Vol. 1 #72?! How will Xanthe be with the Jade Court?

SO MANY QUESTIONS!!

Something else that left me with MANY questions was DCeased universe as even though the story ended back in April.

I still crave more starring Cass, because let's face it STEPH/TALIA DESERVE CLOSURE!! Cass could be the gateway to that.

Doing so would tie up the final loose ends as well. Let's see how Rose is raising her kid with Jason. Silent Olsen. Harley/Ivy. Ollie/Dinah. Jim Gordon.

But I digress. It gives us more Cazzam. We need more Cazzam.

But an alternate universe Cass just didn't pop up there we had a Cass show up in various other comics. Knights of Steel which also had me hankering for MOAR and Harley Quinn & the Legion of Bats.

I know some didn't like it, but me? I think it was LEAPS and BOUNDS better than what we got in the actual season of HQ.

Let us never talk about that season again…

Now something we SHOULD talk about more is the first actual appearance of Cass in a DC ANIMATED MOVIE!! Yes, Kai Li Cain from Batman: The Doom that Came to Gotham.

I was blown away at the extended role they gave the character in the film (to the, "Oh right Tim is here and alive." role in the books).

Kai Li voiced perfectly by Tati Gabrielle gave a balance of innocence and reason with the batshit craziness this film throws at us.

Like, I really REALLY want a sequel. Just to see what she'd do now given full access to Bruce's fortune? Will she follow his path? I mean yeah we want steampunk Bat!

Speaking of which artists we need designs for this stat still!

It just adds that anchor where you want to see more of this universe and the characters that inhabit it. I mean that's the sign of a REALLY good Elseworlds. Where you want more and sometimes you get just that.

But with all this good came the sad, and that was the canceling of Batgirls. I know many were against the series (especially after #7-8), but the series found its footing with #9 and ran into something I hope more positively can be talked about it.

It's true failing wasn't the creators behind the series, more just elements outside that just slotted it's end (Batgirl movie getting canned making #7-8 more wasteful), Evil Oracle #4 aka the pitch, and just being something it couldn't be).

I'm grateful for each and every creator who worked on this book because it was a GIFT that I'll always be appreciative of.

I'll say it again, THANK YOU TO ALL! 🙏

And its spirit lived on in the Nightwing back up a few months ago. It was something that was TRULY needed after the garbage fire that was Gotham War. It gave us this Cass/Dick sibling stuff and GIVE ME MOAR!!!

Unlike the past where we'd be done, DC brought us back up giving us the current BIRDS OF PREY ongoing which has Cass in it.

Really the series is a revelation of giving us things I always wanted that I'd never thought we get. Cass with Dinah? CHECK.

Cass meeting Big Barda and the two having a bond? HELLS YEAH CHECK! Anytime that bond grows I squee even more.

Just give writer Kelly Thompson ALL the time and ideas she has to churn this out to the proper conclusion she has envisioned. Just give me fifty-plus issues of her, Leonardo Romero, and Jordie Bellaire.

Finally of course there was Batman: Wayne Family Adventures which gave us THREE banger Cass stories. One where she and Steph are a MENANCE (as they should), Cass scaring the crapbaskets out of EVERYONE and of course...

Season 2 gave us A LOT of things I wanted in general (her interacting with Damian) and just showing the world why I really really love this character. Why I talk about her daily.

Really as 2023 closes and 2024 is about to begin... Well, it's the character's TWENTIETH-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 25 years of kicking ass and ripping our hearts out.

It's been a journey for sure.

really REALLY hope DC honors this anniversary and continues to mend the bridges burned all those years ago.

Give us that Omnibus. Give us a mini or SOMETHING to celebrate this character. If not, I'll take whatever Ram V and Thompson give us.

#CAINAISSANCE2023 may be over, but #CAINAISSANCE2024 will be the most important year yet.

25 YEARS OF CASS!! LET THE CELEBRATION BEGIN ON JANUARY 1st!

[the-eeveekins]

For people who think the finale of G-Witch only implied that Suletta & Miorine are married and nothing explicitly confirmed it in-series:

Eri calls Miorine her sister-in-law. That explicitly confirms in the show that Suletta & Miorine are married. You'd literally have to invent a new sibling for Suletta that never existed in the show for that line to mean anything else.

That line combined with the matching rings and their entire interaction in the epilogue is just completely explicit, if you don't think so you're either in denial because there was no kiss/wedding or you've got some homophobia going on. It may not be the way of explicit confirmation everyone wanted, but it is explicit, and the staff committed to that much. It's canon. There's no subtext you have to read into to confirm they're married. They're textually, in the show, explicitly married.

And while I'm at it, if you think there wasn't anything romantic about their relationship before the timeskip, you've really got to work on your heteronormative mindset. They have so many moments and scenes together that would be clearly and unquestionably romantic if it was a straight couple. So many tropes surrounding them are clearly romantic tropes. Miorine asks Suletta to promise to stay by her side forever. Suletta openly asks Miorine to choose her so they can get married, and openly talks about her hopes and dreams for their wedding!

Please stop downplaying their relationship and the romantic aspects of it just because they're both girls. Especially when people act like Suletta clearly had romantic feelings for Elan, when she never comes close to expressing these sort of feelings about him or to him!

[chameleon66]

Hazbin Hotel Baxter theories

Introduction

As many Hazbin hotel fans have been patiently waiting for season two to be released, Vivizepop gave us a sneak peak at an unfinished scene at the San Diego comic con that’s going to be in season two.

And in that scene we are introduced to a new character, Baxter. Baxter actually used to be part of the main cast for Hazbin hotel (Back in the Zoophobia days) before his role in the show was given to Sir Pentious. So in this post I’m going to discuss some possible theories for what Baxter’s role in the series might be, how his prescenes will affect the rest of the cast and the storyline, and what we know about him so far.

Chapter #1 Who’s Baxter?

In the clip we are shown that Baxter is a scientist who came to the hotel not looking for redemption but to study the idea of redemption, he claims that he doesn’t believe redemption is actually a thing that can happen so that’s why he came to the hotel.

Baxter first appeared in the Hazbin Hotel Pilot, however only his silhouette was shown. Then in the season one, episode two Radio Killed the Video Star we see him on one of Vox’s screens. Keep this clip in mind because we’re gonna come back to it later. Then we see him Cameo again in the Season one finale, the show must go on. Where he is watching the news about how the extermination was canceled. So his character is yet to be formally introduced to us but that doesn’t mean we don’t know anything about him.

According to the Hazbin Hotel Wiki, we have some information that has been revealed through posts, livestreams and others I’m pretty sure fans just made up, so take some of these with a grain of salt. Also keep some of them in mind because we’re gonna be coming back to them a little later.

Baxter appears to be an Angler fish sinner since he has a very dark and muted color palette with the occasional pop of bright colors like teal, yellow, or red which are commonly seen on ocean predators who live in deep parts of the ocean. Also according to Faustisse Baxter also has an underbite referencing another trait that’s common among Angler fish. Baxter also has fish like finns on the sides of his head and an esca (That thing Angler fish have on their head that light’s up to attract their prey). Like what was seen in Finding Nemo. One theory I’ve heard a few times is that Baxter might be trans since in real life, only female Angler fish have an esca. I would like to see this because 1. It seems like it would be good representation for the transgender community and 2. It would really add some depth to his character.

I’m not sure how high the chances are that Baxter is actually Trandsgender or if we’ll even get it confirmed within the show or by one of the cast or crew members but regardless I think it is a good concept for his character that may happen. I mean we already got one canonically confirmed within the Hellaverse. When in Hazbin Hotel’s sister show, Helluva boss, we were introduced to Sallie Mae, Millie’s older sister.

Fans first guessed she was transgender when they noticed her horns. In Imps in Helluva Boss, males have black and white horns with equal sized bands of each color while the females have black horns with smaller white bands but Sallie’s horns are of that of male variety so that was what first made fans believed she was a transgender women, Then in June of this year to celebrate pride month they released this piece of merchandise with the whole cast and decked out in pride flags which confirmed many of the characters sexualities. One of which being Sallie Mae who in that art was confirmed to be not only a lesbian but also Transgender. So the point here is since they already got one character who is confirmed to be transgender, another one probably isn’t out of the question. Ok back to Baxter.

Baxter was previously said to have died on the titanic however this was later changed because Vivzie didn’t want any real life events tied to characters death (especially tragic one to avoid coming off as insensitive), so it’s now said that Baxter died in a large boat that sank in the 1910s and officially the main cause of death was drowning which probably contributed to his aquatic demon sinner form.

It said on the wiki Baxter likes Science, Laboratories, and mad science experiments. But he dislikes being touched, this could imply he’s touch averse, touch starved, or maybe he just isn't comfortable with physical contact. It’s yet to be confirmed if he will have a laboratory in the hotel but I think he might just turn his room into one when he stays at the hotel. Personality wise Baxter’s personality is said to still be in development but Vivize likens him to the character Myron Reducto from the show Hervey Birdman in his mannerisms. He is screechy, neurotic, fidgety, anti-social “gremlin” and an all-round mess. He is introverted and wanted nothing to do with anyone preferring to do science alone in peace. I have a feeling that as soon as we are introduced to Baxter in the show he’s gonna automatically become a fan favorite, he just has all of the traits. Now we’ve gotten to know Baxter a little bit better it’s time to discuss him and what he’s gonna bring to the series.

Chapter #2 Charlie and Baxter

Charlie is ecstatic to have another guest staying at the hotel but she is definitely still trying to heal from losing Sir Pentious in the battle. Because it’s pretty clear she’s kind of labeling Baxter as a replacement for Sir Pentious due to them having shared characteristics, such as being Inventors/Scientists, having very old school styles of dressing, having quite similar mannerisms/ hand gestures while talking to people, and they honestly kind of sound similar too. (But that may be just a me thing)

Charlie has also made this clear because even after Baxter tells Charlie his name she continues to call him Pentious, albeit by accident but the point still stands. This could become a plot point where Charlie continues to treat Baxter like he’s Sir Pentious and this makes Baxter upset until he most likely snaps at her and she’s forced to finally deal with her grief over losing Sir Pentious. Which Charlie may be trying to hide because she wants to be a strong leader for everyone else during this difficult and confusing time but while she’s allowing everyone to dump their feelings and problems onto her while she’s continuously being forced to hold her tongue and play therapist for everyone. Husk really was right there. “Princess, is a bleeding heart who wants to solve everyone else’s problems except her own.” - Husk, Season one, episode four, Masquerade.

I mean, don’t get me wrong here. No one in the hotel is completely okay. They’re all got problems, trauma, and insecurities. But trying to help others improve themselves and get through hard times is no excuse for Charlie to be neglecting her own needs. And I think that with Baxter joining the crew at the hotel, it’s really going to bring Charlie’s problems to light.

Chapter #3 Sir Pentious and Baxter’s connection

We also learn in the clip he has a connection to Sir Pentious somehow, as when Charlie mentions him in the sneak peek clip, He says that he’s nothing like him and calls him “A pompous snake”. This means the two sinners knew each other, that feels likely since both of them are Inventors/Scientists who died around similar times.

I have seen this one idea floating around the internet that Baxter was actually the one who helped Pentious create his Egg Boiz which would make since Baxter called himself a mad scientist and in a lot of cases mad scientists try and create life through their experiments and we’ve seen that Baxter actually has a bag will crab eyes and legs which is pretty likely he created. And it feels unlikely Pentious would have created the Egg Boiz on his own because he had always been portrayed working with machinery and steampunk kind of equipment; we've never seen him create anything living, so that means he at the very least probably had some help creating his henchmen. It’s also confirmed in the Finale that at least one of the Egg Boiz still remains in Hell after the battle in which Sir Pentious and what seems to be many of the Egg Boiz died in too. So maybe that remaining Egg Boi will recognize Baxter and spill some information about him to the rest of the cast. Since it has been shown they have a habit of spilling information they weren’t supposed to, as we saw in the season one, episode three, Scrambled Eggs.

An idea I had was that Sir Pentious and Baxter were rivals that maybe used to be lab partners but then had a falling out for whatever reason. It was confirmed we would see more of Sir Pentious’s past so that could mean we could see what the connection is between him and Baxter. Another idea here is that after Baxter hits his limit of Charlie constantly making him the replacement for Sir Pentious he reveals what happened between him and Sir Pentious in some kind of dramatic flashback or maybe even a musical number (Now that would be fun to watch).

Chapter #4 Baxter’s love interest?

Another character in Hazbin hotel I think will become close with Baxter is Nifty. I’ve seen a few posts online where Baxter and Nifty are being shipped together. Personally I think the Ship is very cute, but since we haven’t seen much of Baxter yet there isn’t much ground for a relationship to be built on. But There is some evidence out there to suggest that Nifty and Baxter might have a romantic relationship with each other within the show.

Back in the pilot days of Hazbin Hotel Vivziepop used to draw Nifty and Baxter together during livestreams and in one she even drew them sharing a milkshake together with Nifty not so subtly staring at Baxter. Keep in mind before Baxter was going to have Sir Pentious’s role in the series and Nifty during the episode Pentious was introduced in was infatuated by him but by the end of the episode she’s over him because she learns he’s not “A bad boy”. Throughout the show Nifty has been shown to have a thing for bad boys. Baxter is much more rebellious than Sir Pentious ever was and with Nifty’s track record it wouldn’t surprise me if she was attracted to him.

Baxter on the other hand would probably be a little less cheerful towards Nifty, since he’s not very social and prefers to be on his own. Nifty however couldn’t be more different in that sense. She’s shown to enjoy being in the company of people regardless of who she’s with in most circumstances. I can see a sort of HuskerDust dynamic here, with Nifty constantly bugging Baxter to try and get his attention while Baxter is just annoyed with her continuous antics.

However that being said, I think Baxter and Nifty could actually make a great match. Because while they are very different from each other they also have things in common. Like both enjoying doing experiments though Baxter’s are probably less chaotic and more scientific, they both are labeled as “Gremlins”, and appearance wise they are both two of the shortest members of the cast. I honestly can see a sort of scenario where Nifty as a show of her affection towards Baxter giving him some kind of dead insects or animal that she killed maybe and instead of getting grossed or weirded out like everyone else does with her, he’d be curious and ask her if she’d be okay if he did some kind of experiment on it and then she’d just get all excited and gleefully follow him to his lab to watch him work. Maybe I need to write this later as a short Fanfic, would you guys be interested in seeing that? Let me know.

Anyway, Nifty and Baxter have the potential to have a very cool dynamic whether as a couple or as just friends and it also gives us some potential to see Nifty developed more since so far in the show she’s been only portrayed as the maniac maid in the hotel and as comic relief which works great but I think some depth to her character could make her that much better. Some dynamics/Tropes I could see them having included. Opposites attract, We’re not so different after all, Pure looking (But super shady) x Scary looking (But is actually a softie), Chaotic baddie x Sweet baddie, Energetic x Serious, and Mad scientist duo.

Chapter #5 Alastor and Baxter

Of course we’re talking about Alastor here. It wouldn’t be A Hazbin Hotel analysis/theory if we didn’t talk about Alastor. Alastor is a fan favorite within the fandom and it’s not hard to see why, he’s entertaining, funny, and has a lot of mystery about him. Something for everyone within the fandom to enjoy. I has been said we’re going to see more of Alastor’s past in season two which I think is going to give us more insight into his intentions, because right now it’s clear he’s playing a bigger game than he’s letting on but he also has his own little deal that he’s not letting anyone else no about and if you mention it bad things happen. Just ask Husk. (Play the scene here)

Alastor in the finale loses his fight to Adam and afterwards has a mental breakdown where he’s singing in riddles and not giving us exact answers because of course not they don’t wanna make things too easy for us to figure out. Alastor is clearly shaken up and is now definitely looking to speed things up in his plan and break his contract with whoever’s leash he’s on. But he also is still going to have to keep up appearances by helping Charlie with the hotel and keeping his listeners convinced he’s the almighty radio demon. And Baxter might just be involved in his plan, either as an ally or as an hindrance depending on which way everything goes in. Let’s break it down.

Alastor likes to have control with what’s going around him including with the people, that’s one of the main reasons he makes deals with people, to ensure he’s the one with the power. With the arrival of a new face in the hotel Alastor is probably eager to see what he can get out of Baxter. Since that’s something Alastor does with people too, he doesn’t just keep someone around for nothing, most times it’s either to get something from them or just to keep up appearance as a “Nice guy”

One of my speculations comes from a moment in the finale. When Alastor’s staff breaks in his fight with Adam, then we see him have his solo in the finale song and his staff is still shown to be broken. Then he comes in at the end of the song he doesn’t have it with him. Now we aren’t exactly how Alastor’s staff works in the pilot its shown to be alive which I’m not sure is still a thing but I think it’s a pretty safe bet that Alastor probably can’t fix it on his own since if he could’ve he probably would have before he returned to the main group to wrap up the song. So maybe after Alastor realizes that Baxter is quite intelligent, he goes to him to see if Baxter could possibly repair his staff for him, which Baxter might do as part of a deal they make for whatever hopefully plot relevant reason, because Alastor threatened him to do so, or maybe just out of mutual respect.

Because I think Baxter and Alastor might become relatively close with each other. I’m not saying they’ll be friends but they might come to some kind of partnership or alliance for both of their benefits. It could start with Nifty telling Alastor about Baxter (Since it’s been shown the two are actually kind of close with each other, though with Alastor it could be all fake) which could bring Alastor to the idea to make use of having Baxter around the hotel but then Alastor come to realize he actually doesn’t mind Baxter as much as everyone else in the hotel. Think about it, everyone in the hotel wants to become closer with each other and Alastor is usually having none of it. Since he likes to keep his cards close to his chest as they say. Especially with more bubbly and cheerful characters like Charlie, Nifty, and Frank around the hotel always trying to get closer to Alastor and figure him out. Even with less cheery characters like Angel, Husk, and Vaggie they all are kind of trying to figure Alastor out and get a read on him. I can imagine Alastor getting sick of all this but of course not directly saying it to any of them under most circumstances to keep up appearances with characters who he has trust with.

Alastor might find Baxter to be a refreshing change since he’s said to be very introverted and prefers to work alone. Baxter reads to me as the kind of guy who won’t bother you as long as you don’t bother him, Alastor could find this nice and see that Baxter has the potential to be a good ally. But at the same time, Alastor could also view Baxter as a threat to his plan and try to bring Baxter down in whatever way he can. Which brings me to my next speculation.

Chapter #6 Why did Baxter come to the Hotel?

Everyone in the hotel came to the hotel for a reason whether they claim something different or otherwise. Vaggie is there to support her girlfriend, Lucifer is there to support his daughter, Angel Dust claims to be staying there so he had somewhere to live where he didn’t have to pay rent but to me he’s there to try and redeem himself so he can try and break his contract with Valintino, Husk and Nifty came because of Alastor, and Alastor claimed to come there for the entertainment and to help Charlie succeed, though no one there is completely buying that story. Baxter claimed that he came to the hotel to study redemption but I’m not going to take that claim at face value because there is some evidence to push that Baxter isn’t there just to experiment with the idea of redemption but to also hide from something or rather someone.

We’ve been told that the Vees are going to be major antagonists in season two, we aren’t sure what they’re plan is but it’s clear they’ve now got their heads in the game. Now here’s the big speculation that I’m honestly surprised hasn’t been talked about more. What if Baxter used to work for the vees, specifically Vox. Now at first this might feel like a stretch but if you take a step back then it actually makes sense within the show. Remember that clip from season one episode two I wanted you to remember for later, well now it's time to discuss it.

In the clip of Vox spying on everyone we see Baxter on one of Vox’s screen and he appears to be in a place very similar to The Vee’s meeting place which we see in the same episode, now there’s no way to confirm it’s the Vee’s meeting place but you can't deny the similar wall coloring and the how similar the chairs look. Baxter also seems to fit the bill for a person who’d work for Vox because he has the dark and muted base colors with the brighter blue and red accents on him. Much like Vox and his other employees that we’ve seen. Baxter is also a sinner based on an aquatic life which also fits with Vox’s theme since we’ve seen Vox’s employees such as one that appears to be his assistant and he has a tail which looks similar to that of an axolotl or maybe a sting rays, either way it definitely looks like some kind of aquatic animal’s tail to me. This also fits with Vox because in his lair he has a giant tank where he has several of what look to be sharks but maybe some Hell mutation of them. To me it wouldn’t be to far fetched if maybe Baxter used to work as part of the science department at Vox tech, we haven’t heard of him doing much tech related work but that could be because we haven’t been introduced to him yet officially in the show and he very well may be versatile in his work with science.

Ok let’s entertain the idea that Bxter used to work for Vox and by extension the other Vees. What would that mean for the sake of the plot and storyline? It could be like the other case where the Vees sent sir Pentious to the hotel to act as a man on the inside to gather information on Alastor. But this doesn’t feel very likely to me. 1. Because the Vees probably wouldn’t be dumb enough to try doing the same thing twice, 2. The writer’s of the show probably wouldn’t be as uncreative to reuse the same idea twice for very similar characters. So why else would Baxter be at the hotel in this hypothetical scenario where he used to work for the Vees? Maybe it will help if we first try and figure out why Baxter no longer works for the Vees.

Because we can already rule out that Vox fired him, because let’s be real here. If the Vox wanted to fire Baxter he would use real fire, that and/or Baxter wouldn’t make it out alive. Since They themselves have said to shoot the lowest earners among their employees. So it’s likely the Vees didn’t willingly let Baxter go. It’s also pretty much known that The Vee’s own their Employees souls like all overlords, It’s pretty likely that if Baxter did work for Vox at some point then Vox would have owned his soul too. And if Vox has the same style as Valintino then he would have his employees sign a contract that confirms they own their soul or something along those lines. Maybe Vox just didn’t read his own terms and conditions and Baxter found a loophole somewhere in his contract that broke his deal with Vox setting him free. This doesn’t feel out of character for Vox because unlike Alastor he isn’t always looking at the bigger picture, rather he just tunnel visions onto one single thing and then the rest of the details just fly under his radar.

Baxter's motivation for breaking his contract with Vox isn’t too hard to figure out either, it’s pretty clear the Vee’s aren’t the best people and treat their employees horribly so it’d probably push Baxter to his breaking point and make him want to be free from them. What happened could be that after Sir Pentious and Baxter had their falling out, Baxter began to fall on hard times and when Vox found him and wanted to hire he probably immediately took the chance not knowing the risks of doing so. It’s a pretty common tactic among Overlords in Hell like people in real life to target people when they are most desperate or in vulnerable positions because they’re more likely to agree to whatever you want them to.

