#i kept faceplanting into easy jumps

[zephyrchama]

Vampire MC part III - with Leviathan

heads up - this is suggestive

(intro/vampire MC masterlist can be found here)

It was no surprise you hadn’t run into Leviathan since your transformation. He was more elusive than most demons.

You didn’t have a chance to see him until there was a commotion out in the hall. You peeked your head out from behind the bedroom door just in time to see Leviathan trip and fall, splendidly faceplanting on the hallway floor. Hard enough to make you wince. Mammon cackled as he ran around a corner, seizing his chance to escape.

“You have twenty four hours, you deadbeat!” Leviathan shouted, punching the floor and rubbing his fist into the ground. He was absolutely seething. His tail trailed out behind him, thrashing to and fro and bumping against the walls.

You opened the door a little wider. “Did Mammon forget to pay you back again?”

“Gah!” Leviathan, in the midst of picking himself up, stumbled and almost fell down again. “H-how long have you been there? No, uh, nevermind. Ughh. How uncool of me…”

He went to wipe his nose with a sleeve. That’s when you caught a whiff of something delectable.

”Levi, are you injured?”

“Huh? No? Oh, wait…” It was hard to see on the black fabric covering his hand, but you clearly spied a thin red line dripping out his nose. It was hard to ignore.

You gripped the door tightly, shying back behind it so Levi couldn’t see your face. “Come in here a second.”

---

The two of you sat on your bed as you fiddled with the latch of a first aid kit. The alluring scent of blood had a grip on your concentration and the more you tried to focus on the kit, the less your fingers seemed to work. Leviathan draped his tail over the footboard where it anxiously thudded against the hardwood every few seconds.

“So, um. I guess we both have a reason to avoid the sun now, huh? Ha…” he awkwardly trailed off. Leviathan looked concerned, like there was something more important to say, but he couldn’t quite find the words. He watched you with pity. All he could manage was, “are you okay? I know you’ve been through a lot, probably.”

As he spoke, another drop of blood slid down his face which he tried to cover with his hand. Your posture stiffened as you fought to ignore it. Leviathan was wholly ignorant of how much you were holding back. After all, vampires are supposed to attack humans. Who ever saw a vampire go after a demon?

The first aid kit finally popped open with a loud crack, spilling bandages and gauze over the sheets. You both jumped. In the scramble to help put everything back, Leviathan leaned in a little too close. Your pupils thinned and instinct took over, a burning urge to take care of the blood before it dried up.

You grabbed Leviathan by the shoulder. Not strongly, but enough for him to pause and give you a questioning look. Enough time to quickly close the distance between you.

Leviathan froze in place as you dragged your tongue over his lips and under his nose, cleaning up the traces of nosebleed. He was completely still, save for the quiver of his lips when your fangs lightly pressed down on them. Your hands moved to his chest as you snaked your tongue down his chin, lapping across the bare skin on the front of his neck, and prepared for a juicy bite. He held his breath. However, the sensation of something hard and cold on your teeth jolted you out of the fog.

It was easy to forget that Leviathan had scales on the side of his neck when in demon form. You pulled away with a “sorry,” mortified to have licked his face like that, but Leviathan started trembling in excitement. He was panting.

“That was just like Scarlet Moon! Even the way your eyes changed color! Do they do that when you’re hungry? It was just like my favorite scene from the spin-off manga when Kyuu and Ki-chan are locked in the forbidden tower and need to feed to restore their magic and escape.” His leg and tail bounced and his face was flushed. He kept talking on about the series and you couldn’t tell if his cheeks were red from being in such close proximity to you or from being so excited about his anime. Maybe both.

That paltry sample only made you more hungry though, like a light appetizer before the main course. You pushed the medical kit aside.

“Levi, you taste really good.” You parted your lips and breathed slowly, trying to pick up the scent again. It lingered on his gloves. “Can I have some more?” you asked. It wasn’t your intention to sound needy, the words just so happened to come out that way.

“Me? You really want some of me?” He could see the truthfulness in your body language, in how your eyes were now a deep crimson. Leviathan was not used to being craved. He covered his face again and wrapped his tail tightly around the bedpost, as if to anchor himself. As if he was the one losing control instead of you.

“I’m going to get eaten by a vampire? By you?” he stammered. “ I don’t think my heart is ready yet, do I need a bath? No, don’t run. That's pathetic. I’d do anything for you. I can do this! I’m just like Kyuu, I’m ready!”