Now obviously the Vee’s (More specifically Vox) probably wouldn’t like that Baxter tricked them out of his contract so they’d probably want to get him back or eliminate him entirely to eliminate the risk of him telling the press about how horribly they treat the people who work for them or just how bad they are in general, which the only reason their current employees probably don’t do that is because they’re bound by contract. But Baxter isn’t, not anymore at least. So let’s say Baxter is now on the run, he’d definitely need somewhere else to stay and that’s why Baxter really came to the Hotel, think about it. There are a lot of powerful people in the hotel like Charlie, Alastor and even Lucifer himself so by putting himself next to some of the most powerful people in Hell now makes him have a protective wall around him because now that he’s a resident at the hotel everyone else is now obligated to protect him from the Vees. And as we learned from Angel dust he doesn’t even have to pay them to live there.

But now this creates another problem for Baxter, now that he’s living in the same place Sir Pentious used to live and we know how things went for Sir Pentious. Imagine what would happen if someone. Anyone in the hotel found out he had ties to the Vees, even if he uses the past tense it’ll look all too suspicious especially after what happened with Sir Pentious, the people at the hotel know that the Vees are known to do this kind of thing. But Baxter now doesn't work for them anymore in this scenario. Which he can use to try and convince the others they're wrong but it’s not guaranteed to work. Especially taking into account one specific character. I’ll give you a hint, his name starts with an A and ends with a Lastor. In case you don’t get it, that’s Alastor.

Chapter #7 The betrayal?

Now there’s a lot of Potential in this scenario if Alastor finds out Baxter used to work for Vees and by extension Vox. Since they’re rivals and while Alastor wasn’t very phased when Vox tried to pull this trick the first time, imagine it the second time after all of the events that happened. Alastor realizing he’s not the most powerful piece on the board and he can be bested, Alastor taking a liking to Baxter and asking him to repair his staff for him. Even if it wasn't at the front of his head, Alastor was likely building a connection to Baxter and maybe even a little trust. But now that he finds out about Baxter’s past with working for Vox, his enemy. Alastor is automatically going to assume that this a part in some grand scheme from Vox to takeover and possibly even end him. And after that confidence hit he took from Adam he’s going to be feeling extra defensive about himself and his safety.

Baxter would either be kicked out of the hotel or at the very least put on some kind of parol or house arrest in the hotel and since no one would really be sure if they can trust him. Meanwhile Nifty can be forced away from Baxter by Alastor because he wants to protect her, again we are not sure if Alastor genuinely cares for Nifty or she is just another pawn in his game. But either way Alastor could want as little to do with Baxter as a way to protect himself and his own plan, whatever that may be. And what do you know? You’ve got yourself a good old star crossed lovers story between Nifty and Baxter. This literally writes itself.

Chapter 8 The conclusion

To wrap this all up, I want to say that Baxter has the potential to be a key character in Hazbin hotel and whether or not any of my predictions, theories, or analyses come true. I’m sure Baxter is going to be a great addition to the cast of Hazbin Hotel.

Chapter #9 Bonus stuff

Wow, you’re still reading. I’m impressed. I was convinced no one would read this whole thing because of how long it is. So Thank you for reading my weird jumble of thoughts related to one of my biggest current hyperfixations. And now as a reward for making it this far, I give to you some random headcanons about Baxter that I just came up with or found on tumblr or other online platforms with but couldn’t find a way to fit into my predictions/theories. Enjoy.

Baxter headcanons

- Introverted as hell; mostly because he finds people confusing and hard to deal with, or people will find him off putting or weird and make fun of him for really just being himself. So for him it’s just easier to be on his own and maybe kind of lonely then have to put up with people he finds annoying.

- He has built up an immunity to several different types of poison and drugs while testing various concoctions of his and now enjoys the taste of some.

- If you’re nice and respectful towards him there is a much higher chance of him saying yes to doing something for you (Maybe why he agreed to help Alastor fix his staff).

- His hearing is a little impaired due to all of the explosions he’s been in from his experiments.

- Was most likely sent to Hell because he had no value for life and is willing to cross a lot of moral gray areas in his experiments.

- By extension of that, due to his analytical views and unsympathetic mindset, when asked what his favorite color is he’ll say “Morally gray” just because he finds other people’s reactions humorous.

- Would probably try to use the other residents of the hotel as test subject for his experiments before probably being stopped by Vaggie, the only person in the hotel who’d let him do experiments on would probably be Nifty (Because she’s got the hots for him and she’s a tiny bit psychotic).

- Whenever he gets an idea or realizes something his esca lights up (Like the old visualization or a light bulb lighting up above someone’s head when they get an idea).

- He also uses his esca as a headlight for when he’s reading or working.

- Does not understand the appeal of Angel Dust’s movies because of how there’s literally no characters, plot, or storyline established throughout any of them and he’s a Demisexual (I do not see this sexuality used enough in characters).

- Baxter doesn’t like drinking alcohol because he hates the feeling of his head not being on straight.

- He has developed something of a sixth sense for when someone’s about to touch something in his lab and will just say “Don’t touch that” with the most monotone voice to whoever is in his lab.

- Baxters crab carry on bag we saw in the teaser clip is named Clemmy.

- Sometimes lisps his Hs when talking because of the sounds anglerfish make. (I actually listened to a recording of anglerfish sounds before and they legitimately sound like underwater zombies)

-After going through various posts on Tumblr I have given the ship name, NeedleFish to Baxter x Nifty. (Credit to dolliezilla)

- Nifty calls him fishy as a term of endearment.

- Baxter has the worst vision without his glasses that he made for himself (Real angler fish are blind). Without his glasses he’ll bump into every and anything or anyone, cannot read anything, and he’ll trip over any obvious obstacle in his way.

- He’s a manners boy, he always calls everyone mister/miss, asks permission to leave the dinner table, and says “Please” and “Thank you” all the time.

-Baxter learned morse code when he was alive and since he’s pretty sure no one else in the hotel knows morse code, sometimes during group conversations he’ll tap his finger on some kind of surface and make comments about whoever he’s with. (But then later on Alastor figures out he does this and teaches himself morse code so he can translate what he’s saying, and honestly he just finds Baxter’s analyses of everyone to be hilarious).

Author’s note: So it's been a longtime since I’ve posted something this long and for that I am the sorriest. I’ve been going through a tough time lately and I didn;t have any motivation for a long while to write anything more than incorrect quotes. I promise I will upload a new Fanfic soon, but please let me know what you think of my theories/predictions/analysis and feel free to correct me anywhere if I made a mistake or to add your own thoughts into this one sided conversation. Thank you guys for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day/night/anything else.

[celaenaeiln]

do you ever think about how canonically in the batman v superman movie/universe, dick grayson is the dead robin and bruce never picked up another kid which eventually led to him killing superman?

YES?! YES! YESS!!!!

If Dick were to die, Bruce would completely break. He wouldn't just stop at killing villains - hell no - he would start killing heroes too.

All that's going through his head is that no one deserves to exist if Dick is gone.

And knowing me, I will always gladly provide the evidence.

In the comics when Dick got shot, Bruce's world imploded.

He felt such a strong rage, he kinda lost it. He flew to another country, defeated assassins, and trucked through the freezing blizzard in Russia to get to KG Beast.

Batman (2016) Issue #56

The utter, undiluted rage on his face.

Batman (2016) Issue #56

He lost communication with Alfred. He's completely on his own but nothing will stop him in his crusade to avenge Dick.

He finds the assassin and they have a massive fight. KG Beast is actually one of the highest paid killers in the world. Him, Lady Shiva, Deathstroke, Deadshot, and someone else are the top 5 of the villain world and Batman almost loses until-

Batman (2016) Issue #57

He shoots a grapple gun into KG Beast's face! He breaks him. He leaves him paralyzed.

His horror at what the Joker has done to Barbara is gone in the face of his hatred for what happened to Dick.

Batman (2016) Issue #57

Batman willingly and knowingly paralyzed someone despite knowing the cost. That's how much he hated him. But you think it stops here? This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Batman (2016) Issue #57

And this is where it all goes to hell.

Batman, the vigilante who beat his own son for killing criminals, leaves this criminal for the dead.

The Gotham commissioners talk about it

Batman (2016) Issue #60

Forget Batman. JTTF stands for Joint Terrorism Task Force. They actually considered a hit on Nightwing an act of terrorism.

That's how much the world loves Nightwing.

The moment KG Beast shot Nightwing, he became the Nation's Public Enemy Number One.

Commissioner Grogan hates KG Beast so much for what he did, he can't even bring himself to say the man's name, too revolted by his existence. Gotham hates the guy more than they hate the Joker.

Batman (2016) Issue #60

Commissioner Gordon offers some hope that maybe Batman knew but Commissioner Grogan - he just says maybe. I don't know, it's possible but - to which Gordon just stays silent. They both know what happened and what Batman did but confirming it out loud? Batman's not supposed to kill.

So Batman left KG Beast to die but Bane? The one who ordered the hit? He-

Batman (2016) Issue #59

And when Gordon tries to stop him-

Batman (2016) Issue #59

He. Punches. Gordon.

He hurts his friend and ally. The man who helped him the night his parents were murdered. He punched for his pain over Dick.

This is where it all connects to the Superman vs Batman movie. If Dick were to die, Bruce would kill his own allies in the end. He would raze the world to the ground.

In the comics, Dick's death is the turning point for Batman (2016). After this he enters a series of nightmares where his brain turns a nightmare of Selina dying to be exactly reminiscent of what happened to Dick, and even though Dick lived, Bruce can't let that go. Then the fight with Bane who targeted Dick solely because of his importance to Dick, and then the Joker War where the Joker tried to use Dick because of his importance to Bruce, and the Gotham War where Dick thrashing him was Bruce's breaking point from his toxic self and finally self-realization.

Damian once said Dick leaving to become Nightwing caused Bruce to lose his moral compass, and that's even more true now. He's breaking enemies and allies left and right just because Dick almost died.

Imagine what would happen if Dick really did.

[antiquarianfics]

Taken pt. 9

If Bucky Barnes could time travel, he would go back to that morning. He would hold you a little tighter in his arms, and he would kiss you a little deeper. He would pull your daughter in between the two of you, letting her giggle as loudly as she wants whilst her parents kiss her cheeks and tickle her belly. If Bucky Barnes could time travel, he would have told you not to go to the park—to go anywhere else. But Bucky Barnes can’t time travel, and his wife and daughter are gone.

a/n: screaming, crying, throwing up. i hope you guys enjoy this part as much as i do. also, sorry for the hiatus. i kind of got distracted with life. anyhoo. also. not proofed.

warnings: swearing, blackmail, mention of murder, themes of conspiracy, canon typical violence.

note: I do not own the character Bucky Barnes or any other Marvel affiliated characters. Any and all characters are a work of fiction and any likeness to real persons is wholly unintentional.

You do not have permission to copy, translate, or repost my work; however, feel free to like, comment, and reblog.

»»———-———-———-———-———-———-———-««

previous part | series masterlist | next part

»»———-———-———-———-———-———-———-««

“So, when you said a former agent, you meant…” Clint trails off, looking at Fury and Coulson for confirmation.

Bruce sits next to Tony, hands clasped underneath his chin in thought, eyes trained on the screen, analyzing it.

Coulson and Fury nod, but before anyone else can say anything, Bucky speaks.

“It’s Y/N.”

—

“Y/N’s alive?” Sam asks, but it’s mostly rhetorical. Fury and Coulson are the only ones who are not surprised.

“Agent Y/L/N-Barnes seems to be alive, yes. Of course, there is always the possibility that it’s a mask,” Coulson says.

“It has to be her,” Bucky mumbles to himself, focusing hard on the stilled image of you. He has believed you’re alive against all hope for months, and here you are, escaping Capital Hill.

“But if she’s alive, and if she’s the one killing U.S. politicians, then is she working with HYDRA?” Sam asks, anxiously eyeing Bucky.

Fury sighs, “We don’t know. All we know is that we need to stop her before word that an Avenger killed the president gets out.”

Bucky speaks up then.

“She’s not working for HYDRA. She wouldn’t do that.”

Tony sends Bucky a sympathetic look before playing devil’s advocate.

“We can’t know that. It’s out of character, but we never know how much HYDRA is truly capable of. They brainwashed you, so who’s to say they didn’t her?”

The room is tense, and Bucky is acutely aware that the team, his friends, are sympathetic. They’re sympathetic because they agree with Tony. Bucky shakes his head.

“That took years to program The Winter Soldier,” Bucky says cautiously, “and Y/N has a hell of a lot more to fight for than I did. If she’s working for HYDRA, then she’s playing an angle. Don’t you think it’s odd they let Bec go so easily? She had to have struck a deal.”

“Then why doesn’t she escape?” Natasha muses, but her tone tells Bucky she’s simply wondering aloud.

“Well, we wondered why she didn’t contact us through her phone,” Clint reminds. “Turned out she had a plan there; she led us right to the Siberian facility.”

Bucky shoots Clint an appreciative nod.

“Becca did say that they wanted her until Y/N struck a deal with them,” Steve remembers.

The room turns to look at him.

“We didn’t know what to do with that before now. We thought Y/N was dead, but if they faked her death, then that gets us off their backs to have her do what they want.”

“Still,” Sam says, “why not run?”

“They’re probably keeping a close eye on her. On us, even. She would run unless they have something to hold over her,” Natasha points out.

The team gets quiet for a while; everyone gets lost in their own thoughts.

Finally, Fury breaks the silence.

“We don’t know who else HYDRA is targeting, but we imagine there are more assassinations planned.”

—

“Alright, so, it’s settled,” Tony says.

The team had spent hours devising a plan to rescue Y/N, anxiously and meticulously going over every detail and turning over every rock.

The Avengers let out a breath they weren’t aware they were holding. At this point, as if on cue, however, Coulson enters the conference room he and Fury had vacated hours ago.

“Coulson?” Steve asks, eyebrows raising at the appearance of the agent.

Coulson nods in acknowledgement, a tight smile spreading upon his lips.

“Stark, can you pull up the security camera footage for the complex?” Coulson asks, staring at the screen showing your SHIELD ID photo, background, skill set, and a list of the crimes you’ve committed up to this point.

Tony nods, voicelessly tapping at the device in front of him, pulling up the cameras. The screen changes from SHIELD’s information on you to a split of each of the complex’s cameras. Coulson takes a step forward, staring at the screen, analyzing it for something the Avengers don’t see.

“Coulson?” Natasha speaks. “What exactly are we looking for?”

“That,” Coulson points at the third box from the right. Tony zooms in on the mentioned camera footage.

“Shit.”

—

“Get Bec out of here!” Bucky demands, picking Rebecca up and handing her to Sam as the complex’s alarm system sounds. Sam nods, holding the toddler close to his chest before running off to get her somewhere safe.

“Buck, what’s your plan here?” Steve questions.

Bucky ignores his friend, taking off running towards the roof of the complex. The security footage showed the intrusion on the northwest most part of the building.

“Buck!”

“I’m saving my wife,” Bucky grumbles, putting more power in his steps, launching himself faster ahead.

—

When Bucky makes it to the roof, he does not have to try too hard to find you. In fact, he notes that you’re startling easy to find.

“Honey, I’m home,” you say cheekily, waving a casual hand at your husband when he lays eyes on you for the first time in months.

“Y/N,” Bucky breathes out, taking a step forward.

You’re leaning against the wall that surrounds the perimeter of the roof, arms crossed.

“James.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. How are you?”

“Fine.”

“I don’t particularly believe you,” you say, eyeing the dark bags beneath his eyes and the tired demeanor he holds.

“You’ve been gone for months. We thought you were dead. It’s not been so pleasant.”

You hum, pushing off the wall and walking towards the man. You step up against him, resting a gentle hand upon his chest.

“Hmm,” you hum. “You’re not wearing a suit, you didn’t bring any weapons…” You allow yourself to trail off, watching carefully for a reaction.

He gives you a look. “You wouldn’t hurt me,” he says cautiously, but something about the situation feels off. He isn’t sure he believes the statement himself anymore.

You sigh and step away.

“You’ve heard, I’m sure, what I’ve been up to.”

“I have.”

“Not very on brand for me.”

“No.”

“Unfortunately, sweetheart, neither is what I’m here to do.”

“And what are you here to do?” Bucky feels anxiety creep up his chest.

“Marking 3 names off my list,” you say. “You’re not all that close to Captain America, are you?”

Bucky immediately clocks the question as odd. Not only is it weird that you’re addressing the murders you’ve committed as off brand, but to ask him about the only person from his past life as if he’s someone he met recently? To address Steve as Captain America? Bucky remembers the conversation the Avengers had recently, and he thinks you must be playing an angle, waiting for him to figure it out. He also knows your mannerisms better than his own, and he has never known you to speak so formally to him.

He feels a memory trying to come forward. A missing puzzle piece that would help him understand what’s going on.

You sigh, pulling Bucky away from his thoughts.

“I’m sorry, James, but I’m on a tight schedule, and I can’t hang out here all day. So, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a To-Do list.”

Bucky stands a little taller.

“Doll, I can’t let you cross out names on that list.”

“Sure you can, and you will.”

“Why would I do that?”

You pout. “Because you promised to support me in good and bad,” you say, referring to his wedding vows.

“I didn’t mean stand by while you murder the people closest to you.”

“Well, shit,” you say before you throw a right hook into Bucky’s jaw and sprint towards the stairs while he’s distracted.

Bucky clutches his jaw with his hand before standing up straight. He usually would have anticipated the punch, but this whole situation has thrown him. And you have a habit of getting him to let his guard down.

“Shit,” he says before taking off after you.

You manage to avoid Bucky for a while as you make your way through the compound, but he does catch up to you.

You lay eyes on Steve and you sprint in his direction.

“Y/N! What? Stop! You don’t have to do this!” Steve attempts to reason, holding his shield up to deflect a bullet you send flying his way. Steve notes it wasn’t hard to deflect, and he stores that information away for later. After all, SHIELD first took note of you for to your sniping ability. You don’t miss.

“Sorry, Rogers,” you say, shrugging. “I’m just a girl doin’ what a girl’s gotta do. Y’kno—Agh!”

You are cut off, letting out an unattractive yelp as you fall to the floor. It takes a moment to get you bearings, but you quickly realize Bucky had tackled you.

You fight back, but you allow Bucky to slide your gun away from you and across the floor.

“Y/N, stop!” Bucky begs, grabbing hold of your wrists with his metal hand and holding your arms taut while he holds your body down by straddling your torso.

You—to Bucky’s surprise—stop. Then, you raise an eyebrow as if to ask, “What do you want?”

“What are you doing? Killing the president? Trying to kill Steve? What’s your angle here?”

“Have you ever heard of Orpheus and Eurydice?” You ask.

Bucky gives you a look. Your question, after all, is out of left field. You ignore the look and continue.

“It’s a Greek myth. Orpheus and Eurydice are in love, right? But Eurydice does and is trapped in the Underworld. Well, Orpheus goes on a quest to get her back, and the only condition Hades gives him is that he doesn’t turn around on the way back out of the Underworld.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“If he turned around, Eurydice would be trapped in the Underworld forever, and she and Orpheus would never be together again. Never have a life together.”

“Y/N.”

“Orpheus turned around. I always thought that was stupid. I mean, I guess if you love someone, you’d want to turn around and check on them. Make sure they’re still there. But, on the other hand, if you love someone, and trust them…”

“You trust they’ll still be following you even if you don’t turn around,” Bucky finishes.

“Orpheus didn’t get a second chance to save Eurydice. Zeus killed Orpheus because he was afraid Orpheus would tell the humans all the secrets of the Underworld. Some versions say that the Muses kept his head, though, to sing songs forever. They managed to hear his voice even after he died.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Don’t turn around, James.”

“What?”

While Bucky is confused, distracted by your story, you wrench your wrists out from his grasp and thrust up with your hips. You manage enough momentum to swing Bucky off of you and you climb on top of him, switching positions.

“Well, my targets are gone,” you sigh, glancing down the hallway you had seen Steve run. You click your tongue and return your focus to Bucky, shaking your head slightly.

“Sorry, honey,” you say, knocking him out.

—

@just-henny y @jasminocano @browneyedgirl22-blog @barnesboo1967 @matchat3a @unkasworld @qwertyb2577 @raajali3 @yoruse @iilsenewman @alysianc @fairytalegirlofurdreams @marvelxlevram @casa-boiardi @buckybraneslover111 @hhiggs @smolracoon25 @questionableratatouille00 @heytheredemonsitsyourgirl @thearieunhinged @sebastianstansqueen @middaystarlight @talesofadragon @killerwendigo @ozwriterchick @kandis-mom

[badbatchsprincess]

Heated ~ pt.4

Pt.1 ~ Pt.2 ~ Pt.3 ~ Pt.4 ~ Pt.5 ~ Pt.6 ~ Pt.7 ~ Pt.8 ~ Pt.9

Masterlist

Summary: This is an ABO Bad batch!Poly x Omega Reader smut with a plot. This takes place as an AU before order 66. Y/N previously served under the 501st before being transferred to Special Forces 99. This is her adventure with these rowdy Alphas in a quickly changing universe.

THIS IS AN ABO AU ABOUT THE BAD BATCH (NO CANON OMEGA!) Due to the unfortunate situation of her name being Omega… Omega the child from the canon series is not going to be apart of this fanfic/porn with a plot. I feel obligated to put this warning in because it makes my skin crawl thinking anyone could make that mistake. 

Warnings: Some suggestive themes and awkward situations. Medical related jargon, and some canon type violence.

Happy bad batch eve... I hope we made it through this one, or we die like clones 🫡.

─ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ──── ♡ ─── ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ──

"We’ve got incoming!" Tech announced from the cockpit.

"Crosshair, man the blasters!" Hunter ordered as he settled into the cockpit with Echo and Tech.

Crosshair skipped past you as you nudged your way over to the jump seats. You always hated this part. It was always separatists, pirates, or just some pissed-off asshole making it difficult for your squad.

You literally could not strap into the jump seat fast enough. Once secured, you clutched your medic pack to your chest while the others ran around in a frenzy.

"Steady the ship!" Crosshair barked as he unloaded the blaster cannons on the pursuers.

"Why can’t things just go smoothly?" You whined, gripping the seat straps.

Echo just gave you a sympathetic look while Tech skillfully outmaneuvered the gunships. A particularly loud blast hit the hull, and you screamed, praying to the maker that none of you would get sucked out into the vacuum of space.

"It’s okay, Pip," Wrecker tried to comfort you. "We’ve been through worse."

"Don’t remind me," you said, gripping the straps even tighter.

Tech said something to Hunter when Crosshair confirmed, "One down. Two to go."

"Who even is that?" Wrecker asked, trying to look over Crosshair's shoulder. The Sniper just grunted and went back to aiming the scope.

"Gonk! Gonk!" The droid chirped, nuzzling up to your boot.