You were gearing up while he rambled and pounced as soon as Leviathan gave the go-ahead. He yelped, not expecting you to literally jump on him and push him back against the footboard. Your fingers dug into his hoodie while your lips searched the bare side of his neck. The sound of his blood rushing a mile a minute made finding a prime vein easy.

His fanboy heart was too overwhelmed thinking about how cool this was - something he always fantasized of! - to fully notice your body melding against his as your thirst was satiated. He'd realize it when trying to relive the memory later. His hoodie made for a comfortable head rest.

Leviathan wondered, would it be too weird to ask you to do this again while you watched Scarlet Moon together?

[windydrawallday]

WELDER aka "Autobot" Lockdown

"The world will ask you who you are, and if you do not know... the world will tell you." - Carl Jung

An "Autobot" design for [my interpretation of Lockdown] I have lying around for a year now... I didn't play much with it so, this is what I could gather quickly in an hour to at least give a visual reference for the ones curious (and when I actually sit down and throw some backstory comic/doodles next time).

What I have on my notes for his backstory but I don't want to set it completely in stone: he started practically as a sort of "auxiliary" drone on a big factory of tools and weapons and gained agency/individuality when interacting with his older cybertronian bosses.

Always a daredevil and observer, quite dry-honest with his very calculative-utilitarian point of view. Still, he preferred most of the time to keep to himself and blend with the multitude... he liked to jump-scare those around him just to amuse himself.

Welder was known to be incredibly fast at reparations and improvisation of tools and weapons with whatever was handled to him... even capable of tearing apart his own frame to repair his team-mates' combat damages.

He was pleasant to work with but was known to say "Yes" to then do whatever he wanted... he was just frowned upon because he exceeded in skills from other models of his same class. Another reason why Welder was kept at hand: he was easy to put on a new, fresh team to fill the field medic/repairer role for quick scout missions. That's how he met many faceplates and forged some contacts without much fuss.

... This initial permissiveness would cost the trust of the Autobots who welcomed him much later after so many fishy recommendations from the factory, that at times felt more like they wanted to get rid of Welder...

The optic colors come from a [HC of mine]

[daddymus-mamatron]

Thank you MegOP week I can finally unleash all the brain rot about one thing from TFE that I wish they had kept.

day 5; scars

this one was a very easy pick between the two prompts and it's something I've been stewing over since the first season. so much so that I have references for it, made some art for it and I even got a fic.

this is the rant part

hey remember that.

I do.

I think about it a lot.

In this episode, the first time we see Megatron, he’s been arguing with Karen and OP about how dangerous Starscream is, and how capturing him is a priority. The next scene is MegOP by the hole where the seekers escaped. Just before he goes in, OP almost begged Megatron to: 'Just promise me you'll return him without excessive force.' 

When Megatron does find Starscream, they fall right back into their fighting pattern, triggering some PTDS on Starscream's side.

the receipts btw

I see this and go feral, I am staunchly in the camp; this is not an animation error, i will bite!!! The Decepticon brand is only there when the pov is from Starscream. *feral gremlin moment over*

This is also an important detail. 

Hashtags intervenes, trying to warn Megatron about the Dweller. 'Lol, nice troll' is basically his answer, dismissing her, juuuust a few seconds before he gets energon siphoned. 

Scars appear on his face, the Dweller is having a very nice energon caprisun over there. Megatron, now a good Autobot, probably uses the last of his energy to fire his fusion cannon. In a very bad ass way, really cool move. Noble move to protect the Terran, the next generation. 

But it’s not his sacrifice that saves Hashtag. It’s Starscream that jumps and gets dragged away by the Dweller, leaving behind a rather dumbfounded Megatron. Seeing Starscream scream ‘NO!’ and dash toward danger to save someone, has probably blown a fuse or two in his processor. 

At the end of the episode, when he proposes ‘somewhere safe’ for Starscream, I see this scene as Megatron realizing he’s not the only one who changed. Earth had an impact on both the ‘Cons and the ‘Bots. He should feel bad for attacking Starscream right away, especially with Hashtag right there who could have easily got hit in the crossfire. He let rage consumed him and went down the dark path. All it got him was scars and Hashtag distrusting him.

So when it’s time to get fixed, the scars are the first thing the medic worries about.

I'd like to propose that Megatron keeps them. I HC so hard that the scars stay on his faceplate as a reminder. Like the scar on his shoulder, those streaks are a reminder that he would lay down his life for the next generation and that letting his rage control him again has consequences that would hurt him. Rage and solitude versus love and family. 

I could go on and on about this, let the old man be battered lmao

[eryingsfate]

Till The End. pls.

That’s from like a year ago-

Anyways Till the End was supposed to be a Blitzbee week post but I fell out of the fandom. The fandom being Transformers: Animated(2007)

——

The night sky was clear and the moon was shining brightly, which should have been Blitzwing’s first sign that something was going to happen. He was flying over the forest, about 20 miles out from base.

A faint whirring sounded, nearly indistinguishable above the wind roaring in his audials. ‘Why must I take night patrols? Lugnut is as equally capable!’ Blitzwing grumbled internally and allowed his mind to wander until a familiar yellow blur passed under him, going faster than most organics would, willingly at least. The decepticon trailed the blur before going ahead and landing a bit in front of Bumblebee. Blitzwing transformed and his faceplates spun, “Well, would you look at that! A little insect all on its own! I do wonder what I could do with you?” Blitzwing cackled, his glossa visible as he did so.

“Back off ‘con!” Bumblebee activated his stingers and instantly prepared to attack Blitzwing.

‘So much confidence in such a tiny bot! I could crush him under my pede and he’s still trying to act like he has the upper hand.’ Blitzwing couldn’t help but admire the small autobot’s tenacity.

Whirr

“I will crush you like the insect you are!” The two were engaged in a standoff. Bumblebee seemed to think for a minute before speaking up, “How about we make a deal? I don’t shoot you, and you don’t shoot me?”

“Make a deal with an autobot? Ha! And they call me crazy!” Blitzwing didn’t let it show, but he considered this deal, after all it just would avoid causing unnecessary injuries.

“Look Blitzbrain, bossbot tells not to engage with ‘cons while we’re on patrol and I don’t exactly want to get put on house arrest!” Blitzwing just nodded and lowered his canons.

“Do not tell anyone about this, or I will have your helm autobot.”

“Wasn’t planning on it.”

~

“We meet again, bug!” Blitzwing looked at the minibot in front of him, who just grinned.

“Not going to raise a canon at me, ‘con?” Bumblebee laughed, but kept himself ready to run just in case.

“Would you like me too?” A cackle and the sound of whirring came from the activated canon.

“No thank you!” Bumblebee jumped back and gave a nervous smile to Blitzwing, who was cackling at the autobot’s fear. ‘He’s so easy to make fun of!’

——

The outline was Megatron about to kill Bumblebee and Blitzwings memories of the two were flashing before him as he had to make a choice to save Bumblebee or stay loyal to the decpticons… secret relationship aus lol

[ayyy-imma-ninja]

Good morning.

I'm curious, if this was in the D&D or Pathfinder universe, what would the Royal Au character sheets look like?

Would Sir Sun and Sir Moon be paladins or fighters? Would y/n be maybe a rouge? Despite being royalty?

Just kept having funny thoughts of Sir Sun rolling a nat1 on something as easy as jumping over a log. Lol

ooh, good question!

Hmm, I think either Paladins or Fighters would fit either Sun or Moon, or both. I know Sun being a paladin has been rather popularized. And I think a Rogue would definitely suit Y/N.

LMAO- If he gets a nat1 for stepping over a log, he doesn't just trip over the log, he fucking EATS the log, straight up faceplant and getting his head stuck inside and finding it full of bugs XD poor guy

[sphnyspinspin]

The General

— — —

The fight was over…this stranger that came out of nowhere got the jump on them. Arcee was pinned down underneath the newcomer’s left pede, Bumblebee was being held by his neck by only a singular, huge, servo, and Breakdown was decommissioned, as he was practically hurled across clearing. This stranger wore a decepticon badge across their chassis, and with that in mind, guess it would make sense for them to attack a seemingly defenseless autobot squadron when the opportunity arose. Despite one member of the group having a decepticon badge, that didn't stop them from being attacked by someone who was from the same faction apparently.

And then the stranger finally spoke, “Now that that’s settled…so tell me…how, and why, are you here?” staring straight into Bee’s optics as he was too banged up to properly escape the decepticon’s grip on his neck.

With gritted dente and a wince from the yellow autobot, he was just about to speak up until he was interrupted by Arcee’s strained reply, “Who wants to know? I-I take it that you’re not-ugh, from around h-here. Are ya?” as she was struggling to find some sort of bearing, she kept trying to hoist herself up, but the big pede connected to an even bigger bot kept pushing her back into place.

Looking down at the pink autobot underneath their pede, “That’s confidential. And I wasn’t asking you.” Then the weight underneath their pede suddenly shifted as they slowly added more of their weight onto Arcee’s already beaten up frame.