"It’s okay, Gonky," you sobbed, feeling the G-force of one of Tech’s turns. "The boys got it… I think."

"Of course, we got it," Tech said.

"Get closer to the surface," Hunter ordered, and Tech made a dramatic turn towards the planet below.

You took a deep breath, trying to still your nerves. You were beginning to miss the boring moments from Anakin’s ship. This was definitely a stark difference.

"I can’t outrun them," Tech began fiddling with the controls. "They’ll just follow us to the surface."

"Two down!" Crosshair yelled.

He suddenly hit the accelerator, throwing everyone backward. You let out a scream as you watched Hunter’s feet float up into the air, and Gonky went sliding down the galley with a panicked wail. Even Wrecker went tumbling into the gunship’s stairs like a newborn fathier.

Tech suddenly cut the engines and whipped the back of the Marauder around, knocking Crosshair into the side of the glass window. Once the ship made a 180, he punched the accelerator and started charging straight for the last pursuer. Echo was quick with the front guns, firing accurately and hitting him on the nose. The ship exploded into a million pieces, and you finally let out the breath you had been holding.

"Everyone okay?" You called out, and they all groaned in response.

"Good flying, Tech," Hunter clapped his brother on the shoulder.

You sighed and ran a hand through your hair, finally letting the adrenaline calm down.

"I hope Kashyyyk is more welcoming than that," Echo mumbled.

"Doubt it," Crosshair came prowling back into the main cabin, reaching for Firepuncher.

"From my cross-referencing, I believe those gunships were Trandoshan," Tech pushed his goggles up the bridge of his nose. "That would make sense as to the very reason why we are here."

"We need to take out a separatist-backed outpost," Echo informed. "Trandoshans have assisted in building these operations. They don’t like the Wookies as they’ve been loyal to the Republic, so they’ve teamed up with the Seppies to get a few hits in."

You sighed, hoping everything would go smoothly this time. You happened to love the Wookies. Your best childhood friend was a Wookie. But that was a story for another time.

"Prepare for landing," Tech announced.

"General Plo is supposed to be touching down in one rotation," Hunter informed. "We have to take out their stronghold before then."

"General Plo? As in Commander Wolffe’s garrison?" Your pulse increased, and Hunter turned to look at you. You just gave him a little nod, and he continued on.

"Republic forces can’t deploy ground support until this artillery cannon has been destroyed."

"I get to blow it up?" Wrecker clapped.

"Yup," Hunter nodded.

"And how exactly are we supposed to get to this artillery unit?" Echo asked, looking at the schematics. "It’s surrounded with BX’s… my favorite." He groused.

You gave him a little supportive nudge.

"Do I get to stay on the ship?" You asked hopefully.

"Yes," Hunter agreed. "Pip stays on the ship. Echo, I understand if you don’t want to come given the situation."

Echo just groaned. "I know. But I want to come. I’ve got a score to settle."

Hunter agreed, which meant you’d stay on the ship and monitor coms in case they needed a swift pickup. The boys devised a strategic plan to get Wrecker behind the blockade to plant the charges, and that was that.

"Pip... If anything happens, and I mean anything, you shoot to kill, do you understand?" Hunter asked, handing you a blaster again. You just nodded and stepped into the holster, securing it to your belt. You had a feeling you were going to have to learn to use one of these things whether you liked it or not.

"Trandoshans have thick hides," Tech took the pistol and added one of his fancy charges in there. "You’ll need something stronger." The modified charge blasts glowed bright blue.

"Aim for the eyes," Crosshair tutted.

"Okay. Okay," you said, putting the blaster back into the thigh holster. "I will. Happy?"

The five Alphas just huffed in approval before gathering their things.

"Alright, let's get this done," Hunter led the charge.

"Close and lock the door!" Tech reminded you as the five left. You gave him a mock salute and hit the side panel, closing yourself inside the Marauder.

Deciding you needed something to keep you busy, you cranked up the volume on Tech’s radio and started getting to work on cleaning the filthy ship. After a week on board Skywalker’s Venator, you realized how nose blind you had become.

~~~

"Well, that’s disgusting," you used one of Tech’s soldering pliers to pick up a crusty sock from under his bunk.

Tossing the rest of Tech’s laundry into the repurposed supply sack, you threw the boys' nasty laundry into the washer, along with their sheets and blankets.

"No mercy!" you talked to yourself. "Everything goes in."

By the time you had heard anything from the boys, you had managed to clear out the entire cockpit, galley, and main cabin. You had a massive pile of trash you needed to take out. Between the six of you, there was a lot of Republic-issued meal wrappers and ration packs. You scrubbed, dusted, and washed every crack and surface in this whole damn ship. You had no clue where most of that gunk had come from, and you surely didn’t want to know. There was definitely a secondary ecosystem forming in this spacecraft.

You skipped up to the radio and put the headset on, "This is Pip, squad leader, come in."

"You doing okay out there?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah, just on my third load of laundry," you chuckled. "Did you know I found a few interesting items hidden on this ship?" You teased.

"Don’t go sticking your nose in places unless you're prepared for the consequences," Crosshair jested.

"Don’t worry, Cross," you bit your lip. "I found your socks too."

You could imagine him scowling at this point. You waited for his reply, "The Marauder’s clean enough to do surgery," you were cheery.

"Good, because we may be needing it," Tech’s reply made your blood run cold.

"What?" You stood up, taking the headset with you. "What happened?"

"The usual. Some minor cuts and bruises," Tech replied, "but Wrecker got a pretty bad gash to his cranium. He may require stitches."

"Okay, I’ll be ready. You guys get back here when you can, okay?"

"Will do, Pip," Hunter closed off the communication line.

You sighed and put down the headset before returning back to your project. Deciding you needed something to do besides worry about your unit, you went back to the galley and pulled out the already dry load of clothing from the tumbler.

You sat down on the floor, spreading out to fold the various clothes and sort them back into their proper piles.

Crosshair’s pile of ever-growing collection of black civvies sat to your left, Hunter had a few varying neutrals he likes. Wrecker had a few T-shirts with some of his favorite bands on them, and Tech had a very neat pile of lights he preferred to wear on his shore leave. That left Echo; the arch trooper had a pair of clothing for every occasion. The man preferred being comfortable. You understood. Spending that much time on ice, he liked what he liked and didn’t take one second of comfort for granted. He had pajamas, warm sweats, T-shirts, long sleeves, jackets, hoodies, shorts. You smiled and folded everything neatly before setting the piles on their owners' cots.

You smiled at your work and went back to put the last of the laundry in the dryer.

Taking Wrecker’s Tooka mug, you filled it with lukewarm caff and sat down at the dining table, sipping it slowly. You even picked away at a freeze-dried snack pack, waiting for the tumbler to ding.

"Gonky?" You called out into the storage room.

"Gonk. Gonk." You heard the chirpy little droid respond before waddling out into the galley.

"How’s your battery levels?" You asked.

He just shook back and forth.

"Should I hook you up to the solar?" You asked, reaching under the dining table.

"Gonk!" He waddled closer and spun around so you could hook him up to the energy system. Gonky settled and powered down next to you while he went through his charging cycle.

"There you go, little guy."

You heard a sudden loud bang in the distance, making you shoot up from the Tooka mug.

"What the..." You looked outside of the cockpit window and saw a massive mushroom cloud forming in the distance. It took a second, but when the sound wave hit, the entire Marauder shook violently, making Gonky startle.

"Wrecker…" You shook your head, knowing he’ll be over the moon about the size of the dust cloud.

You heard the dryer ding, so you popped the last freeze-dried fruit nib in your mouth before adding the packaging to the trash and sauntered over to the galley. Pulling the massive pile of sheets out onto the floor, you got to work finishing it up before they could get back.

Once every bunk was made, and every last clean sock was returned to their storage drawers, you plopped back down into Tech’s chair, debating whether or not you should pull up a holofilm to bide the time.

"Pip!" Echo’s voice radioed in, "Open the hatch!"

You chucked your data pad to run to the door panel. You slammed the disengage, letting the door flip down. You were greeted with the boys struggling to support Wrecker, who was covered in crimson blood.

You didn’t say a word; instead, you turned to grab your pack and make room for him to sit comfortably.

Crosshair and Tech helped the big guy on board and into the main cabin where you had him sit on a cargo crate.

"What happened, Wrek?" You said softly, approaching him.

He just groaned and slumped his shoulders, mumbling to himself.

"What was that?" You asked again, pulling out your cleaning solution.

He shrugged a little embarrassed. "I hit my head on a low pipe."

"Awh, honey," you cooed, bringing the cool cloth to his head. "You gotta look where you’re going."

"I knowww," he groaned.

You smiled and continued your work, gently cleaning up all of the blood in the surrounding areas to prepare him for some bacta and a bandage.

“It smells weird in here,” he sniffled, suddenly realizing the years of gunk were gone.

“Because it’s clean!” Echo admonished.

“Any trouble, Adi’ka?” Hunter asked, setting down his heavy pack.

You shivered at the Mando’a but tried to play it off. The last time you had heard that word, he had been all over you in the hangar bay. “Nope. Everything was quiet.”

“Good,” he seemed pleased, slowly beginning to take off his armor and put the pieces in a pile on top of his pack. He walked off to the cockpit to relay the success to General Plo.

You shuffled around Wrecker and stood between his legs to get a missed patch of dried blood. You looked down at him and whispered into his unscarred ear, “What does that mean?”

He looked up at you with a smirk, “It means he thinks you're small.”

“Small?” You tilted your head.

“Yeah,” Wrecker chuckled, “You are!”

“Am not,” you scrunched your nose.

“You’re tiny!” He put his hand on top of your head, which you realized barely reached his height while he was seated. “Our little Pipsqueak.”

“It doesn’t mean she’s small, you idiot,” Crosshair passed into the main cabin wearing his more relaxed clothing, “It means little one,” he drawled.

“That’s what I said,” Wrecker argued.

Crosshair just shook his head and continued into the cockpit. Unlike Wrecker, you didn’t miss the double meaning. It was the same pet name Crosshair used with you. It suddenly made a shiver run over your skin. Little one. It was a term of endearment. You were starting to feel hot all over again.

“You okay, Pip?” Wrecker noticed you get lost in thought.

You just nodded and continued your work. You smeared a healthy amount of bacta on his gash and covered it thoroughly with a bandage. “Hey, Wrek?” You started cleaning up your supplies. “Do you think of me as pack?” You asked softly, half expecting him to reject you.

“As pack?” He asked, looking at you with wide eyes.

“Mhmm?” You responded; the suspense was killing you.

“I always thought of you as pack, Pip,” he smiled, bringing you into a big bear hug. You let out a deep breath, feeling relief. You hugged him back, letting the happy little omega in you relax.

Wrecker was pack. Facts.

“Do you think the others do?” You whispered again.

He whispered back, “I think the others do too. Echo’s always been, but I’m not entirely sure about Crosshair,” he was sympathetic. It was exactly the answer you hoped for.

Wrecker let you go a little bit, “I saw how upset he was when Hunter hurt you bad. So maybe he does. I dunno,” he shrugged.

“What are you two whispering about back there?” Echo’s voice rang throughout the cabin, and both you and Wrecker flushed red, getting caught red-handed.

“Nothing!” You giggled, handing him a juice pack.

He happily took it and slurped it down. You were hoping to get his blood sugar back up from the blood loss. You gave his arm a little squeeze and helped him up to his feet. You gave him instructions to go eat something and stay awake for the next 12 hours after a head injury.

“Who’s next?” You yelled.

Tech came scampering into the dining area, taking off his glove to show you his busted knuckles. You followed the same steps as Wrecker, cleaning and repairing. He then took off his helmet, and you helped pull a few pieces of stray shrapnel from his cheek.

“Just so you know, Y/N, I too think of you as pack,” he said suddenly, making your hand falter. He had heard you and Wrecker.

You looked up at the skinny clone with emotion in your eyes, “Really?”

“Though we are not the most traditional group, it would seem you fit well into our dynamic, and our unconventional ways have not deterred you.”

You smiled, nuzzled his cheek with your forehead, and continued cleaning the cut on his face. His cheeks turned bright pink at the sudden and unexpected affection.

“Thanks, Tech,” you quickly smeared some bacta on him and sent him on his way. He just gave you a smile and took his helmet with him.

Next, to your surprise, Crosshair came sauntering in, chewing on his toothpick and watching you straighten out your things.

“Do you need something, Cross?” You used your nurse voice, knowing he was staring holes into your back.

“Yeah, Adi’ka,” he smirked.

You bristled and slowly turned to side-eye him, “What can I help you with?”

“I have a deep cut,” he fiddled with the pick, “I need you to patch it.”

“Okay,” you nodded to the table.

He just walked over and leaned against it. You looked him over, not seeing any visible injury. You were going to open your mouth to ask where the cut was, but he just tapped his thigh.

You sighed… of course, Crosshair, “Take off your pants,” you ordered, thinking you heard Hunter cough from the front of the ship.

Crosshair just raised a brow and smirked, opening his mouth to make a smartass retort, but you crossed your arms and glared at his smug expression. He snorted and bent down to slide his black joggers down, leaving the right leg on. You then instructed him to sit on the table, which he obliged. If you hadn’t been a trained nurse, this might have phased you, but you’ve seen much worse in the field, so you just shoved his injured leg further open, making him look down at you with surprise. He didn’t expect you to be so confident.

He must have tried his best to wrap it in the field, as it had mostly stopped bleeding. Crosshair seemed to make a pretty good medic when on duty.

“Do I want to know?” You asked, grabbing your laser suture and prepping the fresh cartridge.

“Probably not,” he leaned back on his palms, letting you get as close as you needed to. You grabbed a stool and settled in between his long lithe legs. Crosshair watched you with a close eye as you nudged closer to him confidently.

“Do you need a tetanus shot?” You asked, looking up at him. He swallowed before answering, “Most likely.” He returned his gaze to the wall behind you.

You quickly got to work, imagining all of the potential horrible ways he got this nasty cut. He was right; it was deep and ugly.

You put on your safety glasses and grabbed the laser suture. You tested out the machine, priming its little ion core. He looked down at you with a skeptical glare. You just smiled up at him and got to work. Carefully, you stitched him back together.

If he was in pain, he didn’t let on, not even one bit.

“I didn’t get a chance to thank you,” you said, adding another careful binding stitch.

“For what?” He groused as he felt the stinging burn.

“For taking care of me,” you said, tilting your chin forward to get another glance before placing another stitch. “My friend told me about what you did. And in the end, you helped me get to Naboo.”

He didn’t respond. You didn’t expect him too.

“I was beginning to think you didn’t like me,” you added.

He grimaced at the pain, “I’m starting to rethink my stance.” Now you knew he was in pain. His silence was probably him trying to fight off the urge to growl at you.

You just smiled softly, knowing he didn’t mean it. You finished up with the last stitch and grabbed your tub of bacta and an applicator. You smoothed on the soothing gel, and he visibly relaxed. You knew that had to feel good.

Last came the bandage and the shot of medicine and painkiller. He took the repair job like a champ, and you knelt down, helping him slide his sweatpants back up his legs very carefully, holding onto his waistband to avoid the fresh injury.

“Hey guys, General—woah…” Echo stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the two of you.

It was then you realized the situation you were in. You looked back at Echo, whose eyes were glued to your hands. You then looked at Crosshair’s waist, where you were still holding onto the band of his pants, and then up to his flushed face (from the pain, of course). Not to mention, your face was literally mere inches from his crotch as you kneeled on the ground in front of him. You immediately dropped his pants, letting them snap back into his black boxers, and scooted away, leaving Echo to laugh at your embarrassment.

“I thought we handled that problem,” Echo howled, watching you scurry back up to your feet.

“Shut up, vod,” Crosshair slid from the table, pulling up his pants the rest of the way.

“Hey, guys!” Echo turned back towards the cockpit, leaving you, “I think we’re going to have to make a run back to Naboo…”

You were about to run back to your bunk when Crosshair’s arm shot out and caught you by the scruff like a rowdy pup. You lurched back as he swiveled you around to face him, bringing you closer to his face. Your heart was in your ears.

“We’re even, yeah, tooka?” He looked at you, taking the toothpick out of his mouth.

Your mouth instantly dried up, “Mhmm.” You nodded, knowing your cheeks were as red as a Sith’s lightsaber.

He let go of you, pleased. You straightened out your uniform and watched him saunter out of the cabin.

“Sith’s hell,” you muttered, putting all of your things away and stowing the pack on board.

Echo was still laughing when you finally decided to turn in and change into your comfy clothing for the night. Folding your uniform carefully, you grabbed your just-laundered sweats and tank top. You plucked out your favorite pair of fuzzy socks and pulled them on before stepping out into the main cabin.

Tech gave you a tray of steaming rations, and you sat down at the table, happy for another meal. You thanked him and dug in. The boys chatted about the mission, and Wrecker animatedly retold how he masterfully blew up the entire ion cannon. You laughed, listening to their story, finishing up your mashed roots when Tech started giving you the exact specifications of the Separatist base.

It was then you felt eyes on you. Without looking up, you realized Crosshair was watching you with his trained eye. Suddenly feeling a little claustrophobic, you sat up and took a big sip of water.

“How was your day, Y/N?” Tech asked, drinking his blue milk.

“Oh, you know…” You waved your spork around, “Just held off an entire army of Trandoshans all on my own.” You rolled your eyes playfully.

Echo crossed his arms, leaning back, eager to play along, “You didn’t even call for backup?”

You scoffed, “Of course not. Me and Gonky are a superb team.” You laughed, “Plus, me and Mini Firepuncher over here are doing just fine without you boys.” You patted the still-holstered blaster sitting on the shelf next to the dining table. Even Tech laughed at that.

“So when are you going to let Crosshair teach you how to use that thing?” Echo said slyly.

You slowed your chewing and swallowed thickly. Crosshair just looked at you with a bored expression.

“I didn’t think that was on the table,” you said, looking up at him.

“Neither did I,” he raised a brow.

“It’s becoming obvious that you need to sooner or later,” Hunter said, setting down his spork.

“But-but…” You stammered.

“It’s okay, Pip,” Wrecker nudged you, “You’ll probably never need to use it.”

You sighed, “I don’t like it.”

“Didn’t you learn in the training program with the GAR?” Tech asked, “It’s standard for medics.”

“I’m a civilian medic,” you shook your head, “I was in a nursing program at Coruscant University before I was selected to be brought into the clone medic program. The only medics with combat training are clones.”

Tech nodded, noting that down on his datapad.

“You’ve never received any combat training?” Crosshair asked.

“How did none of you know this?” You looked around, “Look at me.” You gestured to your noodle frame.

“I did,” Echo raised his scomp.

“So did I,” Hunter bit into a piece of meat, “I had to read your file when you were transferred.”

“And you still took me?” You laughed.

He chuckled, “Of course. You were beyond qualified with frontline experience. We needed that.”

"You needed someone who can use a laser suture," 

He nodded, "That would be correct."

"Good call, Sergeant." You finished your portions and flung the tray into the kitchen sink.

"Wrecker’s on dish duty," you smiled, standing up from your chair and grabbing the pistol and its holster. Wrecker just groaned, making you giggle evilly.

"Let’s get this over with," you found your combat boots and pulled them on, "C’mon Cross, before I change my mind."

He stood up, putting his tray in the sink and grabbing a cup of caff, "I didn’t agree to this."

You just opened the hatch, feeling the warmth of the sun starting to set in the distance. Crosshair grabbed firepuncher and shoved you out of the way before descending the stairs. You recovered from the stumble and trotted after him with a grin. You knew he’d want to show off.

"I’m not missing this," Echo said, pushing his tray to Wrecker before walking outside.

Crosshair pulled out his vibro blade and stalked over to a nearby tree, carving a massive target on the trunk.

"Alright," he stalked back, throwing the blade and letting it whiz through the air before planting itself in the dirt at Hunter’s feet. The Sergeant groused, stopping in his tracks and crossing his arms.

"First lesson," Crosshair waited for you to hold the pistol, "Check how many charges you have." He showed you how to release the clip to see the modified plasma cartridge.

"It’s at full power, so you should be good." He took the pistol and used his palm to slam the clip back into place, "Next, you flick off the safety. It won't fire unless this is turned to the right." You nodded, listening diligently.

"Then, you hold it firmly with both hands. Hunter was able to knock it out of your grip because you only had one hand. Make sure it’s secure."

You swallowed thickly, mimicking his hands.

"Then you aim and fire. There will be a small kickback, don’t let that scare you." He held up his own pistol and fired at the tree, hitting it spot on. You stood there a little unsure.

"You can do it!" Echo yelled from the ship’s steps.

"I just pull the trigger?" You asked.

"That’s what I said," he crossed his arms.

You took a deep breath, peering down the sight. You held it towards the tree and pulled the trigger with a squeak. The blast flew way to the left of the tree, hitting a nearby rock.

Crosshair just raised a brow, "You can’t aim with your eyes closed."

You looked at him, "It’s scary."

He looked like he was going to throw you into the tree.

"Again."

"Ugh." You tried aiming again. Taking another deep breath, you placed your finger on the trigger and squeezed.

"Wrong tree!" Hunter yelled as he sat next to Echo on the stairs.

"We’re gonna be here for a while," Echo sighed.

"Again," Crosshair commanded.

~~~

The sun was going down and you were getting frustrated. You had squeezed off forty rounds, two hit the tree but not the target, and the others, well, they ended up somewhere. 

“Again.” Crosshair was lounging against a tree behind you closing his eyes. 

“Can you just help me?” You turned around looking at him desperately. 

He opened an eye, “You stunned Hunter I know you can do it.”

“That was close range!” You whined. 

Echo and Hunter were busy building a camp fire listening to you growl at the tree. You were about ready to march over there and set the tree on fire. 

“She’s cute when she’s mad.” Wrecker said watching you from the Marauder. 

Echo and Hunter whipped around to watch you unload onto the unsuspecting forest. The three just bit their tongue and continued on with the fire not wanting to add to your frustration. 

“Argh! I’m not good at this!” You waved the gun around, “For kriff sake Crosshair are you taking a nap?” 

“I’ve had a long day.” He grumbled crossing his arms across his chest and leaned further into the tree. 

“Ugh!” You screamed turning back to the tree and firing again… missing…again.

Your scream made the others laugh. Tech just observed your poor aiming capabilities and typed into his calculator, “She has an approximately 1.3% chance success rate of hitting her desired target.” 

“This is getting sad.” Echo warmed up next to the fire. 

You spun around slapping the safety on and chucking the gun into Crosshair’s stomach. His eyes flew open wildly before snapping up to you. 

“Help! Me!” You growled in all your tiny omega glory. 