There might as well be a large footprint embedded into her chassis after this. As the pede lowered down, compressing Arcee slowly, until the weight was taken right back off of it, so that the autobot could appropriately answer the question. “Now let's try this again. And some quick advice, stay down and quit getting off topic, or else your friend here will have to face the consequences.”

A jolt of pain was being sent into Bee’s processor as the behemoth holding him up, tightened their grip around his neck cables. The big bot however, seemed somewhat internally agitated, almost as if they just wanted to get this whole thing over with.

The big bot in question was large. They were probably taller than Megatron. With dark gray faceplates connecting to a piece of dark plating covering where their lip-plates should be, limiting the amount of emotion they could express. Optics as bright and as red as any other decepticon’s empowering gaze. Armor colors ranging from a strong magenta, being the most apparent color of their chassis, to a bright yellow, covering their servos and the helmet decoration on the back of their helm.

The bot eased up on both their grip and the weight on their pede, and let out a grunt with a heavy sigh, “Listen…just tell me this, are there more of you guys on this planet? Are there more decepticons on this planet?”

“Like we would tell you that-hrkk-” Bee confidently replied.

“Let me guess, is it because I hurled your friend back over there? He's a decepticon you know…he was just going to use you-” then before they could finish their statement, Breakdown charged out from the horizon and chucked a large rock at the con’s head.

The heroic action backfired as their servo met the rock, catching it just as it was about to hit the back of their helm. What they didn't realize was that the second rock was being hurled right after, making a strong enough impact to their helm. Startling the stranger enough for them to drop Bumblebee.

Bumblebee took to nursing his neck, feeling new dents as he was practically strangled. Not wasting another second, he transformed his servo into his stinger and aimed it at the con while getting some distance between them.

Like it was just going to be that easy.

The con released their pede from Arcee’s armor, grabbed her by the shoulder, and threw her at Bumblebee, electrocuting them both. With Breakdown going as far as to hurl himself at the perpetrator, and taking another swing. Which was dodged immediately.

As the stranger roughly elbowed Breakdown in the back of his neck, he was knocked out. And while the con was occupied with finishing Breakdown, they kicked his body towards Arcee and Bumblebee. Colliding with the two, making them tumble even further from the enemy. Officially rendering them all beaten to a pulp.

Until the stranger finally had enough. They decided that these guys just weren’t worth it. Admittedly, they put up a pretty good fight, but it was almost too obvious that they hadn’t taken on anyone with their amount of strength in a long time. At least not recently that is. It was strange though…why in the name of Primus would three unlikely bots, one of which was a con, be on patrol together, on this dingy dirt-rock planet; far away from any cybertronian-colonized planet?

Right as the stranger was beginning to take off and leave the three bots for scrap, a blast was shot at the stranger—nearly avoiding their faceplate.

“Bumblebee! Are you and the others all right?” Called Optimus.

Bumblebee didn’t respond with words, but instead groaned and shakily held a thumbs up. And that was more than enough for Optimus.

The stranger was only stunned for a split second. Until they equipped their own ray gun. But they were more than just stunned at the opposition—they were absolutely shocked.

The Optimus Prime?! And Elita-1?! Alive?! But their peers said—

Before the stranger could properly absorb their newfound information, they saw something flying right towards the fight. Landing right beside Optimus and transform into…into…

Aiming and readying his canon Megatron began “Stand down! Or else—!” Megatron was prepared to face off this cruel stranger. But…he wasn’t prepared to see a familiar face. He lowered his canon and with anguish ridden optics and his vocaliser resetting he started.

“…Strika?”

“…Megatron?”

— — —

Context: Oh boy…I started writing this like MONTHS ago. Like, before the rest of season one came out, but the whole story takes place after the events of everyone saving the world and junk. If that makes sense? Also the ending is kinda rushed so…yeah.

[kittykallikat]

Dont rocket jump when you're sick

[gilbirda]

Friendly neighborhood vigilante. Chapter 9

BatmanxDP crossover. JasonxJazz

NOW WITH ART! -> How Jazz looks like when she knocks on Jason’s door

Companion piece: Jason’s POV of the second half of this chapter.

Context note: Essence, mentioned here, was the daughter of the leader of the All Caste, a hidden sect of warriors that trained Jason in the time before he came back to Gotham as Red Hood. They had an intense relationship, but it ended when he chose his revenge over living with the All Caste.

[Read on AO3] [Read on FF.net]

Based on this post

First chapter || << Previous chapter || Next chapter >>

“You guys KISSED?” 