The sniper stood up dwarfing you in his size. You were too mad to cower. Instead, he stood up and held the blaster up firing three consecutive shots hitting the bullseye, “Here.” He kept the gun in its position and let you squeeze in-front of him to take the weapon. Keeping it exactly where he held it, you peered down the site and pulled the trigger watching the blue plasma blast hit inside the target’s outer ring. 

“Oh my god!” You screamed, “Oh my god! I did it! I did it!” You jumped around ignoring the grouchy sniper shaking his head. “I did it!” You celebrated. 

“Told you, you could do it!” Echo cheered from the side. He then turned to the others and in a whisper said, “I didn’t think she could do it.”

The others just nodded and sipped their caff. 

“Show me again.” You trotted over to Crosshair suddenly feeling excited to hold the weapon. 

“Since you asked so nicely.” He rolled his eyes and adjusted your grip. He stood back and grunted. He stepped forwards again using his boot to kick your left foot forwards slightly adjusting your stance. When he was satisfied with your positioning he turned back to the tree letting you take control. 

You fired again hitting the inside of the target again. You gasped and fired again watching the blasts hit inside the target. You just looked up at Crosshair with excited eyes. He gave you an approving nod before going back to his reclining tree. 

You leaned forwards a bit getting used to the placement. 

“Oh she’s doing it!” Tech said a bit surprised. 

“She’s hitting the tree!” Wrecker clapped. 

“Finally.” Hunter chuckled. 

“Guys! I did it!” You looked over at the squad and they cheered you on.

When you were finally out of charges, Crosshair called it a night wanting nothing more than to jump into his bunk and go to sleep. 

You however, were giddy. You trotted over to the campfire and plopped down on one of the crates wrecker set up for you all to sit on. 

“Tomorrow we're teaching you how to defend yourself.” Hunter handed his cup of hot caff to you.

“Isn’t that what Crosshair just did?” You sipped the brown liquid pulling your legs up into a crisscross. 

“We’re going to teach you how to fight.” Wrecker smashed his fist into his palm. 

You gulped and looked at them with concern. 

“Wait like…punching and stuff?” You curled in slightly.

“Don’t worry we’ll take it easy on you.” Echo chirped. 

“But like… Hunter literally wiped the floor with me.” You looked up at him, “I can’t fight. He threw me around like a limp tooka.” 

“We’ll show you the basics.” Hunter took his cup back and sipped, “Eventually you’ll have to leave the Marauder one day, I don’t want anything happening to you.” 

You sighed, “Yes Sarge.” 

He hummed happily continuing to finish his cup. 

You just curled up on your crate and snagged a moving blanket letting the fire warm you as the boys talked. 

“General Plo should be arriving tomorrow morning.” Hunter let everyone know, “They’ll be securing Kashyyyk base come sun up.” 

You just nodded and rested your eyes. 

Quickly, without notice, you fell asleep to the sound of your pack and the crackling fire deep within the Kashyyyk forest. Your sleep would have been perfect if it wasn’t for a disturbance under your curled frame. 

You groggily opened your eyes to find Hunter leaning over to pick you up, “C’mon you limp tooka let’s at least get you inside.” 

You just grumbled too tired to fight your Sergeant as he carried you inside like a sleeping pup. When he set you down in your bunk, you kicked off your boots and rolled into the blankets not caring about anything besides being face down in your plush pillow. 

“Goodnight Adi’ka.” Hunter whispered turning to leave. 

“Night Sarge.” You whispered back knowing he could hear you. 

He turned off the light and shut the door behind him to go back to talking with the boys. 