Jason was very tempted to turn off the comms and just abandon his brother without further explanation.

“I need all the details!”

“No.”

“C’mon Little Wing!” He heard the wind rush and the sounds of his brother jumping around the rooftops. “I’m so invested in your love story, I need this!”

“There’s nothing to tell. Shut up.”

“But you have a date-date, right? Are you guys going out!?”

Telling his brother about the date thing had been a mistake, Jason decided. He thought it would shut him up at once about the stupid family dinner, but it backfired and now he was trying to interrogate him for details, instead of, you know, do their job.

“Yes, it’s a date. I refuse to keep talking about this.”

Dick complained a little more, but yielded, for now. At least he would stop insisting on the family dinner thing-

“By the way, dinner has been postponed.”

Fuck.

“B has been called for some urgent Justice League mission. I mean, officially it is still on for Friday, if the mission goes well then he’s supposed to be back Friday morning. But we all know that nothing is ever that easy.”

Did a god hate him? Did he offend a powerful entity so much that now it was out for his blood? 

“So unofficially family dinner is next Friday, instead of this Friday.” By his pause, his brother knew exactly what he was doing. “And since you guys are going out-”

“Stop. I’m not going to dinner, she’s not going to dinner.” He stopped right where he was. If Dick was going to continue this he was leaving, favor or no favor. “I won’t expose her to this family’s bullshit. She doesn’t deserve-”

“We will be on our best behavior! I promise.”

“It's not about that!” Nightwing kept quiet, probably surprised by the intensity in his voice. “She’s too good for this family, too good for all the vigilante bullshit and the secrets and constipated old men that can’t accept the truth and too good for- for…”

“Too good for you?” The older man said in a soft voice. Jason hated it. He hated that he was treating him like he would crumble down or flee if he raised his voice.

(Would Jazz prefer someone capable of being this soft?)

“I’m not having this conversation with you.” He turned to leave.

Dick didn’t try to talk him down. “I think you are perfect for each other.” He said instead. “And I think she loves you.”

“What the fuck do you know? You haven’t talked to her.”

“Excuse me, I teach her gymnastics.”

Oh right. The Sunday gymnastic classes. She had talked excitedly about them and how cool her teacher was - how patient he was with students and cracked jokes when she faceplanted to make her feel better.

Yeah. He was adult enough to recognize he got a bit jealous, but never got the courage to say that her teacher was his older brother.

(Would she ask him to introduce them properly? No, it didn’t make sense to get jealous. If she wanted to date his brother she could have asked him out already at the classes.)

“You haven’t seen her with me.” He finally grumbled, annoyed by his irrational thoughts.

“But I’ve seen how she looks at you,” Jason scoffed at the reminder that everyone had been spying on their dates. “She always has this spark in her eye when she looks at you and only you. As if you were the only person in the room with her.”

“Smooth.” Dick had always this way with words, the fucker, that people found charming.

(Would Jazz prefer it if he were that good with his words? He asked her out with the most pathetic speech ever. He still can’t understand how she said yes.)

“I’m just telling the truth, Jaybird.”

Was it true? He wanted it to be true. Feeling wanted, like he felt when he was around her, was addictive. He replayed the kiss in his mind again, how she looked him in the eye and asked if that was what he wanted. He could believe desire, he could understand infatuation, he would agree with a crush - but love was much more complex than that.

He had never been in love, but he had felt something close to it once with Essence a long time ago. He had been younger and foolish, and she had given him her attention and touched him like she wanted him. In the end he chose his revenge above everything else and with time and perspective he knew what they experienced wasn’t actually love.

Again, Essence didn’t look at him like Jazz looked at him. Maybe Dick was onto something.

“Robbery in progress, guys. This one is close to Hood.” That was Tim’s voice, who was running comms today. He had connected with the main channel for this patrol only, and the usual buzz was annoying, but it was part of the deal with patrolling with Nightwing.

Neither continued the conversation while the situation was dealt with, or even after that. Dick even quit the jabs about Jazz and their relationship, instead choosing to tell him about what he had done with his life all these years. Jason asked something here or there, but his mind was far away.

Once he was home after patrol, around four in the morning, he stood in silence in his living room still in his suit. Here is where it happened, where he finally took the leap and landed in a relationship with his neighbor. He still didn’t know how it worked - logically, it made sense since both had flirted a lot and had met up plenty of times, their compatibility off the charts. It made sense in his mind, but his heart still couldn’t believe it was real. 