Sleep quickly came for you drifting you off into some much needed rest.

~~~

You really wished you had just stayed in bed this morning. 

Instead, you were now standing out in the sprinkling rain listening to the way Hunter was trying to explain close combat. 

Your exercise clothes were getting chilled from the misty forest air and you were close to shivering. 

“So I’m supposed to hit Tech?” You asked not liking the sound of this one bit. 

Crosshair leaned back on one of the crates legs spread like last night watching you with a smirk. He didn’t have much faith in you, you knew that for certain. Crosshair was more on the team of just letting himself and the others step in if you needed help but Hunter and the others were determined to teach you something. 

Tech stood before you in his civvies and his goggles looking calm as always. 

“It’s okay Y/N. Just do what Hunter showed you.” Tech encouraged taking a slight stance. 

You just whimpered not liking the idea of hurting anyone, especially your pack. 

“It’s hard. I’m fighting instincts.” You sighed putting your fists up like Echo said. 

Crosshair groaned knowing this was stupid trying to teach an omega to get violent. He knew they only get violent when their pups are in danger. It’s literally against her nature. 

“C’mon Pip you can do it!” Wrecker tried to nudge you. 

You just whimpered and stepped forwards throwing a punch at Tech’s shoulder. He swiftly dodged you and pushed you past him. You stumbled over a pile of moss nearly loosing your footing. 

“That was… something.” Echo rubbed his forehead. 

You shook your head and looked at Tech, “You won’t hurt me Y/N, try again.” He cooed. 

You took a deep breath and tried again. This time he flung you around into Wrecker who caught you and spun you around. 

You reared back and launched another punch, this time he grabbed your wrist and rolled you mid air landing you on your back with a thud. You coughed feeling the air press from your lungs. 

“Maker Tech!” Hunter ran over to you kneeling down to help you up, “Gentle vod!” 

“Apologies.” Tech replied scratching his head. 

“It’s okay.” You brushed the moss off of your pants. 

“You’re asking her to do something against her biology.” Crosshair growled. You nodded and agreed with the sniper. 

“I think I’m probably better with learning how to shoot.” You shivered in the cold, “I couldn’t over power an alpha even if I wanted to. You’ll just be tossing me around until someone calls it quits.” 

Echo sighed and stood up walking over to you grabbing you by the shoulder looking deep into your eyes, “Remember that one time on Ryloth when that pup clung to you begging for help? And you took him under your protection when the separatists stormed that village? He was separated from his pack and so were you. We couldn’t get to you in time and you destroyed the droids with nothing but a loose pipe?” 

You looked up at Echo swallowing again. 

“And what did that pup call you?” Echo raised a brow. 

“Ryma.” You whispered suddenly getting emotional. 

Echo nodded, “Ryma.” 

“Ryma?” Wrecker asked. 

“Mother.” Tech translated. 

Mother. Something in you switched at the memory. You looked at Echo who seemed to notice the change, “Now, remember how you felt protecting that little helpless pup and all those horrible droids trying to take him from you.” He backed up letting Tech step forwards again. This time when you struck, you clocked Tech in the chin. His head snapped back surprised you managed to hit him. You stared at your own fist in shock and then immediate panic. 

“Oh my god Tech!” You rushed forwards trying to console the Alpha. 

Hunter just laughed, “That did it.” 

“That was good Pip. Do it again.” Echo encouraged.

Crosshair raised a brow a little impressed Echo was smart enough to tug on your emotions like that. 

The next few minutes you actually were able to do what Hunter had showed you. You sparred lightly with Tech getting used to the basics of kicks and punches. Hunter also taught you how to protect yourself and keep the sides of your head protected while Tech made a few practice strikes. 

You were just starting to get the hang of it when you heard a deep rumbling come from the forest. You all paused your sparring lessons to watch two massive venators appear from hyperspace above your heads. Within seconds, drop ships deployed heading straight for your little encampment. 

“They’re here.” Wrecker watched the ships near the clearing to their left. 

You stood there watching as General Plo Koon’s orange head popped out of the attack ship followed by the telltale grey plastoid of Commander Wolffe’s entire garrison. 

Your stomach flipped when you felt Echo’s mischievous eyes met yours. You looked at him as his lips turned into a smirk. Oh no. 

 You felt the heat creeping up your neck to your cheeks and you quickly excused yourself and trotted back inside the Marauder before anyone else noticed. 

“Hey Sergeant!” 

“Kriff.” You whispered hiding behind the wall of the ship listening to the 104th make their way through the open field towards your unit. 

“Hi Commander.” You heard Hunter great the man you were dying to avoid. 

While you were focus in on what they were saying, you missed Echo sneaking up on you finding you pressed up against the door panel spying. 

“Nuh uh.” He chuckled grabbing both of your shoulders and steering you out of the ship. 

“You’re evil.” You whisper letting him guide you back outside. 

“We need gossip material.” He shoved you forwards into Hunter’s side. You came skittering to a halt and stared daggers at Echo who just meandered into the crowd greeting his friends. 

“And what do we have here.” Wolffe took off his helmet letting it sit on his hip while he looked you up and down. You felt the lump in your throat as the alpha shamelessly eyed you, you suddenly felt exposed in your training gear, “The little omega from 79’s.” He tutted. 

If you hadn’t known Hunter the way you do, you wouldn’t have noticed, but that wasn’t the case. You noticed the small muscles in Hunter’s arm flex like he was rearing for a fight. Clearly he didn’t like Wolffe’s behavior in the slightest but his face remained neutral. 

“What are you doing all the way out here Crya’ika.” He purred 

“Hi Commander Wolffe.” You forced your nurse voice to the forefront. “Sergeant Hunter had quite the assignment, and being their medic, I’m here to make sure they don’t get banged up too badly.” You smiled looking up at your Sergeant for approval. 

“You doing a good job?” He asked with a quirked brow. 

You nodded, “I try my best.” 

“I’m sure you do.” He smiled before turning back towards his men. They began setting up camp leaving you and your boys standing in the light rain watching as more and more attack ships flew overhead no doubt heading towards the blast zone. 

You let out a breath you had been holding and allowed Hunter to escort you back to the ship. 

“I don’t like the way he looks at you.” Hunter mumbled as you approached the steps to the Marauder. 

“He’s an overconfident alpha.” You reassured, “I don’t think he’d ever try anything.” 

Hunter let you walk first into the Marauder, “He tried to pick you up back on Coruscant.” He pointed out. 

“And I didn’t go through with it…” You rolled your eyes. 

“Yeah, but does he know that?” Hunter snapped. 

You jerked back looking at him, “Hunter, I’m not going to rut with him can you please drop it. I’ve already live through one incident I’m determined not to have another.” 

He deflated his shoulders, “Sorry pip. I didn’t mean that. I just don’t like when someone messes with my pack.” 

Your eyes widened. 

His eyes suddenly mirrored yours realizing what he has said and he stuttered, “I- uh.” He scratched his head, “Sorry I-“ 

“I’m pack?” You grinned ear to ear. 

He looked at you seeing how happy it made you, he was thrilled at the smile you were giving him.

“Yeah pip. You’re pack.” He admitted. 

You squealed and jumped on him giving him a big hug. You knew how much of a big deal this was. The 501st immediately adopted you without any hesitation, but you knew how close this unit was. You were beyond the moons hearing that the pack leader had adopted you too. He softly hugged you back. This had been the longest six months ever.

“Do I still have to go to training tomorrow?” You asked mumbling into his armor. 

“Yup.” He replied.

“Dammit.”

─ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ──── ♡ ─── ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ──

Bruh, I'm scared for this episode not going to lie....

Taglist: @substantial-exposure @rains-on-kamino @minimissmoo

[barblaz-arts]

I think for everything LOK put me and the other sapphics of the world through just to have Korrasami hold hands in the finale the universe owes us a well thought out intentional journey to wenclair

hey cmon now, dont speak about korrasami like that. It was 2014! Before gay marriage was even legal in the US! It was before Ruby and Sapphire's debut as characters in Steven Universe, and before canon confirmation of Bubbline in Adventure Time. It may have only been hand holding, but it was a very ballsy move to pull off in a kid's show airing in a major network. The writing for the show in general was a lil wonky in the first place because of outside forces. the show runners did what they could get away with. Of course we wouldn't be able to get Korra and Asami making out at the end. I'm still thankful for what we got. It was a revolutionary event for LGBT rep in western animation.

(also they have multiple comics about the stuff after the show! the animated series isn't where their story ended)

I get what you're trying to say. I'd love it if Wenclair were written on purpose too. But we don't have to go undermining the canon sapphics that came before to ask for what we want. Representation in media isn't a contest where we look for which did it better and which gave us more. Each one is a stepping stone that gives more opportunity for those who will follow because it is still an uphill battle.

[skullytotheark]

Timothy Wright “Masky”

For beginners and people who want accurate/canonical lore

[i spent an hour writing about tim lore so i said fuck it and decided to post]

[NOTE: Alot of this is canon Tim lore except for headcanon stuff, The Original source for Tim is Marble Hornets.]

-

Bio

Name: Timothy Wright 

Current Age: 35 [late 20s when marble hornets ends]

Height: 5’6

Canonical Physical appearance: Timothy Wright is a slightly chubby build man with noticeable stubble and sideburns along with a combover hairstyle

Tim’s overall personality: Tim is a level-headed, cautious person, but he is not afraid enough of his advisories for them to disable him. Tim can also be socially awkward at times but tends to be calm a lot of the time

Canonical sexuality: Asexual [Confirmed by Tim Sutton]

Original source material: Marble Hornets [2009]

Creator: THAC TV [The Marble hornets crew], Troy Wagner, Joseph Delage [Writers of marble hornets] and Tim Sutton [Actor of Timothy Wright]

-

Lesser known facts

Tim’s final words to Brian who is revealed to be Hoody in entry 86, Were “I’ll Kill you”

When Jay is reading Tim’s files in entry 60.5, There is a noticeable detail in the documents that says “Does patient smoke” or something of this nature and it is ticked “Someone in the house smokes,” Implying that one of his family members smoke and this habit soon grew onto him

In entry ######, The person speaking throughout the video is confirmed to be Tim [the actor], Which Means that this is the first and last time where Masky has spoke

Tim was going to college originally wanting to do photography [confirmed by Tim or Troy]

Despite popular belief, Masky / Tim is not a proxy. This being confirmed from the multiple times both Masky & Hoody constantly avoid or run away from the Operator / Slenderman. 

After we are led to believe the worst when Marble Hornets ended [believing that Tim offed himself]. Skully in issue 3.5 from the official Marble Hornets comics confirms that Tim is in fact Still alive. This statement is also made true in the canceled Clear Lakes 44 series by Troy Wagner when we see footage of Tim returning to a normal life and working moving supplies 

OOC fact that i think more people should probably know about: The Cheesecake joke is a fatphobic joke made via the creepypasta fandom along with other viewers who would make negative remarks towards Tim's weight, Tim later develope a eating disorder because of the constant insults he got about his weight

-

[Canon] Important events & Lore for Tim

[For people who don't wanna sit through the entire series and kinda want it summarized through]

[NOTE: make note that I will be updating certain points if they are incorrect lorewise since alot of this is based off of my own interpretations and memories of the marble hornets series]

Tim’s childhood:

At First Timothy Wright was a very normal lad, Although socially awkward and having a slightly shaky relationship with his mother and father, Tim was considered a normal child. However It is when Tim is 8 to 12 this is when he’s beginning to experience symptoms that are under the hallucination and schizophrenia category. After multiple visits to the doctor his mother “Janet Wright” finally decides to send Tim to the local psychiatric ward where he is further treated by the doctors within the ward, But no matter what they’ve tried it seem that every now and then Tim will have a episode where he breaks out of the ward and run into the local park rosswood national park or hide in a maintenance tunnel which was close to the ward. Always claiming that he was hiding from whatever that he was seeing before bringing him back and locking Tim into his room and giving him large doses of his medication. 

College:

A Couple Of Years Later, [around early 2000s] Tim is released into the world and is stable enough to go to college and get proper education, Tim originally studied for photography however it is when his close friend “Brian Thomas” introduces Tim to “Alex Kralie”, Brian was originally auditioning for Alex’s student film “Marble Hornets” but soon Tim was somewhat pressured  into auditioning himself. Alex takes note of both of the two’s auditions and later hires them for his student film. Everything started off very tame, The cast would often go off to small locations and film for the movie until later on Alex seemingly becomes more paranoid and slightly aggressive towards his cast. While location hunting with Alex Tim takes him to an old abandoned location near his psychic ward he spent as a child, However after Alex pestered him about the ward Tim soon unwillingly showed him the ward where Alex later attempted to kill Tim. Tim narrowly escapes Alex and although Tim had no memory of this encounter Tim & Alex soon loose touch

Mid Marble Hornets:

[#54 to #59]

In the early 2010s Having no memory of most of the filming during Marble Hornets, Tim was now living a somewhat stable life with a small job. Everything seemed surprisingly normal in life until one of Brian’s Mutuals “Jay Merrick” requests a few of the tapes Tim had that he was given to by Alex so he can use some of the scenes to finish the Marble Hornets Film Alex was working on. Tim gives the tapes to Jay and Jay asks Tim to take him to one of the locations him and Alex visited to, Although slightly skeptical Tim agrees and takes him to the abandoned location. Jay strangely having a weird fixation on the abandoned ward next door to the location Tim originally took Jay to, While roaming within the halls Jay notices a hooded figure roaming down the halls and chases after him. Very suspicious of Jay’s behavior after this encounter, Tim discovers the “Marble Hornets Youtube Channel” and realizes that Jay was lying to him about wanting to finish the film. Tim confronts Jay in a parking lot and tells Jay to never talk to him again. However Tim’s medication was stolen by the Hooded figure that appeared in the ward and Tim has a seizure, When it ended Tim didn’t seem like his regular self as he dawns a mask from the hooded figure before entering rosswood park, Jay following the two in an attempt to help Tim while he was in this strange autopilot like state where Tim is extremely hostile and non talkative.

Masky: “A Mask Of My Own Face”

[Appearances:#18, #19, #23, #33, #35, #45  #50, #52, #61, #76 and # 86]

Originally appearing in entry 18, This strange state Tim appears in every now and then where Tim is mute and often hostile to most People. A possible Theory is that this State is the body’s self defense mechanism for an entity known as the Operator who has haunted Tim all of his life and is the possible reason he spent most of his childhood in a psychiatric ward in the first place. As mentioned this mechanism seemingly puts the body in an autopilot like state where Tim acts without second thought. The Hooded Figure seemingly knew this and exploited Tim’s defense mechanism to have Tim attack Alex multiple times, During one of these attacks Tim attacked Alex [who was visiting an abandoned location with Jay] wearing a white Mask that had black outlines going around the edge of the mask, Black teardrop shaped outlines going around the mask’s eyeholes, U shaped eyebrows and lips painted onto the white mask with black sharpie or paints. During this attack Alex tied Tim and had Jay hold him down before Alex smashed and broke Tim’s leg with a block of cement [this action from Alex caused conflict between him and Jay]. In another attack with Alex the hooded man distracted Alex as Tim got the upper hand and threw Alex to the ground, Tim then tries to smash Alex’s head in with the Rock but fails so attempts to choke him. However this attack failed and the two ran off when they noticed that the Operator was protecting Alex.

“The End Days”

[#63 to 83]

Towards The End. After Jay and Tim make an agreement to help each other, The Two begin going location to location in attempts of finding any pieces to the puzzle Jay has been trying to solve for years now, In attempts to avoid Alex the two would go hotel to hotel while constantly going to new locations slowly but surely piecing things together. During this Time Tim and Jay form a small friendship between each other while also sharing possible theories to what happened during marble hornets, Such as Where to find a missing person named Jessica Locke and why Alex did all of this. However things take a turn when Jay and Tim are attacked by the Operator while searching at Alex’s old house, This attack sending Jay in a state where he is barely aware of his surroundings and aimlessly wandering. Of course Tim tries to lessen the side effects from this attack by giving Jay some of his medication however Jay is very stubborn and seemingly refuses any help while in this state. A short while later when Tim and Jay discover that Alex was hiding in Tim’s house waiting for Tim to come back so he could kill Tim and hopefully Jay, A small argument sparked between the two about whether they should go to the house or not, They soon go to Tim’s house to learn that Alex was kidnapped by the hooded man and is holding him at a abandoned school. However Jay soon attacked Tim and snatched a tape recording that Tim was hiding from him, Jay leaves and watches the tape to find that the hooded man and Tim [while in autopilot state] abducted Jessica possibly in an attempt to drag her out of the whole marble hornets mess, The three go to Rosswood park only for Alex to attack them, Jessica defends herself from Alex when realizing Alex was the threat and not the two masked men before retreating in the forest only for the Operator to abduct her. Learning the contents within the tape only caused conflict to spiral between Tim and Jay when Jay pinned the blame on, Jay attempts to attack Tim but Tim disarms and ties Jay up, informs he’s going to the abandoned shool and leaves Jay at his house. While Tim was having a coughing fit moments after he exits the school and runs to his car he hears a loud gunshot, He recollects himself to find Jay’s camera which shows that Alex shot Jay and in response lock himself in a room only for the Operator to kidnap Jay. Upon learning about this Tim pins the blame on both Alex and the hooded man, A few days later Tim and the hooded man have a fight that led to the Hooded man falling out of the window and to his death. Leaving only Tim and Alex left,

“The Day, The Music Died"

[2014]

In the final days, Tim and Alex was teleported to different locations Tim has been to during marble hornets, The two often exchanging blows to each other while Tim attempts to persuade Alex into stopping this madness, However Alex believes that everyone he had killed was infected with a sickness and that if he hadn’t kill them the sickness would spread, Tim’s counter argument to this is that Alex was only being used by The Operator as a source of power. However when Alex finally gets a grip on Tim, Tim stabs Alex in the neck before stabbing him multiple times in defense. Ending the madness, A few days later Tim was last seen interacting Jessica who was revealed to be alive until Tim suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth. 

-

Personal Headcanons

Tim often avoids wearing clothing that he wore during marble hornets, Especially his Tan jacket he wore as Masky.

Tim sometimes gets recognized as the “Masky guy from That one web series”, A Lot of the time he tends to avoid interacting with people who recognized him since what happened during Marble Hornets greatly scarred and traumatized him. But every now every than he kinda has a small outburst where he basically says “Don’t talk to me or bring that shit up” before storming off

Tim often spots Skully in the distance watching him, Skully is the walking and breathing embodiment of everything and everyone he wants to forget but no matter how hard he tries Skully just seems to find them, Alot of the time he tends to ignore them but recently Skully has been standing in places where they are more noticeable so Tim can see Them, But whenever Tim asks if anyone saw Skully they don’t know what he’s talking about. He’s not even sure if Skully is real at this point.

The Operator doesn’t seem to stalk Tim as much as he expects, The Operator in fact barely follows him anymore due to the lack of conflict Tim has been involved him, Basically meaning that Tim is semi free from this parasitic worm clinging onto him and using him as a source for violence. But of course Tim doesn’t know this and is still extremely paranoid.

Tim finally is doing his original passion which is photography. He often tends to avoid going into wooded areas but every now and then he notices that sometimes his photos contain a bluejay in the background which, Sometimes saddens him but mostly makes him feel better. Tim usually takes photos of small flowers and places that often have beautiful scenery 

Tim has a job in repairing computers and getting rid of viruses on old people’s computers. But 99% of the time he’s standing at the cash register having old people ask weird and specific questions about the camera models they’re buying, Sometimes he wonders if working at mcdonalds is better but he does like getting paid

Proxy Tim AU

In this canon/au where Tim is working as a Proxy, Tim is seemingly hypnotized into working for The Operator. But little does the Operator know Tim is slowly but surely slipping out of his puppet like state

Alot of the time Tim hates interacting with other proxies, They’re so loud and honestly so disgusting. Tim is a regular guy amongst a crowd of killers who get their kicks off of killing innocent people just because this eldritch like being tells them to. He kinda finds them pathetic… 

Tim despises himself for working for the Operator, Tim thought he couldn't hate himself anymore but he has proven himself wrong yet again. He’s becoming more and more unphased by being told what to do by the Operator and it scares him. He doesn’t want to become like Alex but it seems that there’s no stopping that now. 

Tim’s original mask has seen better days. Every now and then he does attempt to clean it but staples and glue can't do a lot when your mask was crushed by a bunch of junk after you throw it away. So eventually Tim does get a fresh mask which has slightly smaller eyeholes and more pronounced lips then the last one but overall both masks have the same paint job, Also worth mentioning that Tim dons a new fur collar jacket and black leather/plastic gloves 

[plzu]

cafè closed for renovations - (Adrian Chase x Reader)

part 9 ☕️ series masterlist ☕️ ao3

a/n: this chapter got away from me. there were conversations/dialogue i really wanted in here (for comedy, mostly. lol) but the chapter got so long that it was like. damn. gotta stop. who knows maybe one day i'll do a re-write summary: Vigilante comes to your rescue (again). warnings: explicit 18+ only! canon typical violence, no Y/N, and there is straight up sex in here. wordcount: 7.2k

You wake up, sore and stiff and in the dark. The only light from a lamp post somewhere outside, doing very little to illuminate your surroundings. Coffee heavily scents the air, a bitter and comforting stench that lingers with permanence in the tiles and in your work clothes and stains the walls; you are still in the coffee shop.

When you try to move your hand to rub instinctively at an ache in your head, the movement is abruptly tugged to a halt. This confirms the second thing: you are tied to one of the stupid wooden chairs of the cafe.

You do not ordinarily think of the chairs as stupid, but considering how uncomfortable you are and how badly your buttcheeks are currently yearning for something softer--or the absence of anything against them at all--it seems apt. The chair is stupid.

But not as stupid as being ganged up on by your middle-aged bosses. And your mom.

After you had gone to investigate the noise and the slightly open door at the back of the store, you were surprised to see their familiar faces waiting for you. For one thing, the owners usually let you know if they'd be stopping by, and they'd usually do so way before the store closed. And, also, they'd use the front door; the back door isn’t exactly an adequate entrance, what with it leading to a tucked away alleyway that kind of stinks, thanks to the dumpster.

Your mom was a surprise for several reasons. One, you haven’t seen her in an alarming amount of days. Two, why was she at your job with your married bosses? 

For a brief and horrible moment, the only conclusion you could come to was that your bosses were swingers and have chosen your mother as their third, and it was this big secret she was now keeping from you and your father. It would explain why she hasn't been around. And maybe the cafe was their rendezvous for their surreptitious sexcapades, for whatever reason. Which, ew, and also, yuck.

“Mom...?” you had asked, managing to fix your glare of disgust into a squint of 'hey, is that really you?' “What're you doing here? What are-” your eyes quickly glanced between all their weirdly passive faces- “what are all of you doing here? Not that it's not nice to see you guys, but, uh, usually there's notice beforehand..?” you trailed off, that last bit more directed at the owners than your mother.

(You're not even sure she had known where you worked.)

“You know the Vigilante.”

It was one of the owners--Bob--that had spoken. You remember the chill that took over your body, completely wiping out the mild discomfort and curiosity you had at their being there. The sudden sense that you were in danger took over, and you finally noticed how uncharacteristic their respective body languages were. The unsmiling mouths. The set shoulders. The hardened, focused gazes, all trained on you. Creepy in their lack of individuality.

“Wh- um,” you cleared your throat. “What makes you say that?”

“The surveillance footage shows him here,” Nancy, Bob’s wife, confirmed. “With you.”

They actually check those??

You had taken a tentative step back, attempting to retreat away from the crampedness of the back room and into the openness of the cafe. When you did, they all took a step forward, towards you.

You wished you had done something smarter, or at least cooler, but the sight of their synchronized step had sped up the beating of your heart that only encouraged you to run. And if you ever get the chance to share this story with anyone, you will omit the part where high-pitched, panicky sounds left your mouth as you heard them give chase behind you.

The memory of it gets fuzzy after that. All you can really recall is a flurry of movement as you picked up whatever you could in self-defense, and then blindly threw it behind you. Your captors currently have you facing the front of the store, but you're sure there's a mess behind you of paper cups and packaged pastries and spilled coffee beans. A brief pang of annoyance goes through you, thinking that your and the other baristas' efforts to clean the cafe had gone to waste, but then you remember that you're tied to a chair, and there's more pressing things to be annoyed about.

For example: it was your mother that knocked you unconscious.

She was the one that got her hands on you first, pinned you down against the hard countertop of the handoff station. You squirmed fruitlessly against her unnervingly strong hold, the strength feeling wrong, terrifyingly wrong. It was not your mother's strength, yet it was her hands that were hurting you.

Your heart beat slammed against the hard surface beneath you with the frantic rhythm of a wild animal trying to break out of its cage. It had practically drowned out your captor's stern and emotionless command to stop moving. You didn't listen, you couldn't listen, and this ultimately led to you being knocked out.

And now you were awake, tied to a stupid wooden chair. Overcome with the feeling of helplessness yet again. The frustration of not being able to fight back makes your jaw clench. 

But would it have mattered? You couldn’t possibly throw hands with your mom. For one thing, she was your mom. For another, no matter how much pent up rage you have, it would bend under the duress of your mother’s own anger.

You begin to wonder if your captors left you all alone when you hear conversation coming from somewhere behind you.

Your mother's voice asks: “-and you're sure this person is the Vigilante?”

“Yes,” answers Bob. “We've replayed the video footage. This Adrian in their phone is the only person that's consistently come to visit them at work around this time. When he stopped, Vigilante showed up instead.”

Oh, shit. Were you bait?

“It has to be the same person,” Nancy agreed. “Their body languages are the same.”

This confuses you, but then you shift in your seat and feel the absence of weight where your phone usually sits in your pocket. 

Shit. Shitshitshit.

He'll come. Of course he'll come, even if he figures out it's a trap. You can talk yourself into believing he won't. You can tell yourself that after you kicked him out of the cafe last night, he'd want nothing to do with you. But he's not the kind of friend that would leave you to rot. You know this with an absolute certainty, even in the little time you’ve gotten to know him.

It's one of the things you like about him. And now it might be one of the things that gets him hurt. Or worse.

And, god, you're not worth it. There's no way you're worth it, not with how selfish you've been this entire time. Wanting him, indulging in his attention and his praise and his kindness, in the way he looks at you. Expecting him to be there, even subconsciously, expecting him to be yours.

“You're awake.”

You hold your breath, body going tense; the voice was unexpectedly closer. Your mother steps into your line of sight, dimly illuminated by the light filtering in from the parking lot.

You glance over your shoulder, looking for your bosses, your other captors, but they must be somewhere in the backroom, plotting, no doubt. Your guarded gaze lands back on the woman in front of you. Her unusually cool expression gazes back.

This is not the woman that raised you.

You attempt to put on a brave face. Jut out your chin and ask, “what do you guys want?”

“Don’t worry,” she placates, “we don’t want to hurt you.”

You’ve got sore spots and potential bruises that say otherwise, but. Sure. 

She continues: “As long as Vigilante complies and brings Peacemaker, I should be able to convince the others to let you go.”

Now that makes you pause. Is your mom just as much of a hostage (minus the obvious lack of restraints) as you are? This makes you hopeful. Frowning, you lower your voice. “Mom, what’s going on? Who- who are these people? What do they want with-”

“Your mother isn’t here,” she says, abruptly cutting you off. You notice that she’s also frowning, now, too. It’s the first sign of emotion you’ve seen on her face since… way too long, you realize. 

“Did they… did they do something to you?” Maybe they fucked with her head, and that’s why she hasn’t been herself lately, hasn’t been around. Maybe your bosses were actual criminal masterminds and the cafe has been a front all this time. 

 (You can practically hear Adrian’s voice saying “I knew it!”).

“Whatever it is, I can- I can help, mom. We can get you out-”

“You’re not understanding.” There’s some hesitancy that passes over her face. “Your mother is gone. But I can feel… I can see how much she loved you. And how much she did not understand you. She found it frustrating that you would never open up to her or your father.”

You blink back unbidden tears, confused. Hurt. 

Guilty.

“I can also see she didn’t handle it very well. That was unfair to you.” She pauses, looks away as if contemplating something. “Strange, the way humans seem to have such a hard time communicating with each other.”

This isn’t your mother. This isn’t your mother, no matter how much it looks like her, because the person talking right now was right -- your mother wasn’t good at communicating. Not because she kept everything bottled up, but because her words came out explosively, uncaring if the shrapnel of her words lodged themselves deeply into your flesh, wounding you in ways that were hard to see. Hard to describe, hard to explain, hard to show. Show her. So you withdrew into yourself instead, distanced yourself from your parents as best you could to avoid any more pain.

You were hoping maybe this person in front of you was brainwashed, or something, but you know there was no amount of brainwashing that would make your mother speak like this, have this much self-awareness. There’s no way. 

Grief crawls up your throat. “Mom,” you sob.

“Stop, I'm not-” she wavers, “it's probably better if you don't call me... best if you distance yourself from-”

You flinch away from her outstretched hand. That same hand abruptly pulls away in response, as if startled.

(For her part, the alien residing in your mother's skull is confused by her own reaction. She's well and fully in control, of course, but it's like there's residual emotion in the beating of this host's heart, affecting the synapses of the brain that is looking at this poor human creature crying helplessly in front of them, wanting to comfort, to protect.)

A curious mix of emotions flicker across your mother's face, a wavering uncertainty. “I can't- I can't be a part of this,” she says, more to herself than to you. “But I can't betray my own. I can't-” she glances somewhere behind you, then back to your face. Her own easing into something resolute. “I can't be here. The Vigilante, the Peacemaker- they seem capable. They'll- you'll be okay, once they get here.”

There's a silence, so brief yet so achingly long, that passes between you both as you look wordlessly at each other. You look at your mother's face, lost and confused; she looks back, decisiveness softened into an almost-familiar affection. The space between you feels like a crumbling bridge.

And then she turns around, unlocks the front door of the cafe, and leaves.

She does not look back.

Adrian’s leg does not stop bouncing on the whole ride to the cafe. He doesn’t think he’s ever been this impatient in his whole life. The need to move, for action, coursing through him, his fingers twitching to pull a trigger, his muscles jumping beneath his suit with the restrained reflex of throwing his many knives. 

Can they just fucking get there already!? It’s like no one seems to realize the urgency of the situation. How important you are. 

How much he needs you.

It’s moments like these where he wishes he had a convenient super power. Training his mind and body until both were formidable weapons was great, but if he could just teleport right now and beat the shit out of anything that’s touched you, that would be pretty fucking cool.

And if not innate, it’d be awesome if they had some kind of cool weapon or contraption they could use. Unfortunately, not even any of Peacemaker’s helmets held the power to teleport. Adrian knows this because he asked, like, three times. At least. He lost count. 

“No! For the last fucking time, Vigilante, none of my helmets can teleport me anywhere!”

Adrian scoffs. “Guess your dad isn't that brainy after all if he couldn’t create a helmet as useful as that one.”

“Remember,” Harcourt speaks up from the driver seat of the van. “Talk to them first. Find out what they want. Peacemaker, use your helmet to find out how many are in the area. Don’t do anything rash when we get there. We need information.”

She makes it a point to glance sternly over her shoulder at Vigilante.

“What’re you looking at me for!?” he whines, indignant.

“Probably because you haven’t stopped shaking your leg for the entire drive,” Peacemaker says. “You’re making it look like we’re driving a sex van.”

He manages to get his leg to stop bouncing for an impressive two seconds before his nerves jolt it back into motion. Harcourt and Chris groan from the front.

“Just don’t do anything stupid,” Harcourt stresses. 

She parks the van a block away, leaving Vigilante and Peacemaker to walk the rest of the way. They both have their handguns out, ready, while Peacemaker scans the area for any signs of life on the way to the cafe, confirming that there's no one else around.

When they reach the small lot, Vigilante recognizes your car. It's the only vehicle parked here. The two men stop their steps before they expose themselves under the light of the street lamp, giving Peacemaker time to give the cafe one last sweep.

“That's weird. There's only two of them.”

Vigilante turns his masked head to Peacemaker, but before he can even ask, Peacemaker says, “don't worry, your fuck buddy isn't a butterfly.”

Well that's a relief! Except-

“Well... We haven't actually fucked yet.”

Was tacking on the 'yet' a bit presumptuous of him? Your body definitely reacted to his hands and his mouth like there was a possibility for more.

“Are you serious?” Peacemaker asks. “You're being this annoying over someone you haven't even fucked?” He scoffs. “Unbelievable.”

“Can you two idiots focus?” Harcourt's voice crackles through their earpieces, stern and fed up.

They continue forward, stepping into the halo of light to finally alert your captors to their arrival.

“We’ve done other stuff,” Vigilante mutters.

But before Peacemaker can ask, or jump to conclusions and confirm whether or not, like,  handjobs even count, they’re approaching the front of the store. The silhouette of three figures inside becomes visible, and his eyes land on your figure, still strapped to a seat in the middle of the store. The two butterflies stand on either side of you, at your shoulders, and it pisses him off to see them standing so close to you. The thought that they even got the chance to lay a single finger on your body made him angrier than he thinks he’s ever been.

The door to the cafe is pulled open. There’s a silence that welcomes them that unsettles Vigilante. You usually have some music playing when he stops by, even after hours. His eyes find yours through his visor -- you’re awake! Alive and awake! -- and they’re big and pretty and probably scared and- was that relief? In the twitch of your lips? 

Were you happy to see him?

His heart thump-thumps with his own relief at seeing you. There’s a twitch of movement to your right - a hand that isn’t yours gets raised and-

Fuck the plan.

Vigilante pulls the trigger and a bullet flies through the hand. A screech fills the space, coupled with Peacemaker yelling, “Vigilante! I told you to play it cool, man. Harcourt said we need answers, and we’re not getting any if their meat puppets are fucking dead!”

“Well he isn’t dead,” he says defensively. “I clearly shot a non-fatal body part!”

The two brace themselves for an attack, but none comes. Instead, the man he shot cradles his wounded hand, glowering at them with bared teeth, while the lady on the other side of you whips something out of her pocket and presses it against your throat. It’s a box cutter, he realizes. 

“Put down the guns, and they don’t get hurt.” 

Vigilante hesitates until he receives further nudging from Chris, and he re-holsters his weapon. His gloved hands do not stray away from his hips, though. Poised and at the ready.

“Alright, happy?” Peacemaker asks.

The box cutter leaves your neck. A non-verbal confirmation. 

“Now what do you want?” 

“Our leader wants you, Peacemaker.”

Peacemaker scoffs. “Sounds a little backwards for an alien invasion, doesn't it? Aren’t you guys supposed to be asking us to take you to our leader?”

His comment only vaguely registers for Vigilante, who -- eyes finally adjusting to the dark (which, like, why were the lights off in the first place?) --  cannot strip his focus away from you. Your gaze hasn't left his face (or mask, rather) this entire time. The way your eyes dart back and forth on his visor in an attempt at eye contact. Like, maybe, you’re looking for reassurance. Comfort.

He wants to give that to you. He wants so badly to give that to you. His own eyes widen meaningfully before he remembers you can’t see them properly, so he instead dips his chin forward. A slight nod in your direction. He hopes you understand that he won’t let anything happen to you.

The back and forth continues between Peacemaker and the butterflies, with Harcourt directing Chris to ask what they want with him (they don’t know, they were simply following orders). Chris tries (and fails) to convince them to share the location so that he could meet them there (per Harcourt’s insistence that he shouldn’t go alone, they need the team). 

All the words end up being just vague fragments of conversation that Adrian just barely pays attention to. He keeps his focus on you, and makes sure there’s no sudden movements from your middle-aged captors.

When none of that works, Harcourt decides that she’s heard enough. Vigilante perks up when she gives them the g0-ahead to end this and complete the rescue mission. Him and Peacemaker share a glance, a furtive nod, before they unleash chaos on the motherfuckers that made the mistake of using you as bait.

With a quick flick of the wrist, Vigilante throws one of his knives. It lodges itself into the face of the butterfly he already shot. Another one of those inhuman shrieks erupts. A whirlwind of violence follows.

This time, the butterflies don’t hold back - they lunge at them with a ferocious and uncanny speed. There’s a wonderful, fleeting second of relief at the sight, seeing that you aren’t being used for leverage this time.

The fight unfolds. It’s all grunts and growls and foul language. Blades whipping about and fists colliding with bodies. These fuckers are strong, but Vigilante -- Adrian -- isn’t going to let them survive this encounter, not after they put you in danger.

Vigilante takes on the undivided attention of the male butterfly, who seems especially pissed off, for whatever reason. Having to defend himself, he hears, rather than sees, the sound of glass breaking; someone definitely got thrown through the storefront window.

His left arm deftly blocks an oncoming punch from his opponent. 

“Ow,” he whines, but then a quick glance in your direction makes him deepen his voice. “I mean- is that all you got?”

The butterfly swiftly picks up another cafe chair. 

Adrian’s eyes widen behind his visor. “Oh, shi-” he ducks, just barely dodging the flying furniture. 

“Alright, that’s it. Time to go night night, motherfucker.” He unholsters his again, aims, pulls the trigger - all in one deft motion.

The butterfly’s borrowed body jerks, falls back. Lands with a thud flat on his back, inches from where you sit. 

Vigilante crouches over the body and yanks his knife out; the butterfly had been fighting this whole time with it still lodged in its face. Something tries to crawl out of its mouth. With the same knife, Vigilante stabs down before it can fully emerge. There’s a ghastly squelching sound, accompanied by a dying squeak. Both odd sounds to come out of a grown man’s mouth, dead or alive. 

Vigilante looks up at the sound of discomfort that hums in your throat. “Oh. Pretty nasty, huh? Sorry you had to see that.”

“That was my boss…” is all you say, voice quiet.

Adrian glances back down at the bloodied mess of a face. “Whoops.”

You watch him with watery eyes as he re-adjusts his position and settles himself in front of your tied up legs. He gingerly inspects your foot. “You still have all your toes, right?”

There’s a beat as he assesses, with satisfaction, that both your shoes are still on. And then a huff of laughter makes him look back up at you again, eager to see if a smile accompanies the sound. His heart squeezes almost painfully at the sight of your upturned lips, the squint of your eyes. 

After last night, he was worried he’d never see it again. Worse - that he’d never again be the cause of it.

He finishes cutting you loose, starting with your ankles and finishing up at your wrists. You stand up, and he re-sheaths his knife. 

And then, suddenly, you are in his arms. The weight of you crashes into his chest, and your arms encircle his torso, your face pressed into him. A tumble of repetitive ‘I'm sorry, I’m sorry’ falls from your mouth, and he doesn’t understand. Why would you apologize? But he returns the hug, albeit awkwardly, and basks in the feeling of your body against his body, and hopes his chest piece adequately masks the hammering of his heart.

“Hey, lovebirds,” Peacemaker calls out, poking his head through the now-empty window pane. “Ride’s here.”

Since they can’t just leave your car here, Vigilante ushers you into the passenger seat, then helps Peacemaker drag the two dead bodies into the back of the van. 

Once he joins you back in the car, he takes off his mask and follows the van all the way back to the abandoned video store. Adrian wants to fill up the car ride with chatter, ask you what you were apologizing for, ask if you’re okay; he wants to apologize himself for making you cry, for putting you in danger and letting you get caught like that. But when he glances at your face, he sees the faraway look in your eyes, like you’re not even here. 

For once, he keeps his mouth shut. Just lets the radio fill up the quiet.

When they get to the lot and park, Adrian motions for you to follow him. You blink at him, confused.

“Wh- I have to come, too? Can’t I just stay in the car?”

“I’m pretty sure Murn’s going to want to ask you questions.”

You make a face. 

“C’mon, they’re not going to hurt you! They’re the good guys!”

This gets you to finally unbuckle. Once you’re by his side outside of the car, he says in a chipper tone, “besides, I’d never give them the chance!”

You don’t say anything after that, but you do seem to stick close to him, even once inside the base. Adrian feels warm fuzzy feelings glow in his gut at the idea that, once again, you feel safe with him. 

They settle into a few chairs. Chris and Harcourt are already inside, including Murn and Economos and Adebayo. Harcourt and Chris start to fill them in about what went down. For a while, the only attention you and Adrian draw are fleeting glances from the other members of the team, until finally, Murn’s gaze rests heavily on where you sit beside Adrian.

He asks for your side of the story, if you saw anything or anyone else prior to getting caught. Adrian watches your face, the way a brief frown forms as you pause before answering no, it was just the two cafe owners that had snuck up on you.

Harcourt’s eyes narrow, and she shares a glance with Murn. But the interrogation stops there as Murn dismisses you both.

“Vigilante,” Murn says, “Get them home.”

Dawn creeps in between the edges of the blinds, letting you know that you had too few hours of twitchy sleep. Your body could definitely use more after what you've been through, and your eyes certainly do burn with exhaustion. But you couldn't shake the feeling that Adrian was going to leave again if you didn't keep an eye on him.

Sure enough, it's the absence of his body beside yours on his bed that urged you awake.

Last night, he had known not to take you home, so you once again found yourself in his apartment. (Sober this time, at least.) Through the tired haze of it all, you changed into sleep clothes (borrowed from Adrian, of course) and appreciated the softness against your bare skin, and you washed your face of any residual spattering of coffee and blood (Bob's blood. Ew!).

Adrian had offered you his bedroom again, but this time you wouldn't take it unless he crawled into bed with you. It did not take much convincing. He slipped under the covers with you, and you felt his body heat coax your eyes closed. He had started chattering (probably nervously) about... something. It didn't matter; you were out in seconds after that.

Now, cold and alone, you sit up in the bed and rub at your wrists. Your eyes land on the plastic cup from the cafe that still sits on his nightstand with what looks like the same garbage as before. You snort. Everything about Adrian’s apartment hints at tidiness. Both times you’ve shown up, it’s not like he knew he was going to have a guest over, so it’s not like he cleaned up beforehand. So the garbage on the nightstand feels peculiarly out of place. 

Just then, the bedroom door opens and Adrian strides in, but pauses when he sees you’re awake. A smile spreads on his face, and, fuck, he looks so pretty when he smiles. Your heart clenches -- you missed seeing his face. 

“Hey,” you greet, voice soft as morning.

“Hey.” His face practically glows as he looks at you.

“Why do you have this garbage here?” You gesture to the plastic cup on the nightstand.

Immediately, the mood shifts. His smile drops, and- is that offense? Is he offended? “That is not garbage.” 

You laugh, and pick up the cup. “Then what is-” your question falters to a stop as you notice a familiar D20 die snuggled amongst wrappers and receipts. A particular receipt stands out, now that you’re taking a proper look at the cup’s contents -- it’s the silly little ballpoint doodle you did of Adrian. Finally, your eyes squint and you raise the cup over your head a little to look at the bottom of it. “Wait, is that my scrunchie? I’ve been missing this for weeks.”

“Yeah, you left it in my car after the first time we kissed.”

Your face warms at the memory, the way Adrian handled you so perfectly and continued to do so afterwards, without ever asking for more. 

Trying to ignore the excited feeling that swoops low in your belly, you ask,“why’d you keep all this stuff?”

Adrian stands at the edge of the bed now, having closed the door behind him, and shrugs. “I just thought that this time, if you left Evergreen again, at least I’d have these things to remind me that you were here, and that it wasn’t just a really awesome dream.”

If it were anyone else, you’d think they were fucking with you. No one else has ever managed to make you feel as special as Adrian does. It gives you a kind of high, makes your chest pang with overwhelming joy.

“Why’d you apologize last night?”

The sudden change in topic confuses you. “What?”

“Last night, after I cut your restraints, you kept saying you were sorry. Why?”

You take in a deep breath, trying to quell your embarrassment -- Adrian is, after all, the last person in the world you’d ever feel embarrassed around -- and try to explain, though you’re not quite sure where to start.

“Well, I- I mean it’s my fault that you and Peacemaker risked your lives to save me, right?”

“You told them about my secret identity?”

“Wh- no! I told you I’d never tell, and I meant it.”

“Oh, okay. So you’re just victim-blaming?” Something like disappointment passes over his face. “Wow. And here I thought you were a feminist.”

You put the cup of memories back down on the nightstand because you’re suddenly worried you might crush it. 

“Okay, fine. Then… I’m also sorry because I wasn’t fair to you. When I.. when I freaked out the other night, and told you to leave after you mentioned the, uh...”

“The threesome,” he offers, and then grimaces like he shouldn’t have tried to remind you.

“...Right. That.” You sigh. “It wasn’t fair of me to get mad when you’re not… You’re not mine. It was stupid to let it hurt me. I just- I got so caught up in what we’ve been doing lately that I just felt-”

“Can I be?” Adrian interrupts. 

Startled, you blink up at him. “Huh?”

“Can I be yours? I want to be yours.” He looks at you with a liquid intensity in his green eyes that melds with the overt desperation in his tone, like he never considered before that he could just ask to be yours. 

It makes you breathless. It makes you ache.

You rise to your knees on the mattress. Shuffle towards him a bit, while he says “I didn’t even want to have sex with Peacemaker and that underappreciated lady because all I could think about was you-” and lightly pinch the hem of his t-shirt with both hands once you’re directly in front of him. 

The proximity makes Adrian falter. “Uhh…mm..” His attention darts from your eyes down to your lips then back up again until he squeezes his eyes shut. “I’m trying to apologize for doing something shitty but you make it really difficult to focus when your face is this close to my face.”

“I forgive you. Can you please just kiss me now? Please?”

Adrian’s eyes fly open, and he nods. “Okay, yes, I can do that.” He cups your face between his hands and proceeds to kiss you like it is his mission.

And, oh, how you melt into the kiss. The delicate hold you had on just the hem of his shirt is not enough to keep your body steady, so they instead grasp at his waist as you fall into him, into his warmth. You sigh as he parts your lips with his own, taste the sweep of his tongue on your bottom lip. Your heart flutters with the realization that, hands still cradling your face, Adrian is in full control kiss; he tilts his head and pries your lips further apart so he can deepen the kiss, taste the inside of your mouth and moans, clearly just as lost and deprived as you.

The desperation unfurls after that, the kiss no longer a slow, sweet, gentle thing. Wanting, needing him closer, you tug at his waist. Needing the same, his body complies until he's joining you on the bed, eventually ending up in a heap of roving hands and wanton kisses on the sheets.

Keeping himself propped up on his forearm, Adrian's other hand wanders lower until he finds the bottom of your shirt and thumbs underneath it, caressing at the skin of your stomach above the waistband of your borrowed sweats. You shiver at the contact, and he pulls away from the kiss in wonder. “You really like when I touch you.”

“Yes,” you pant. “Obviously.”

Mischief accompanies the wonder in his gaze. His hand glides up your side, lifting the shirt even more, and you whine at the sensual contact. You pull at the collar of his shirt so that he can get back to kissing you, but he resists, entirely too entranced by the visible effect he's having on you. His thumb grazes just under your covered breast, and that alone makes the yearning in your core flare up.

You squirm impatiently beneath him, hands still clenched around his shirt, definitely wrinkling it. “Adrian, please.”

“Sorry, sorry, it's just that hearing you beg is really hot.” As if to prove his point, his erection grows until his jeans are stiff. The feeling of it pressed against your right thigh makes you wet.

Your head starts to spin with the overwhelming desire; if Adrian does not press himself into you in the next few moments, you may actually die.

You grab his wandering, teasing hand by the wrist and drag it back down. “Touch me here,” you breathe, “touch me lower.”

His eyes widen, mouth hanging open. “Wait, are we really doing this? And by 'this,' I mean sex.”

“Yes,” you say, but then sheepishly rein in your enthusiasm. “I mean, that- like, if you want?”

“Are you kidding? Of course I want to. I've wanted to since high school.”

Your cheeks warm at this admission, of all things. A delirious giggle bubbles out of you.

Adrian's hand slips beneath the waistband of your sweatpants, transforming your giggle to a gasp as his fingers brush against your underwear.

“Fuck, you're already this wet?”

Your hips buck at the question, at the rasp in his voice, making your clothed cunt grind against his hand before your ass plops back down on the mattress.

That's all the invitation Adrian needs to slip his middle and ring finger into down your underwear and into your slit. His digits press into the slicked warmth, pushing inside of you. He watches, slack-jawed, as you groan with relief.

Adrian doesn't take his eyes off of your face as he fingers you, completely transfixed by the divet between your furrowed brow, by the shape of your mouth as you pant, as you gasp.

You fist at the sheets. Your hips rut against his plunging fingers, wanting to feel him deeper, deeper, more, until your body quakes with the oncoming orgasm.

“A-Adrian, I'm..!”

He doesn't let up when you come against his hand, fingers still fucking relentlessly into you as you throw your head back with a raspy cry. It's not until you start slapping at his chest and shoulders does he finally stop, easing his fingers out of you with a broken moan of his own. The color on his cheeks is rosy. He looks at you like you just gave him the best gift in the world.

“That was- wow. I almost came in my pants. Your O face is.. like, don't get me wrong, you're hot all the time, but that was the most beautiful face I've ever seen.”

“Shut up.” Embarrassed, you cover your face with your left hand while your right smushes against his mouth. Truthfully, Adrian's compliment makes you throb all over again, and you rub your thighs together in an attempt to ease your arousal. The movement rubs up against Adrian’s crotch, and his hips jerk forward, instinctively seeking the same kind of friction. He moans into your palm, and you whimper at the feel of his erection against you.

Adrian grabs your wrist and gently moves your hand from his mouth. “Okay, seriously, if I don’t fuck you right now I will actually come in my pants. Can we- oh.” 

You’re already rolling both sweatpants and underwear down your hips, shimmying them off while still lying down. 

“Sweet.” Adrian is quick to join you in removing his clothes, shirt getting tugged off and flung to the side, leaving his hair a disheveled mess of curls. His jeans and boxers get discarded with the same clumsy urgency until finally, he’s settling in between your parted legs.

The morning light is soft and dull as it creeps in through the cracks, barely illuminating the edges of Adrian’s body where he sits above you. The room is still cast in shadows this early, and for a moment, it mellows out the mood, temporarily quieting the desperation. Adrian must get caught up in it, too, as he regards your body beneath him in an almost reverent appreciation until he fists his cock and lines it up with your entrance, shattering the stillness and reminding you how badly you want him inside.

The tip of his cock nudges between your folds. You hiss as he inches forward. Despite the arousal, the wetness from your previous orgasm, it takes some effort for you to take him. After all, you haven’t had anything with this much girth enter you in a while.

“Can’t believe how tight you feel,” Adrian says, voice strained, “even though I got you so wet.” He holds up your right leg, pushing back your thigh to spread you open, focusing entirely on the way his cock eases into your clutch, slowly sinking into you. You whimper at the agonizing slowness with which he fills you; it’s a sweet kind of pain, unused to the intrusion but relishing in the satisfaction of being filled up.

You both groan in unison when he finally bottoms out. You feel like you’ll burst from the fullness, the way he stretches you out. Adrian drops forward, keeping himself propped with his forearms on either side of your face. His body trembles with restraint. “I don’t know if I’m gonna make it,” he says into your neck.

You stay like that for a moment, unmoving but for the slight trembling of your bodies. Adrian’s probably just stopping himself from prematurely blowing his load. You’re just grateful for the opportunity to adjust to the feeling of it all.

Finally, Adrian slides back out before gently rocking his hip back into you. You gasp. He repeats the motion again, and again, until he’s rocking into you at a steady pace, spurred on by the sultry sounds leaving your mouth. As you get used to the feeling pushing into you, the small discomfort ebbs into pleasure that quickly makes the sensation addicting. Your thighs clamp down against his thrusting waist. Your arms wrap around him, feeling his warm, hard back against your hands, gripping at this skin and wanting him more and closer.

The whole time, he keeps his head in the crook of your neck. You feel the way his breathing trembles out of him, hot on your skin. 

“Adrian, w-why won’t you-- mmn--look at me?”

“You jus’ feel sss’good. If I look at you- ah, I’ll come.”

The shattered and whiny twinge of his words go right to your core, making you moan. Suddenly, it’s like you don’t feel close enough, despite clinging to him as he fucks you. Your mouth finds its way to his freckled shoulder, biting and licking at his skin. He hisses in your ear, his hip jerking abruptly at the feeling of your teeth in his flesh. The movement pushes his cock further into you, pressing deliciously deep for a quick moment that makes you sing, a high pitched, throaty “oohhh” leaving your mouth. 

Adrian’s thrusts become wild, aggressive and desperate, the steady rhythm officially disrupted. He presses his mouth against the spot on your neck right below your ear, hot, sloppy kisses and nips sending jolts of pleasure throughout your body. You mewl beneath him, brain becoming clouded with bliss. 

Another orgasm begins to crests, the pressure building low in your stomach. It becomes a high you start to chase, clamping down on Adrian’s stuttering hips, needing to keep him latched to you because nothing else matters except for how good Adrian’s making you feel, how he always make you feel-

You come with a loud, broken sob. Adrian’s thrusts stop, his cock pressed deeply into you as you ride out the waves of your orgasm. You keep him anchored to your body, feel the way your pussy throbs around his girth until you come crashing back down, arms falling limp to your side, throat feeling hoarse. 

Once your hips cease undulating beneath him, Adrian resumes fucking into you, the glide of his cock even smoother and sumptous now that your pussy overflows with your release. You’re perfectly content letting him use you to reach his own end, eyes slipping shut and head lolling to the side. You’re distantly aware of Adrian mumbling praises into your neck, ‘best pussy I’ve ever felt, even better than I imagined’ until the words slur together. 

His warmth leaves you when he suddenly pulls out with a high-pitched “Shit shit shit..!” Your eyes fly open to watch, drinking in the sight of his flushed face, the curls sticking to his damp forehead, glasses crooked on the bridge of his nose. Panting, he gives his cock a few desperate pumps until he comes, painting your stomach with his spend.

“That was… wow.” Adrian picks up the previously discarded shirt and starts wiping at the mess on your stomach. “I’m having a hard time believing we just did that. I was inside you. I felt you come.” He’s grinning like an idiot. 

“Adrian,” you smile. “You’re acting like you’ve never had sex before.”

“I’ve never had sex with you.” He rolls up the soiled shirt and meets your eyes. “I don’t think I’ve ever had sex that good. I mean, I thought I did, but no one’s ever made me feel the way you do.”

Not even Peacemaker? But you bite your tongue. This was a you and Adrian bubble, no need to burst it.

While you dress, your eyes land on the cup again, with Adrian’s name and all the little knickknacks he treasures. You think about what he said before, about you leaving Evergreen again. You think about how you wanted nothing more than to distance yourself from this town, up until a few days ago. But now, looking at Adrian as he zips up his jeans, studying the counters of his body, riddled with freckles and scars, Evergreen doesn’t seem so bad.

After all, Evergreen has its own vigilante. 

“Hey, Adrian?”

He’s picking out another shirt to wear from his dresser. “Yeah?”

“You don’t have to worry about me leaving Evergreen.” 

He turns around to look at you, clutching a clean shirt in his hands. “Really?” He looks hopeful. Childishly happy. Boyishly pretty.

“As long as you want me to, I’ll stay.” Because, at this point, the only way you’d ever leave his side is he made the choice. 

“I’ll always want you.” He says this with an earnestness that makes emotions you don’t have the words for balloon in your chest. 

You grin all sryupy at him. 

“Then I’ll always stay.”

taglist: @whatevermonkey @hiddlebatchedloki

@nobodys-baby-now @navs-bhat @afraidofshrimp @training4theapocalypse @abbaenthusiast @jediviolet @t0byisher3 @madhyanas @kores-mun-son-n-more