Still…

He glanced at where she had been standing when he came back from cleaning the cut. He saw her eyes glow green for a split second, he was sure. How and why he had no idea, but it was an alarming item in the list of things that didn’t make sense about her. 

Would she tell him her secrets? What kind of secrets were those? Was she a metahuman and was hiding from Batman? Metas weren’t welcomed in Gotham and people thought it was because Batman hated them, even if the truth was much simpler - would you fight a Jokerized Superman? A mind controlled Wonder Woman? Metas were vulnerable in Gotham and a potential danger. 

Even if he explained this to her he wasn’t sure she would like it if he overstepped when she hadn’t shared her secret just yet.

He just… He had to trust her to come to him with the truth.

And then what? Would he show her his suit and confess about his other life? Tell her what he had to actually do on Thursday? That he couldn’t go on dates because he had people to kill, a drug operation to run, a whole bunch of Lieutenants to keep in line?

Would she be horrified? He would understand it if she did, even if it hurts.

Would she ask him to change? Would her love be conditional, after all? If she agreed to be with him at the price of giving up all of this, would he do it?

He shook his head. It was stupid to consider this. Also, he was jumping too ahead of the story, there was no need to lose his mind about something that could just never happen.

One step at a time - first he needed to go on a date with her that Friday. He was tempted to call her and move the date to next Friday out of spite, but then he’d have to explain why.

Whatever. He needed to change out of the suit, shower and then try to sleep. 

The memory of the kiss passed through his mind again. 

Try to sleep. ‘Try’ being the key word.

***

Jazz didn’t sleep. Maybe an hour or two, at most, because there was a moment just before sunrise where she didn’t remember falling asleep. It was a bit after she heard movement in Jason’s apartment, including the sound of the shower turning on. Patrol? Did he have patrol after dinner?

Oh dear, she hoped she didn’t hold him up for something important.

The thing is, she didn’t sleep. And coffee wasn’t a substitute for sleeping. So she went to work feeling like death and not really in the frame of mind to deal with whatever craziness the Asylum had in store for her. 

Sleep deprived as she was, her mind was half rotating yesterday’s kiss and half panicking about her revelation in the bathroom after leaving his apartment.

There were two important sides fighting inside of her, one for each option she had to ponder.

First option: not date Jason. Dating required a lot of work, time, trust and dedication; and while she was a very dedicated person, and when she set her mind on it she could do an insane amount of work, she was aware that starting a relationship with a lie was unhealthy. 

At best, she could damage whatever they had built, all the trust and companionship; at worst, she could get into Red Hood’s shit list and maybe Batman’s too, if Jason decided to put together all the clues on how weird she was and sold her out to the man.

Second option: date Jason. Neither said anything serious for the moment and they only said to try a date and see where it goes for them. There weren’t conversations about long term or compromise or revealing secrets. She could play by ear and sneakily find out if Jason knows about his liminality and maybe help him deal with it in exchange for his forgiveness for lying to him about herself. 

Who knows, she may even get away with it since Red Hood was Danny’s favorite Gotham’s (anti)hero, so he wouldn’t be too mad about her getting distracted from her mission and revealing his secret.

It was around the time she had to go home, feeling like crying from exhaustion, that she decided that fuck it, she was going to date the man. Stand by what she said, date him, and slowly and carefully reveal that there was something different in her, that she knew about him, until he confronted her with the truth. And happily ever after.

Easy. Flawless plan. 

Or maybe after a nap she could think of a better plan. Yes, a nap was a good idea.

She woke from her nap feeling well rested and maybe she dreamt about a certain neighbor and his arms around her, so that’s cool. Not really wanting to give up her dreams, she turned in her bed and looked out of the window, sighing when she saw it was already dark. She had some hours before her usual bedtime, and she could still try some yoga and see if it helped her sleep at a reasonable hour.

She was pondering the pros and cons of getting out of bed to make dinner when she heard it - the living room window was being opened. Her heart skipped a beat. Maybe it was Jason, well, Red Hood, coming to check on her? Maybe he wanted to confess about his identity before their date tomorrow?

The steps were silent, though, quieter than how Hood’s were that time she brought him to her apartment. So it wasn’t him.

Maybe a ghost?

Her ghost sense didn’t activate, but it didn’t work for halfas and liminals in general, so she didn’t trust it at all if it was Vlad or an unknown liminal.

Alright.

She quietly searched under her pillow for her staff, a modified version of the one her mother used. With a click of a button, the staff transformed from its compact form to the combat ready, full-length form.