additional an: only an epilogue left ♡ see y'all on the other side

[tieronecrush]

hot & heavy

chapter eleven: star-spangled eyes

neighbor!joel x f!reader

series masterlist

series rating: E (18+ MDNI)

series summary:

over the course of three summers, joel miller becomes woven into your life. the first summer is spent falling for him; nannying his daughter and sneaking around with him in a burning love affair. you know how you feel about joel, he isn’t so sure about how it all is gonna work. the second summer is brief. a month spent at home after graduation and before you move to boston for your dream job. one look at you, one time hearing your voice, and joel is hooked again. he pines over you for that month, but you think — how is long distance of over a thousand miles going to work for a single dad? the third summer, you return home burnt out and pride bruised from your post-grad life. you need time to feel at home again, like your complete self, so you’ve come back home with no return ticket booked. it’s only a matter of time before joel seeks you out, slowly spending more time with you. without an inevitable end to the summer looming over you both, what chances are you willing to take?

word count: 7.9k

warnings: NO OUTBREAK (don’t need to worry about the mushies), no use of y/n, inexperienced reader, age gap (joel is 30/31, reader is 22), canon-divergent (sarah is 7 y/o), nanny au, pet names (sweetheart, darling, sweet girl, mariposa, etc.), polite southern manners, feeling familial and self-pressure, ESTABLISHED relationship FINALLY, spanish cause joel is latino, unprotected p in v, dirty talkkk king joel miller, soft (and soft dom) joel, possessive joel, mentions of depression and symptoms, struggling with self, discussion of parenting, angst, MAJOR doubt! and displays of nationalism! yay!

a/n: thank you as always to the bestie/cousin/sister wife/sweet, sweet gf @northernbluess for beta-reading this chapter, seriously i can't write without you so don't ever leave me pls. also thank you all for being so patient with this chapter while i was away! enjoy xxx

“Morning, Millers! Happy Fourth!” Your dad’s voice booms in your ear from where he stands behind you at the garage door, waving to the three Millers as they walk over to your driveway. “Y’all ready for a day on the lake?”

“Sure are. Thanks again for invitin’ us, can we pack up the cooler and everything in my truck? Might make it easier to access since you’ve got the boat hitched up here.” Joel glances your way, the slightest curve of his mouth when you catch his stare, turning toward your dad.

“Well, that’d be just great! We’ve got a couple more bags inside, but think you can take care of these things for now?” Your dad gestures to the things behind you both, clapping his hands when Joel confirms and steps forward to grab the supplies. Slipping back into the house to help your mom with last-minute prep, your dad leaves you with the Miller crew outside.

“Long time, no see, Posey.” Tommy teases as he grabs a tote from his older brother as Joel gives him a glare, earning a smile and shrug from you. “Definitely didn’t hear you sneaking out the kitchen door this mornin’ from my place sleeping on the couch.”

“Get all of that out now before we’re constantly around my parents all day, Thomas.” Joel straightens up at the slightest edge of your voice, masked with teasing as he walks away from you standing with Tommy, grumbling to himself as he goes to load everything for the festivities into his truck.

“Yeesh, somebody’s in a mood. Sometimes he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, but you probably know that.” Tommy hikes the bag onto his shoulder further, grimacing slightly with a familiar furrowed brow — you can see even more of the resemblance with that.

“I’ve seen him crabby, but it’s honestly been pretty rare. He was fine this morning.” Watching from your driveway, Joel’s shoulders move underneath the navy t-shirt he’s got on, lifting everything into the bed of his truck. Tommy follows over there, loading up the rest of the things that your dad brings out from the house. You pick up one tote, Joel approaching behind you and skimming a hand over your lower back.

“I can take that, sweetheart.” He holds a hand out at your side, giving you a tight lip smile as you nod and stutter out an agreement, handing the bag over to him. Your parents walk outside at that moment, your mom rifling through her purse while your dad calls into the house for your brother, Chris, before shutting the door.

“Everyone ready to go?” Your mom looks up, meeting your eyes as Joel gives her a nod and a smile, walking over to his truck to get Sarah in. “Oh gosh, we really overpacked, didn’t we?”

“You always pack for the boat as if we’re going on a sailing trip out to the Gulf. But at least we’ll be prepared,” you say with a laugh, adjusting the strap of your swimsuit underneath your cover-up dress, turning around, and exchanging another look with Joel as he climbs into his car.

There’s the smallest flash of those ‘what ifs’ that plagued your mind a few nights ago, tamped down for the last few days. You clear your throat of the acidic burn, climbing into the back of your dad’s truck and watching Chris shuffle out of the house still half asleep, climbing in next to you with a mumbled greeting.

After you ignore it, he asks, “What the hell has you in a mood?”

If only you could say something.

You climb out of the back of your dad’s truck once you reach the docks, making your way over to Joel’s truck parked in the lot to help unload while your dad and Chris drop the boat in. Sidling up to him at the back of the cab, you reach for your personal bag that you packed with your things like a book and extra sunscreen and a change of clothes. His hand intercepts yours, looking at you with one side of his mouth lifted.

“I got it for you, Mari. D’you mind walkin’ with Sarah?” He nods to where she’s stood on the sidewalk nearby, observing all of the boats in the small lakeside harbor. Glancing back at Joel, you give him a gentle smile, reaching to give his arm a squeeze.

“Thanks, J. I’ll take Sarah down there. You sure you and Tommy don’t need any help?” You suspiciously eye the amount of stuff occupying the truck bed, quirking a brow at him.

“Positive, darlin’. Y’all head down there, we’ll be right behind you both.” He leans in a few inches as if he’s going to kiss you, halting in his movements and letting out a barely audible sigh before straightening up again and looping a few more bags onto his arms. Your stomach flips around with the need to complete his motions, to close the gap that was there between you, but you respect the boundaries he wants to keep around your family, instead walking over to Sarah and taking her hand. 

Guiding her down the winding path, she tells you all about how excited she is to go swimming and to see the fireworks later, swinging your joined hands. You stop at the end of the dock, waiting as your dad and Chris pull around to where you and your mom are; Joel and Tommy come up behind you with all the goods, loading them onto the boat with your dad and Chris when they come around. Tommy hops on after swinging the cooler over the side, Joel stepping down after. Your dad offers your mom a hand while Joel picks up Sarah easily and sets her down, reaching a hand out to you afterward.

Gingerly taking it, you swing one foot onto the seat, bringing the other over and tripping a bit. You sway back and forth, a heavy hand tightly gripping your side to steady you.

“Y’alright? Nearly fell in there, sweetheart.”

Nodding and taking a breath, Joel drops his hand from you and helps you the rest of the way down and onto the seat. Your mom digs out a child’s life jacket from one of the storage compartments, passing it to you.

“D’you mind getting that on Sarah, honey? She’s gotta wear it to stay safe. Too many nutcases out on the water today.”

You call Sarah over, smiling as she stands in front of you and explaining that she has to keep this on while everyone’s on the boat. Easily slipping her arms in, you close it in front of her chest, clipping and securing the clips one at a time. Joel sits next to you, a few more inches apart than normal, patting Sarah’s curls and giving you a sideways glance.

“You wanna sit here between us, mija?” Joel pats the spot, helping Sarah scoot back onto the bench. He stretches his arm behind her, grazing your arm and brushing his fingers against the knit material of your cover-up. Joel relaxes for the first time all morning, content to stay like this all day if it was his choice. Both of his girls next to him, as close as he can get to you without breaking the boundaries he set himself.

With everyone seated, your dad at the helm, the boat lurches to life when the engines turnover and it idly cruises out of the harbor area before picking up speed to drive around the lake for a bit. The wind blows against all of you, Sarah giggling at the excitement of the ride. You turn to look at her, beaming a smile as she holds onto your arm. Joel watches the small interaction, his heart pumping the subtlest bit harder in his chest.

You’re so patient with Sarah, so kind, compassionate, silly, and serious — you’re exactly what she needs right now, what she’s missing that Joel can’t quite ever be no matter how hard he tries.

The words burn into his mind, sitting in his throat where he holds it back on his tongue. Later. He can say it later. At some point.

After a few laps and weaves around the lake, your dad idles the boat up to a cluster of fellow lake-goers, dropping the anchor and turning off the engines. Everyone shuffled around, Sarah popping up and asking to go in the water straight away.

“Gotta put some sunscreen on ya first, Bug. How about we do that, wait a few minutes for it to dry and you can drink some water and then go swimming?” Joel stands up, glancing around for their own bag they packed. You’re still seated, sorting through your own tote and pulling out your sunscreen.

“Here, use mine. Sure we’ll find your bag in a minute but don’t think Sare-Bear here wants to wait any longer than she has to for swimming.” You smile at her before handing the tube off to Joel, a quiet “thanks” in response. He gets some on Sarah, asking her to sit and wait for it to dry before handing the lotion back to you. Joel steps around you to find their bag on the other end of the boat, walking back over with spray sunscreen and stripping off his shirt to apply some himself.

Stealing glances at you, his mouth dries out when he watches you peel off the cover-up, setting it aside and leaving you clad in your bikini. The sight of you applying the sunscreen sends him back to that first summer, the view from his window into yours of you naked and applying body lotion — a show only for him. He swallows hard and shakes himself out of his thoughts, ignoring you off to his side until he hears you speak up.

“Hey, Tommy, d’you mind gettin’ my back for me since you’re waitin’ on the sunscreen from Joel?” He watches you cross over to Tommy before he can call out a protest, the words dying in his throat when he knows he doesn’t have any claim over you today. Tommy shrugs at Joel, helping you out while he watches on enviously.

Huffing out a sigh, he finishes his own application, throwing the bottle back in the bag and sitting back down in the sun. He slips his sunglasses down onto the bridge of his nose from the top of his head, closing his eyes and basking in some of the warmth before Sarah begs to get into the water.

Joel hears you mumble a curse under your breath, feeling your presence next to him. Tilting his head down and opening his eyes again, he glances at you sideways and questions, “Something wrong?”

“I stupidly left my sunglasses in the car. I set them down next to my bag instead of putting them inside of it,” you sigh and look around the boat in hopes that some sort of idea pops into your head. Joel reaches up, takes off his own pair of glasses, and hands them to you.

“Here, y’can borrow mine. Won’t need them in the water with Sarah anyway, just gonna lose ‘em if I wear them in the lake.” He gives you a shrug and a thoughtful smile, your fingers brushing his when you exchange the sunglasses. Your own smile that you give him flips his insides, a knowing look shared that says ‘I’d kiss you right now if I could’.

And he desperately wants to.

“Thanks, J—oel. Joel,” you catch yourself with the affectionate nickname, stuttering out the rest of his name and making him chuckle as he stands up.

“Anytime.” A flash of a wink nearly makes you stutter again, slipping the glasses on as Joel, Sarah, Tommy, and Chris all get in the water to cool off from the already blazing heat.

About a half hour later, Joel and Tommy rumble up the ladder back onto the boat, leaving Chris in charge of entertaining Sarah by spinning her in the inner tube that’s been inflated. The Millers measly dry off before Tommy wanders over to the cooler. Joel steps over to where you’re lying out on the bench, shaking his curls out over you with your eyes closed behind his sunglasses. The cool water drips over you, opening your eyes in a flash and sitting up.

“Rude,” you mumble as you wipe the drips of water and Joel sits next to you where your thighs once were. He chuckles and shrugs casually, leaning back against the side of the boat and propping his elbows up behind him. He’s sitting only a few inches away, and with your parents sitting and chatting at the other end, they don’t hear as he leans in and speaks low to you.

“Y’looked hot. I was only tryin’ to cool you down.” He winks and smirks smugly, dragging his eyes up and down your body when you stand and patter over to the cooler where Tommy’s retrieved a beer from.

“You want a drink, Joel?” you ask over your shoulder, nodding in confirmation when he says yes.

“Probably should get some water as well. You, too. Gotta stay hydrated in the heat.”

“Hm, guess so.” You grab a plastic bottle and turn around, lobbing it to him to catch. You pick up another for yourself, grabbing a can of beer for Joel and a popsicle for you. As you turn around with your pickings, you take the beer can in one hand, heading straight on for Joel and press it into your skin against your sternum, sighing a bit extra as the icy cold aluminum sits against your sun-warmed body.

Dragging it across, the condensation drips across your body, dropping the can down in between your breasts as you stand with your back to your parents. Another sigh breathed directly towards Joel, the slightest pitch change up at the end indetectable to Tommy across the boat but unignorable for Joel.

He clears his throat, taking the can from you gingerly as you hold it out for him, equally as smug of a smirk on your face. You take your seat next to him again, setting your water bottle to the side of you and unwrapping the popsicle as Joel cracks his beer and takes a sip.

“Lucky it’s still cold,” he grumbles under his breath, making you laugh quietly and a smile tug at the corner of his mouth.

Between your thumb and index, you grip the wooden stick of the red, white, and blue rocket pop, bringing it up to your lips and starting to lick it as you make conservation with Tommy, a thought popping into your head as ‘Fortunate Son’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival starts playing over the boat’s speakers.

“D’you get a lot of people thanking you for your service when they find out you were in the army, Tommy?”

“Eh, some really. Fellow veterans really don’t, and I don’t care to mention it that much to people. Most they notice is the sticker on my car in like the grocery store parking lots and they’ll say it quickly or give me a nod,” he shrugs and waves the question off, “Plus, you definitely don’t get people saying it to me on the Fourth. People gettin’ too drunk outta their minds in the name of their freedom.”

“Well, if no one else says it today, then thanks, Tommy. War is the stupidest thing man invented, but m’glad you made it home safe.”

Tommy holds up his can of beer and tips it toward you while you pop the icy, sugary treat out of your lips and hold it up with a laugh.

“Cheers,” he says with a smile.

Joel merely listened to you two the whole time, chatting back and forth while Tommy pounds his beer and tossed it into the recycling bag before jumping back into the lake. You’ve still got your popsicle, sliding it between your lips absentmindedly next to Joel, who keeps glancing to the side as you.

At the next, admittedly overdramatized, suck of popsicle between your lips, slurping the sugary juice before a drip slips out of the corner of your mouth. You wipe it up with your thumb, about to turn to Joel to ask if you’ve got food coloring on your face when he shifts next to you, one hand attempting to adjust himself before he grumbles a few curses and stands up. The water and beer are left ignored in cup holders, the small, subtle bulge in his trunks giving you a smirk that you bite back as he stomps over to the side of the boat and jumps in to cool off.

Throwing out the popsicle stick, you drink some of your water before meandering over to the side of the boat and climbing down the ladder and into the lake water. An instant chill is spread across your body, relaxing your muscles and washing off the slight sweat that built up under the blazing sun. Paddling over to the rest of the group in the water, you exchange a quick look with Joel before Sarah and Chris pull you into some sort of game. Twenty minutes go by before Sarah gets bored of the water, hungry and thirsty, and when Joel moves to help her out of the water and onto the boat, Tommy offers to get out with her to have another beer and some snacks himself. Chris gets out along with them, leaving you and Joel alone in the water.

He swims over to where you’re treading water, a soft, friendly smile on his face. “Hi, Mari.”

“Hey, J.”

A wider grin spreads across his lips, swimming away for a moment to fetch the inner tube that Sarah was using bringing it over and slipping it over your head. A laugh leaves your lips when you can’t see over it for a moment, pushing the tube down and climbing onto the side to lean on it. You float above Joel’s eyeline, his neck slightly tilted to look into your eyes hidden behind his sunglasses.

“You look nice today, darlin’,” he hums and treads water in front of you, reaching out a hand underwater and toying with the material of your swimsuit at your hip.

“Only nice?” you tease, leaning over the side of the inner tube a bit more, biting your bottom lip.

“Well, I could say more but probably don’t want my thoughts overheard,” he mirrors your smirk and snaps the elastic of the swimsuit against your skin, fingertips trailing down your thighs, “You do look more than nice though. You look beautiful. S’a pretty swimsuit and, uh, that dress thing—”

“My cover-up?”

“Yeah, yeah. I like your cover-up. It’s nice. A shame it covers up all this, but y’know you still look gorgeous either way.” He gives you a wink and squeezes one of your thighs.

“Thanks, J. You look pretty, too. But you always look pretty — got your curls and your tanned skin and broad shoulders and big brown eyes,” you giggle quietly as he rolls his eyes and shakes his head bashfully.

“You’re always pretty, too, Mari. You always look beautiful. La mujer más hermosa del mundo (The most beautiful woman in the world).”

It’s quiet for a moment as the two of you look at each other, silently admiring before you break first, your voice covered by all the commotion of the lake around you but audible to Joel right in front of you. “I wish I could kiss you right now.”

His shoulders sag underwater and his brow creases subtly, bottom lip pouting, “M’sorry.”

“It’s okay, J. Wasn’t a good time to tell them. Later, right?” You give a sad smile that he returns, squeezing his hands against your thighs with a short nod.

“Later.”

After floating around and chatting with Joel until you were turning pruney and nearly falling asleep in the water, he pushes the inner tube toward the boat and follows behind you to get back.

“Y’need to get some water and somethin’ to eat, sweetheart. Probably dehydrated at this rate cause you look like you’re about to pass out.” Joel pats the tube with his hand to silently ask you to get out to go up the ladder.

“M’just sleepy, the sun feels warm. Like a cat, jus’ wanna nap in the sunlight,” you mumble out, stretching your arms up and your legs toward Joel underwater, pointed toes hitting his thighs. He grabs you by the ankles, tugging a bit to move you closer before he nods to the blown-up floaty.

“Maybe so, but you still haven’t had any water for at least an hour and you haven’t had anything to eat besides the popsicle. Let’s go up, Mariposa.” His voice is decided — filled with care and not control. It compels you to follow what he says, slipping the tube over your head and wading over to the ladder. Joel follows you out, dripping on the boat and grabbing his towel as your brother tosses yours from the bench.

Drying off and wrapping your towel around you, drops of water trail off of you all the way to the seat where you plop down next to Tommy. Joel heads to the cooler, grabbing out water for both of you. He asks around if anyone else wants one, getting a few hollered answers as he throws them all around. When he returns to sit down again, he hands you yours along with a snack — one of the Tupperware filled with some chopped fruit. Sarah wanders over when you open it, standing in front of you to share. Joel throws the bottle of sunscreen over to you, asking to reapply for Sarah and reminding you to do it for yourself. 

“Alright, everybody, heads up. The plan right now is to move the boat and park up by a friend of ours’ house on the lake here. And there we’ll grill out and have some dinner and then come back onto the boat for fireworks before headin’ home,” your dad explains as he moves back into the driving seat, “Sound alright for y’all?”

Everyone’s in agreement, kicking it into gear as you let Sarah next to you to continue sharing the snack while your dad lifts the anchor. Holding onto her while you ride over, Joel takes in the sight of you two across from him, a steady flap of butterfly wings smack dab in the middle of his chest.

Su Mariposa y su mariposita. His butterfly and his little butterfly — his Bug. His girls.

He finds himself thanking the universe for leading him to someone as nurturing and patient and kind as you to love. A lonely road ending with you.

It’s a thought he continues to have throughout the rest of the evening, small moments that he sees of you with his daughter, his brother, your own family and friends. Effortless. You make it all seem so effortless and natural, but Joel knows how much energy a day like today will take from you; from your spirit. He can’t claim to know exactly what’s on your mind, but all he can do is fight the urge to blurt out a loud ‘thank you’ in the middle of the lawn.

Even through everything, you have a smile on your face for him and your loved ones. You’re strong, perseverant. Someone he looks up to, and hopes that you can be that type of role model for his daughter. Not perfect, not idolized. Real.

“She’s just completely enamored with Sarah, isn’t she?” your mom’s voice pulls Joel out of his thoughts, realizing his eyes were trained in you and Sarah as you help her make a plate for dinner from the large spread on the deck tables. Joel looks up to his left, a gentle and sheepish smile on his face as he nods slowly.

“She’s great with Sarah. Has been since that first summer. I think Sarah has way more fun with her and listens to her way more than she does me,” Joel chuckles softly and your mom laughs with a nod.

“That’s how it always is. The kids always loved their babysitters and looked up to them in a different sort of way. We were lucky to have the sitters we did to help raise the kids right, y’know?”

“I do know. Feel the same way since we moved in next door. The whole family’s been a real help—“

“But there’s just something about her, isn’t there?”

“Exactly. Can’t quite put my finger on it. But there’s something special there. Maybe she should consider it for a career, nannying I mean. Always seemed to be happy with Sarah during the summer.” Both sets of eyes are still on you across the way, focused on Sarah and guiding her through the muck of people to keep her from getting overwhelmed.

“I think there might be something just special there. In all of her babysitting and nannying years, can’t say she’s had as much fun as she did with Sarah.”

“Guess I should thank you for volunteering her that first summer. Probably the best recommendation I’ve gotten from a neighbor,” Joel laughs to himself, shaking his head subtly as he thinks of all the time you two have had together over the years.

“Thank me later, how about that? End of this summer, you can thank me for getting her to do what she was too chicken to do,” your mom laughs quietly, “Talking to the new neighbor and getting a job.”

“Uh, yeah, alright.” Your mom shares a smile with Joel before walking off to chat to some friends, leaving Joel to wonder what she meant by that exactly.

Back onto the boat after dinner with the larger party, your family and the Millers caravanned into the middle of the lake with a bunch of other boaters, dropping anchor in the cluster.

There is a platform in the middle of the lake, installed there with taut chains to the bottom where the same family lights off an impressive fireworks display every year. Helping your mom hand around the last bit of drink and some cookies for dessert, you finally are able to snag a spot by Sarah and Joel on the other side of her. Once you get settled, Sarah looks over at you with her sun-kissed face and big brown eyes just like her dad’s. Wordlessly, she scoots closer to you before deciding to simply climb onto your lap, you accepting her company with open arms.

“You comfy?” you wrap your arms around to hug her to your chest and keep her on your thighs, smiling as she nods with a quiet yawn. Her head leans back on your shoulder, one of your hands coming up to run your fingers through her curls.

Joel slides over a few inches, a hand’s width away from you, relaxing with you close by. The sight of Sarah so comfortable with you, and you her, brings back those butterfly wings stronger than before. What he would give to be able to put his arm around you and give you a kiss — to have his little unit of three together.

Damn, maybe he should have said something to your parents…

No, no. This was the smart choice. It’s the smart choice to keep it this way around them until things are certain. He’s all in for you, but there is still a small whispering of doubt that he feels every once in a while.

Are you going to resent him at any point? Will you want to leave again at the end of summer, to leave him behind and continue your life somewhere else? He knows you care about him, he knows how much you care about Sarah. But does he rely too much on you? Is it too much to sign up to be with him and also sign up to have a daughter along with it all?

Every time he thinks about telling your family, all he can imagine is the worst scenario. Disowning, no contact, moving. Joel’s insecurities fester in these imaginings, finding out how to make every new thought worse than the last.

It’s not fair to you, he knows that. But he needs time. Time to find the right words, to make the right promises.

A small, pathetic pop of a firecracker grabs everyone’s attention, the fizzle of the main display filling the air. Sarah sits up in your lap, eyes turned up along with yours as the fireworks start to go, drowning out whatever you’re saying to her as you point and smile widely. The reflection of the lights dissipates in your eyes each time, short explosions fading out to the night sky again.

Joel seems to be the only one with his gaze turned away from the opening in the clouds, a thought flashing into his head like one of the fireworks before he acts on it. Fingers brush your hip, catching on the open-knit and your head turns to face him, the same smile you had with Sarah still on your face. He leans in behind her head, his nose brushes against yours before he kisses you — soft and delicate and not nearly enough for what he needs in the moment but it satiates something for him.

You’re smiling against his lips, stealing one last quick peck before pulling back, the same wide grin from before spread across your cheeks as you whisper to him.

“Naughty.”

“Yeah, well, you’re to blame for it with the teasing all day. Better be coming over tonight after all of that,” Joel responds back, the noise drowned to everyone else on the boat by the repeated launches of large fireworks.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, J. I thought I was being peaceful and relaxed all day.”

At that you turn your head up again, listening to Sarah as she talks about the bursting lights and starts pointing at all of the cool moments again. Joel continues to watch you fall back into the moment with her, he content with being an observer — and for giving you a tiny token of all that he’s been feeling today.

But damn is he eager to get you alone.

It was a long while to get home and get everything unpacked from the car and into the garage, but you’ve finally managed to shower and change; behind you, you slowly pull the sliding glass door closed to your basement studio, wandering across your backyard and into Joel’s to his backdoor.

Knocking lightly, it isn’t long before the door opens, and Joel’s hands find your waist to tug you inside, tripping over your feet across the threshold.

“Hey, J—” Your words are cut off by his lips on yours, a heavy kiss enveloping your breath while your hands search across his arms and up to his chest. Returning his kiss gives more energy behind his movements, fingers digging into your hips and directing you backward until your lower back hits the edge of the kitchen counter. There’s a split second that he pulls away to help you up onto the surface, his large frame leaning in again to catch your lips with his.

Pressure at his chest from your palms keeps him a few inches away from your face, eyes meeting his as your breaths recover shallowly.

“What a greeting,” you laugh, voice hoarse as you keep your volume low.

“Missed bein’ able to kiss you, Mari. Holdin’ you. And you were such a fucking tease all day, darlin’,” he rasps out, brow creased as he holds your gaze.

“Was not.”

“Was too, Mari.” Joel slips his hands into the bend of your legs, spreading them apart to step between them. He pulls you further to the edge pressing his bulge into your thigh as he sighs, letting his breath fan over your face, “Feel what you do to me, pretty girl? Been wanting you all day. Need you so bad, Mariposa.”

Your own sigh matches his, eyes closing for a moment as he starts to grind against your clothed center, stuttering out a response, “Cou—Could’ve touched me today. Maybe we should’ve snuck off at the barbecue…”

Both of you chuckle, Joel’s much darker than yours, “Don’t tell me that now, baby. You’ve got no idea what I would’ve done to you if we had a second alone.”

“We’re alone now. Show me what you would’ve done.”

“Yeah? You wanna know?” His parted mouth trails warm breath against your skin, his nose ghosting against your cheek before he presses kisses into your jawline.

“Please, J,” you whine, mouth right against his ear as he leans over to kiss your neck. One hand tangles into the curls at the nape of his neck, damp from the shower that you can smell on him — the sandalwood musk scent of his body wash. A deep breath of the scent races your heart along with his wandering hands, him standing fully in front of you again.

“Gonna have to be quiet, baby. Have a full house tonight. Silent, got it?”

All you do is nod in response, holding his head as you close the gap between you two with fervor. Joel rumbles out a moan into your mouth, tugging you close and off the counter, his impatience reeling after the day.

Fumbling around with cheeky grabs and gropes over each other, you get turned to face the counter and Joel’s hands hook into your waistband — sleep short and panties — to tug them down just enough to drop them down your legs and let you step one foot out. He pulls himself free from his shorts and boxers, a handful of your ass in his palm as he quietly moans to himself. One swipe of his fingers through your folds tells him exactly how much you want him, devilish smirk crossing his face.

“Felt like this the whole day, pretty girl? Must’ve been so needy, Mari. Don’t worry, I’ve got you now. Déjame cuidarte, cariño. Déjame sentirte. (Let me take care of you, darling. Let me feel you.)”

“Please, please, J—“

“Shh. S’alright, sweet Mari. Think you can take me, want to take my cock like the good girl you are?” He questions you in a raspy whisper, taking himself in one hand and guiding the head of his cock through your wetness.

“Fuck…” you draw out quietly, nodding quickly as you look over your shoulder at him, “I can take it, please give it to me.”

“Pretty girl jus’ begging for me, yeah? Got to be quiet,” Joel reminds you before he lines himself up, slowly opening you up with his cock. The stretch is painful at first, whimpers echoing in your closed mouth while you grip the counter’s edge and bite the inside of your cheek.

With slow, shallow thrusts at first, Joel works you to relax around him, nodding to himself when he sees your shoulder relax and your head fall forward out of pleasure when he starts to pick up the pace behind you.

“That’s it, baby, such a good girl. Mi buena chica. Sabes cómo tomarlo, Mari. (My good girl. You know how to take it.)”

A moan slips from your lips and cuts through the relative silence, your head snapping over your shoulder to Joel. He shakes his head, sliding one hand up your side to hold around your mouth, covering up any more noises and giving him leverage to arch your back for him as he fucks you harder.

“Shit, pretty girl, not gonna last—Fuck, muy apretado y mojado. (Fuck, so tight and wet.)” You nod behind Joel’s hand, gripping his wrist when his free hand reaches for your clit, rubbing hurried circles that push you to the edge further, teetering there while his hips hit into you harder and brush your g-spot. Feeling yourself clench around his cock, you move your own hips to meet his thrusts, eyes rolling back as the top of him hits your g-spot square on.

“That’s right, my girl, can feel how close you are. Give it to me, baby, please—“ A vibrating moan interrupts his rambling thoughts when you come, walls gripping around him and fluttering inside. Your own noises are stifled by his palm, body limping in his hold while he rocks his hips as deep as possible and ropes of his come fill you up. “Such a good girl, goddamn…”

Breathless, he holds you up and presses you against the counter as he hunches over your body from behind. Using whatever energy is left in him, Joel peppers your neck and profile in lazy kisses, lingering around your ear.

“Love you, Mari.”

Once you’ve both recovered enough from the quick, hasty fuck, limbs regaining their abilities to move, Joel leads you up to bed and drags you under the covers. The two of you chat about the day and plans for the rest of summer while he lays his head on your chest, eyes closing while you run your fingers through his hair. Index twirls some of the rare ringlets, nails scratching his scalp soothingly.

In a few moments of you talking to him about bringing Sarah to the aquarium, his breaths have leveled out and his lips have parted, a large muscular build curled around you sleeping. It’s a few moments that you steal while continuing to play with his hair, admiring how young and boyish he looks. The perpetually creased brow of his has relaxed, his parted lips giving him the slightest of pouts.

Joel, your strong, independent, capable, protective, caring, loving man, is still a boy at times. When you feel young around him, you know you’ll think back to this moment — when you realized he’s just as much in the ‘figuring how all this shit works out’ stage. Permanently.

The last two or so years have been filled with moments that it seems that you took what Joel had to think or say as written in stone; his confidence and decisiveness was something you were envious of at times. But it also meant that all those times, even if he knew what he was doing, he was still a young boy, a teenager, a man, all the ones in between — figuring it out. Wondering if the choices were right. If it would all work out in the end.

That first summer, when you fell completely in love and let him know before you were leaving for nearly a year. It was genuine, of course, but it was naive. Thinking about long distance, a single father trying to make that work. It probably scared him at the time, and was too much to attempt to work with.

And the next summer, when he had his time to figure out what he was feeling. His confession of love that had your heart in your throat, terrified to admit anything close to the feeling before you were thousands of miles away. The feeling was there, it was always there. But you couldn’t bring yourself to say it back, to open up for the pain you felt the year prior.

His denial of you, yours of him — looking back, you can’t blame Joel for these hiccups, just like you can’t blame yourself. He was only trying to figure it out. It was all new to him, navigating a life with you in it was something he hadn’t had to do before, hadn’t imagined before.

You’re in the exact same state, each and every day. And it made you so afraid to be all in, the uncertainty of life blinding you to actually opening up.

Fingers have paused their movements in his hair, Joel stirring awake against your chest when your touch leaves him completely. His head is tilted to face you, masked in an expression that you can’t quite read. Comfortable, drowsy, affectionate. Half asleep, droopy eyes find your own, holding your gaze as he breaks the quiet and stillness of the bedroom with a gravelly voice.

“Was thinking about you in my sleep just now.”

“Oh yeah? What were you thinking about, baby?”

“How you’re my best friend.” The arm slung around your middle tightens as a goofy smile finds its way to his lips. “D’you know that, Mari?”

Looking at him, in that simple moment, a realization dawned on you as if it was the most obvious discovery.

He’s the only one you want to be figuring it out with.

“I love you, Joel.”

It comes out meeker than you wanted for this first-second time around, almost inaudible if it weren’t for the complete and utter quiet of the early morning hours.

A dreamy but wide grin stretches across his face, waking him up a bit more in the moment. He picks up his head from your chest, sitting up a few inches to look you properly in the eyes as he asks, “Yeah?”

“Mhm, I love you,” you can barely get it out without a happy giggle tagging on the end, barely squeaking the last syllable out before Joel’s skittering kisses all over your face, that same wide grin on his lips.

“Say it again, please, Mari.”

“I love you, J. I’m so in love with you.”

His attack on your face and neck continues, his own chuckles mixing with your giggles, his arm tightening around you and fingers tickling your sides.

“Am I still asleep? Am I dreaming right now?” he questions, pausing his peppered kisses to give you a tender one on your lips, that same goofy grin knocking your teeth together.

Before you respond, or he asks for you to say it again, Joel takes a pause to look into your eyes head on. Silence overcomes the room again, goofy grin morphing into a sweet, softened smile of his. Disbelief painted across his face as he took you in, shaking his head.

“Te amo, mi Mariposa. Siempre. I love you, Mari. Always.”

“I love you, Joel.”

Holding your eyes for a moment longer, there’s a shift in the air from the giddy confession. Joel inches down, connecting your lips in a ghosting kiss, your lips following his to feel more. After a beat, the kiss heats up, slow and sensual. His hands roam your sides, hiking up the material of your sleep shirt and pressing his palm against your exposed skin.

There’s no break in the embrace, only pushing further to feel each other closer and constant. The slight lack of oxygen, the breathlessness of it all, is making your head airy and dizzy, limbs tingling with electricity when you slip your fingers under the collar of his t-shirt. In the moment, you could drown in the feeling of Joel’s lips against yours.

The only breaths you get are when he separates from your lips to pull your shirt over your head and then follows it with his own, easily sipping your elastic waistbands down your legs again. You kick off the material from your ankles while he strips out of his own shorts and boxers, messy kisses shared while your hands skate over his bare skin. Fingertips work to memorize the dips and peaks, the trail of hair from his belly button down. Joel’s own hands explore your curves, relishing in the softness of your skin.

He pulls away from your mouth, breathless and blown pupils before he rasps out, “I love you so much, Mariposa. Got no clue who I’d be if I didn’t meet you…You’re it for me.”

Your voice is thick with emotion, one hand tangling your fingers with the hair at the back of his head, “I love you, J. It’s only you, s’always been you.”

Joel’s hand lifts one of your legs to bend next to his hip, lining himself at your entrance before he slowly thrusts in, savoring the feeling of you around him, body pressed against his skin in every place possible. Airy moans muffle into and against each other’s lips as he fills you up, the rhythm of his movements languid and steady. The pace is reeling your brain into a building of pleasure, whispers from Joel adding to the euphoric adoration between the two of you.

“My beautiful girl, so perfect. Love everything about you, sweet girl. M’so lucky to have you…Mine forever, right Mari baby? Mi hermosa, mi amor. I love you, fuck, I love you so much, Mari. Always got me feeling like m’floating around you, like I got a butterfly flapping it’s wings in my chest with how giddy you make me feel with just one look. Mi mariposa. My butterfly. Mine…”

The words are absorbing with each shallow breath you take, nodding along to his ramblings and feeling tears well against your waterline. Hands grip hard onto his shoulders, folding yourself around him tighter as you leave lingering kisses along his profile.

“Yours, J, yours always. I love you so fucking much—Oh my god, you’re everything to me, baby.”

“Never letting you go again. My girl, my fucking beautiful girl. Gonna make you mine forever, gonna make you my wife, mi esposa, one day, sweet, perfect girl. You’re made for me, Mari. Mi media naranja. (My other half.)”

His thrusts pick up only slightly, but enough to spill the tears waiting at the brink of your eyes, Joel’s mouth catching each one with featherlight kisses. Sitting right at the edge, your eyes lock with his, vision slightly blurred from the tears continuing to fall. Joel’s features fill the vignette, hooked nose, pillowy lips, soft brown eyes, olive skin sprinkled with crinkles around his eyes, subtle lines at his forehead. Nothing more beautiful to you than those parts making up the whole of him.

“Te amo, te amo, J. I love you, baby…”

His breath catches in his throat, smile spreading as his nose nudges against yours to speak against your lips.

“Te amo, mi Mariposa. Los amo a todos, cada poco. Eres todo lo que podría haber soñado y más (I love all of you, every bit. You're everything I could have ever dreamed of and more). I will spend every day earning your love and giving you all of mine.”

The words you understood have your frayed edges pulled taut, snapping one at a time as your brain floods with pleasure. Your walls flutter around his cock, your leg hooks into his ass to drive him further inside to fill you up. It is only a moment longer before he’s spilling into you, your name falling from his lips over and over as he searches for your lips in his state of ecstasy.

One last heavy kiss is shared before he slumps onto you, similar position to the start of all this; his head on your chest, strong form curled around you and his eyes closed. It last for a moment, your fingers playing with his hair, before he’s pushing himself up to hang over your torso, tender eyes studying your messy hair and blissed out face.

A smile crosses your lips, eyes sparkling even with the lights out in the room and the curtains only cracked apart to let moonlight stream in.

“Gonna make me your wife one day, huh?” you tease as you look up at him from your spot laying back on the mattress, crumpled sheet pulled over top of your naked body.

Joel rolls his eyes playfully, leaning over you and smiling, “As if you didn’t know that from the first time I spoke to you. Knew you were trouble from the start, just turned out to be the best kind of trouble.”

taglist: @beskarandblasters @undrthelights @swiftispunk @joelsversion @asirenbyanyothername @ellenmunn @ja-ehyun @sw33tp1xie @marisemonteiroo @brunetteeras@bongsrconfusing @addictedtotlou @angie2274 @pedrostories @pedroholicx @theelishad @johnwatsn @elissaaa @felicityofbakerstreet @atinylittlepain @northernbluess @cannolighost @casa-boiardi @wannab-urs @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @fishingforpike @msjarvis @walkintotheriveranddisappear @sugadolly @yazsos @peppesgirl @pastawench @brittmb115 @anoverwhelmingdin @spishsstuff @wolfbook87 @mswarriorbabe80 @harriedandharassed @decemberdolly @laiisleitte @fierce-bab @vickie5446 @tbniarq @vee-bees-blog @thereaperisabitch @spidermanfrog @belliezz @joelsflannel @cartoon-garbage04 @bianqueee04 @nostalxgic @xyzstar @cumberpegg

[tfyoulookingatgiuxs]

Mama's Boy

Depressed!Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: A very normal day at the Munson house. You were happy to visit your sweet boyfriend, too bad for you, he couldn't say the same thing. He wasn't in the mood and wanted to be alone. You had never seen him like this and that's why you had to ask Wayne for help.

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: Insicure!Eddie, Depressed!Eddie, Patient!Reader, blurb, fluff, hurt/confort, theme about alcohol addiction, theme about sigarettes, theme about drugs, past traumas, mommy issue, suicide, bad language, Eddie act like little child. (Whatever you now read about this one-shot is made up. Nothing I've written is canonical. Everything I have written is nothing that has been seen or confirmed in the Duffer Brothers' Stranger Things series!!!)

𝐀/𝐍: Sorry for my english, this is not my native languages. Please support new writers and reblog!Hope you enjoy! Anyway, if you shake your phone/tablet the daisies move :/ (DIVIDER NOT MINE)

It was a simple fall day in Hawkins. The streets were quiet and the days too, while the citizens were already preparing for the Halloween party that would take place in a few months.

Autumn was perhaps one of your favorite seasons and apparently also that of your metalhead boyfriend, Eddie Munson.

Today as expected, you got ready to go to his trailer. You were supposed to go out together to pick up a movie at Family Video and spend the afternoon like that. You were happy to see Eddie again after a long week due to your studies. You were finally free and no one could take that smile off your face. Or at least that's what you thought...

You knocked cheerfully on the door only to hear an "Coming!" from the other side. His voice was hoarse. It wasn't Eddie. In fact, Uncle Wayne opens the door for you. He gave you a warm smile and invited you in but after you stepped into the trailer his smile disappeared turning his face into a worried look. You wanted to know what was wrong, but you thought maybe it wasn't any of your business. Maybe it was personal stuff and you didn't want to intrude. So you looked around noticing that Eddie wasn't there. "Is Eddie home?" You put your arms behind your back waiting for a response from the adult as he headed towards the kitchen counter.

He nodded "Yes, he's in his room but..." He didn't continue his sentence, in fact he seemed to be looking for the right words. You got worried thinking something bad had happened but then Wayne spoke "If you want I'll call him but I'm warning you kid, he's not well" His tone was low and you could see the concern "What happened?" You asked while hoping that nothing serious had happened. Wayne sighed and then pulled a photo out of his left pocket and placed it on the counter for you as you walked over.

It was old and what's more it was also in black and white. In the photo you could see the panorama of a wonderful beach with two subjects present in the photograph: a woman and a child. Both had their backs turned as they looked at the sea or perhaps the sunset. The woman, even if you couldn't see her face, was definitely beautiful with comfortable clothes. The child's features appeared to be five or six years old. You were confused but let the man in front talk to you.

"Today my nephew and I cleaned out the closet," he began, continuing to talk "In one of the junk we found an old photo album with him and his mother" at that news I felt a great weight on your chest.

You knew that Eddie was without his parents and that he had lived most of his life with his Uncle Wayne, but he had never openly told you what had happened to them.

"After we settled everything, he took the photo album and locked himself in the room. I tried to talk to him, but he said he wanted to be alone" You didn't know exactly how to react. You wanted to know more but at the same time you wanted to go console your boyfriend and find out how he is doing. After a moment of reflection and silence you decided to ask questions.

"If I may ask Wayne...what happened to Eddie's parents?" You were unsure whether to ask since the topic seemed sensitive. The man looked away for a moment and then took a cigarette and put it between his lips and motioned for you to go outside. You followed him, you both exited the trailer and Wayne sat down on the steps in front of the front door while you sat down next to him. He took out his lighter, lighting the cigarette, inhaling the smoke and then releasing it.

"Sorry for taking you out, I'd like to talk to you about it in private" He said. You nodded understanding his reasons.

"My nephew never told you about them, did he?" He asked, surely knowing the answer, but it seemed he wanted to be sure. "No, never. He only told me that they died, he never told me how" You replied as you fixed a lock of your hair feeling the cool air hitting your skin making you shiver. Wayne was silent for a moment, continued to smoke as some ash fell to the ground and he sighed. "My nephew. Before living with me, he lived with his mother" The question arises spontaneously "And his father?"

"That asshole brother of mine? He ran away. When he found out that his wife was pregnant he ran. I never heard from him until I was told that he died in a car accident" you were shocked at the news "His mother was desperate, she hadn't accepted being left like that" her eyes looked at the surrounding landscape of the Trailer Park as more smoke released from her lips "She raised him until he was six and then one day we found her dead on the sofa in her house" you were speechless and every part of Wayne's story made you feel bad, you had become a stone statue no longer knowing how to react and comment on those words of his coming from a difficult past, but the story wasn't finished.

"After my brother left, all she did was drink and take care of Eddie when she could. Most of the time I helped her and tried to keep her away from alcohol, but she never wanted to listen to me." Wayne sighed as if he were throwing himself into memories "She then started using narcotics and smoking more often, it had now become her daily routine..."

You wanted to say something but you was immediately interrupted by him "When she died for my nephew was a hard blow at that age. He loved his mother very much...even if every now and then she forgot that he had a son to raise and spent the hours watching television drunk" This time the man looked at you and noticed your sweet soul worried "I can't imagine what it was like for him, losing a mother at such a young age..." you said it in a whisper and Wayne heard you and nodded "It was very difficult for my nephew. His mother was everything for him, even if it doesn't seem like it now...he may seem scary but in reality he has always been a mama's boy" Wayne smiled and his words had the same effect on you.

You had never thought of Eddie as a mama's boy, and it made you feel tender. "Really?" You asked as if you were in disbelief and he chuckled "Really. At the age of five he was already helping her, asking her for help and taking advice from her for anything. However, he never came to me to ask me for something, for my nephew it was obligatory ask mom" You were touched by this side of Eddie that you didn't know. You were really curious to see how he would act if his mother was still here.

"His mother though? How did she react to it?" You asked and Wayne smirked again "Well, yes, she was happy to have this relationship with Eddie, they spent time together, even if it wasn't much, but for my nephew that time was enough for him to be happy" your smile widened hearing those words "But as I told you before, she forgot about him and spent the rest of the days on the sofa. At times like those I took my nephew home with me so he wouldn't see the horrible state of his mother..." Wayne finished the cigarette and threw it on the ground, stomping on it. "Has he ever thought that his mother didn't love him?" Your lips moved by themselves, you didn't know where this one came from but you tried to identify with that little Eddie who was just trying to stay close to his mother even in the most difficult moment, but she was psychologically destroyed and let her uncle get away with it took care of it for him, you would surely have thought something like "Does mom love me?" or “Why does mommy do this?” something similar.

Wayne nodded "Yes...I remember he told me this on an ordinary day while he was having lunch with me. I didn't know how to answer him, I mean, how can you tell your five year old nephew that his mother takes drugs, drinks and that does he do anything but smoke? And what's more, she only loves it because it reminds her of my brother?" That answer left you stunned and Wayne seemed to understand your reaction "Exactly. His mother, as much as she might love him as a son, loved him even more just because he reminded her of my fucking brother... she always said that Eddie looked a lot like him" The cool air moved your hair slightly "And that's it?" He glanced at you "Do I have to be honest? Not at all, it's all her mother. Especially now" You let out a giggle.

"But now I don't know how he must feel years later. Now he knows things that we hid from him as a child and knowing the truth certainly hurts, but he must learn to face it" You looked at your shoes while thinking about what to say "Do you think he has he gotten over his mother's death?" It took Wayne a while to answer "No. I'm sure of this...As I told you, his mother's death was a hard blow for him and he still suffers from it today" his look was sad, and not do you think you've ever seen this sensitive side of Wayne "I tried to do my best to reassure him and be close to him, but my nephew will never be able to get the image of his mother lying on the sofa lifeless out of his head..." his eyes began to become shiny and you instinctively put a hand on the man's shoulder "Hey, you did a great job with him. You may not have managed to heal that wound of his but you healed many others during his life and I'm sure you never let him lack anything." Wayne smiled big and seemed to feel better "Thanks kid" He stood up and you did the same "Can I talk to him?" You asked as you both walked back into the trailer. He nodded "One moment..." He told you as he headed towards his nephew's room.

After a couple of minutes Wayne came back to you motioning that you could go into the room. Before leaving you took the black and white photograph and headed towards Eddie's room. You found him sitting on the bed looking at the photo album and it made your heart ache. As soon as he saw you he whispered a soft "Hey" while you whispered a soft "Hi" and sat down next to him.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, today we were supposed to go to Family Video and catch a movie to watch-"

"Don't worry Eds, it's okay, it'll be for another time" Your tone was sweet, making him understand that you didn't care about seeing a fucking movie now, but rather being close to him.

"Did my uncle tell you everything?" He said as he looked at you. As soon as his eyes met yours you could see his wet cheeks. He had cried, and it broke your heart in two. You hated seeing him like this and just wished you could console him as best you could. You nodded "How are you?" He didn't seem to want to answer you. Your hand began to caress his back as your eye fell on the album. “I miss her..." Was hi answer. You now saw a color photo of a woman, who you understood to be very beautiful, holding little Eddie by the hand. "I can tell,"

"She's very beautiful and looks a lot like you" now you understood Wayne's words. Even if you didn't know what Eddie's father looked like, he sure as hell couldn't have looked like Eddie looked like his mother, they were identical "Uncle Wayne tells me that too, but she always said I looked like my father" you could hear the note of sadness and contempt falling from his lips "And that's why she left..." You saw how he bit his lower lip tightly, surely keeping himself from shedding tears as you moved closer to him "Why do you think that?"

"Why is it like this... I ruined her life. Every day he woke up looking at the spitting image of my father and that's why he despaired on the sofa ruining himself day by day" Damn it hurt to see him like that. You immediately wanted to hug him tightly "But she loved you and you loved her right?" He nodded "Yes, i love her very much but she didn't love me and she had her reasons, I was the cause of her pain and it ended with her death" Eddie hid his face with the palm of his hand. “I ruined his life Y/N… I'm ruining the lives of everyone around me, starting with Uncle Wayne and-”

"Eddie look at me" A note of seriousness came out of your mouth and you didn't let him finish. Not after he started shedding tears. He looked up and looked at you and with your free hand you cupped his cheek, his eyes were bright "You're not ruining anyone's life Eds. Get it through your head-" "How can you say that? I should never have been born in the first place, so she wouldn't have died" He said irritated and immediately more tears hit his cheeks.

"What happened to your mother is not your fault, nor was your birth. Maybe it's true, your mother loved you above all because you reminded her of the man who abandoned her, but that doesn't mean she doesn't has ever truly loved you" You took out the photograph Wayne had shown you. "This photo is of you and her, Eddie. And all these others too" you pointed to the album "You were always her baby, and as hard as life was on you that doesn't mean she stopped loving you as a son"

"I don't know exactly the whole story, but I know that there is no more beautiful bond than that between a son and a mother, and yours was a beautiful bond Eds and it certainly didn't lead her to kill herself" Fuck... he started to sob "You haven't ruined anyone's life honey, not your uncle or even the people around you. If your mother isn't here today it's certainly not because of you, she was suffering too much and wasn't able to move forward" With your thumb you dried the tears Eddie was shedding "But at least she left with the knowledge of having given birth to a wonderful son" you wrapped him in your arms while he let himself go, wetting the cotton of your t-shirt with his his tears. You gave him a light kiss on his scalp as you stroked his hair. "You are the most beautiful thing your uncle could have asked for and the same thing goes for me. You are one of the sweetest and most special people I could have ever asked for. Every day you improve my life so don't even think about something like that" you whispered in his ear as he held you tighter.

Eddie didn't answer but vented his tears some more before trying to compose himself.

You didn't accept that your boyfriend talked about him that way. His horrible past had left him with too many insecurities and doubts after his mother's death that a poor child like him at that age didn't have the strength to face. An image of a little Eddie spending moments with his mother appeared in your mind. The afternoon, the first day of school, the days with his uncle. Your imagination of that sweet, beautiful child was overwhelmed when you then thought about how he and Wayne found his mother dead. Coming home, ready to hug his mother again but she was gone forever. You felt a lump in your throat as you thought about how he must have felt when he tried to wake up his mother. The tears and desperation he felt, something you absolutely couldn't understand but imagining it was definitely heartbreaking. No one would have tolerated it...

Eddie was one of those people who never fully enjoyed his parents. He never knew his father and his mother had passed away dying of an overdose. You begin to think that in all respects you were lucky compared to him. You had a mother and a father, even if they were distant because they no longer felt the love they had before, but they were still your parents. A feeling of guilt invaded your abdomen thinking about how although you had a mother who takes care of you, you didn't have the relationship that Eddie had with his and that perhaps he would like to have again. You were also envious of this, yes. But you felt like somehow it was your fault. You have always had arguments with your parents, especially with your mother and now you realize that not everyone was lucky enough to have a mother who takes care of you.

You really appreciated what your mother did, but you never admitted it and maybe that was the reason why you didn't have a good relationship. You could sense that something in you had changed as you caressed the boy's dark curls, pressing light kisses from his ear to the crook of his neck. His breathing had returned to regularity but he was still sniffling and sobbing slightly. Now you felt somehow good, lighter with less weight on your shoulders. You wanted to be even closer to him than you already were and somehow heal his wound that was still dripping blood if touched with a finger.

"Feeling better big boy?" You used the nickname he loved so much. He just nodded. "If you need anything you know you can tell me right?" He nodded again and gave him another kiss near his ear. It was hot, actually burning hot. You could tell all that heat was from the outburst, the crying and even the embarrassment. He absolutely didn't want you to see him in that state and be able to understand it. Eddie had always been a guy who preferred to do everything alone and without anyone's help, which is reasonable, you had been there too...

But Eddie will also have realized that obstacles are not always faced with one's own strength. Sure, you've always been there for him and definitely Wayne too, but you didn't know how many times Eddie needed his mother. To go to her and ask for help or hug her if he was sick, something Eddie desperately wanted. You felt his grip tighten on you again as he started to sob again "Shh Shh Shh...it's okay Eds" a hiss came out of your sweet lips and after a couple of minutes he broke the hug trying hastily to clean his face “I-I'm really sorry, you shouldn't see me like this.”

"Why do you say this?" He shakes his head "Beacuse...well you don't-" you didn't let him finish "You didn't want me to find out about you and your mother?" He looked at you in surprise as he nodded quickly “Did you by any chance think I would judge you?” He looked at you and was afraid to give you the answer, because even though he loved you to death and had known you for a long time he was afraid that you would actually judge him, he didn't answer "You know I would never judge you, especially on something like that," you placed your hand on his. "Knowing about you and your mother makes me happy, because I know that you loved her very much, and that she loved you despite everything" now your foreheads were touching "I'm sure your mother is very happy to see the mama's boy grow up" you smiled and he did the same and you pressed a kiss to his forehead "Let's do this..." Eddie looked at you with his puppy eyes "How about I'll bring you a glass of water and then, if you want to, can you tell me about your mother?" You asked. You couldn't lie, those photos intrigued you and you wanted to get to know Mrs. Munson a little through those beautiful photographs.

He sniffed and you nodded smiling at you "Now big boy, dry these tears, I'll be right back ok?"

“Okay” He said and you gave him a kiss on the lips which widened his smile.

And so you spent the afternoon with your boyfriend. Sitting leaning against the headboard of the bed while together you browsed through those photos showing off smiles while you were wrapped in each other's arms. Eddie's head rested on your shoulder while yours rested on his head. He looked up when you finally closed the photo album "Thank you sweetheart" He said as you caressed his scalp "Whenever you want big boy, you know that I'm always there for you"

“I wouldn’t know what to do without you” his chocolate brown eyes got lost in yours.

"Well, don't think about it then. Just think that now I'm here with you" He chuckled and you both smiled at each other as your sweet boyfriend fell asleep in your arms.

Even though he was now a grown man, Eddie was still a mama's boy.