Her steps were quieter than her intruder as she moved in the shadows, her training kicking in even after so long not needing this amount of stealth. It was like riding a bicycle. If she ever learned to ride one.

The stranger was also in the shadows and with his back to her, but she could see it was male, tall and not Jason. She didn’t hesitate, jumping at the stranger who decided to enter her apartment without permission and bonked him in the head with her staff before he could even turn around to see her.

He fell to the floor, completely out cold.

She sighed and re-contracted the staff, putting it on her kitchen table before crouching to turn around the body. Even with eyes adapted to the dark, she didn’t recognize the silhouette of who had tried to attack her in her own house until she saw his face. 

Nightwing? What the heck?

Jazz groaned. Great, she had attacked one of the vigilantes. Amazing. Fantastic. First she puts a cream that could have done real damage to Red Hood, and now she has an unconscious known associate of Batman’s on her living room floor.

In her defense, people don’t usually sneak in girls' apartments at night without bad intentions. She was acting as any other woman living alone in Gotham would have done. That’s it. She was innocent!

Jazz watched the unconscious body at her feet for a moment, considering her options. What could she do now? Think logically, Jasmine.

She could wait until he woke up, but that meant: deal with having attacked him and how he would react, deal with what he wanted from her since he was in her apartment, and (potentially) deal with other bats or birds coming after her.

Or - she could throw him out of the window and let him sleep it off in the fire escape stairs. Outside was cold, and it felt cruel to just abandon him to the elements, but it was the safest option for her. She was trained and she had her favorite weapon at hand, but she had seen the crazy stuff the bats could do and she wasn’t sure she could fight one on one any of them.

Jazz tentatively kicked the vigilante’s side, jumping back in case he woke up. 

He didn’t.

Also, she was starting to regret hitting him so hard and was thinking about placing him on her sofa and putting a blanket over him. Would he like tea? She couldn’t cook but she knew how to make tea, it was her only redeeming quality according to Danny. Not that he liked tea in general, but he said hers at least didn’t taste like burnt leaves.

Focus on the unconscious vigilante, Jazz. 

There was a loud sound from Jason’s apartment, followed by a curse. He was still at home. Would he know what to do with an unconscious vigilante? She saw them standing together on the roof the other day, so they must at least know each other.

Was Red Hood friends with the bats? They were not enemies, since Batman stopped chasing after him, that’s for sure. She wanted to ask what was the story behind the cease fire.

But she couldn’t until he told her about his identity himself. Ugh! This was so annoying.

Focus.

Jason was at home. She could just walk over there and ask what to do in case you have a passed out vigilante at your home, you know, the usual. Or maybe she could ask him if he could come over real quick and help her with something? 

Both options made her seem so suspicious, though. Even if he weren’t Red Hood and wasn’t trained to expect traps and such, a normal person wouldn’t just brush off something like that.

Okay. She could go there and explain the situation, ask if he wanted to help and then ask if he could come over to help with the situation.

Their kiss from yesterday flashed in her mind, the feeling of his lips on hers vivid in her memory.

She groaned into her hands. Not the moment for this, Jasmine. She had time for an existential crisis after dealing with Nightwing.

Bracing herself, she walked to the door and opened it, her eyes adapting to the bright hallway. It was easy, she only needed to drop completely unannounced and ask her neighbor, who was secretly a vigilante but she wasn’t supposed to know, to deal with a passed out Nightwing in her living room.

Wait, were they friends? Would he get angry at her for attacking a friend?

She was overthinking this. She just needed to go over there and ask.

Bracing herself again, Jazz stepped into the hallway-

What if Nightwing woke up while she was bothering her neighbor? What if he went to her apartment to snoop around and steal something? What if he came here to investigate her-

She did a one-eighty and marched back to the still unconscious vigilante. She had to carry him, there was no way he could be left alone in her apartment, no matter how brief her asking Jason for help would be. 

Jazz hesitated. Carrying him wasn’t a problem for her - one of the perks of her liminality was the strength and she knew she could lift the man, no problem. It was that, well… 

She blushed. 

For the longest time, Jazz has had a crush on the hero. Since he started making headlines, she latched onto the celebrity hero like a teenager with a crush because she was a teenager with a crush. She had a brief career as a fanclub president for a moment there; but after a while she decided that she needed to “grow up” and ripped all her posters from the walls and stored them in a box. The box was still hidden in her childhood room’s closet, to never be seen by anybody.

And now she had the chance to touch him. It felt surreal. It also felt kinda wrong to feel her heart flutter as she knelt and grabbed the hero’s arm and leg to pull him into a fireman’s carry. 

If only the people that wrote all that NightwingxReader fanfiction back in the day saw her now.

Jazz shook her head, thinking about her - uh, were they dating? Jason was her boyfriend, right? Ugh, they really needed to talk about that. Not now though, as she was going to carry a passed out man to his apartment.

Now feeling guilty for hitting the vigilante AND feeling weird for remembering her celebrity crush on him, Jazz marched back out and was soon ringing the doorbell of Jason’s place.

She heard his heavy steps approach the door and stop without asking who was there. He was probably looking at her through the peephole, so she smiled awkwardly at it.

“Hey.” Jazz shifted her grip on the man around her shoulders so she could secure him with one hand, using the other to wave.

Jason opened his door.

“Hello???” His eyes were of the unconscious vigilante instead of on her. 

Good thing, because he wasn’t wearing a shirt and it was a bit distracting. She wasn’t expecting to see that today. Also, he had so many scars, that it was difficult for her to not stare. 

“I can explain.”

His only response was to slowly blink and then start laughing. Jazz stood there awkwardly in the hallway, very aware of the absurdity of the situation, and very aware that Nightwing could wake up at any moment and she didn’t want it to be while he was on her person.

“Please, tell me what happened,” Jason finally said, stepping away from the door to let her and her cargo in, “and spare no detail.”

Relieved, she went into the apartment, vaguely remembering the comment about vampires and needing permission to enter. She was not a vampire, that was Vlad’s shtick, thank you very much.

“Wait, I need to take a photo.” He stopped her before she could let the vigilante down on the sofa. 

“Why?”

“To remember this moment?” By his smirk as he grabbed the phone and opened the camera app, his motivations weren’t those exactly. 

Yeah, these two were friends.

She weakly smiled at the camera, not really sure what she looked like after having a sleepless night, a horrible day at work and a nap. Her hair was probably all over the place.

“Ok. Explain.”

Jazz let the body drop on the sofa and sighed. 

“Broke into my apartment. I got scared and just… hit him.”

Jason’s smile got bigger. “And he let you?”

“Um, he didn’t see me.”

“And you just hit him?”

“Yeah. Bonked him in the head.”

If Jazz had to describe the way he looked at her, she would use words like “heart eyes” and “lovesick”. She blushed and looked away, noticing the guns and the holsters on the kitchen island they had dinner in, ready to be strapped to his legs before going out and doing vigilante things.

She acted as if she didn’t see anything and turned back to Jason checking on Nightwing, poking him here and there.

“He seems fine to me.”

“I didn’t hit that hard,” he glanced at her with an eyebrow raised, as if he knew better. Had he seen her make unnatural displays of strength? She had been careful, or at least she had tried to. “Anyway, can you help me or not?”

He blinked slowly. “With what.”

Jazz narrowed her eyes. “About Nightwing?”

“You want me to get rid of the body?” He sounded confused but highly amused by the whole situation.

“What? No!”

“Because I can get rid of-”

“-m not dead.”

“Oh great, the princess awakens.” 

“Shut up Jaybird.” He grumbled, trying to sit up on the sofa.

Alright. Ok. This is fine. Nightwing knew Jason out of his suit, and probably viceversa, but neither knew she knew.

It was time for her to go, before she made things worse.

"Okay, I see everything's fine, then." She laughed nervously, pointedly not looking at the costumed vigilante. "Thanks, Jay. See you tomorrow?"

"Huh-" 

She didn't give him time to process the reality of the situation, kissing him on the cheek and patting his shoulder. Being this close, she noticed a big scar on his chest - one line from each shoulder to the sternum and then down all the way to his belly button. She didn’t comment on it, but stored the information for another moment where she wasn't running away from an awkward situation.

"Bye ~"

With that, she did a very familiar escape from Jason's apartment. Twice in less than twenty four hours, huh? What was it about Jason's place that made her run away like this?

As she closed the door, she glimpsed at the shirtless vigilante clearly wearing Red Hood's pants and glaring at Nightwing, who was looking at her. Maybe. He had those whiteout lenses, so it was difficult to discern.

Back safe and sound in her apartment, Jazz took a moment to breathe. 

Ok. That was something that happened. She was ready for today to end, but was scared about what tomorrow had in store for her.

She prayed to anybody that listened for her date to be uneventful. Please. Just one good date. Was that too much to ask?

She realized too late that with her Fenton luck, she probably just jinxed herself.

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[mostly-marvel-musings]

Typical Stark

Request: Enemies to lovers prompt for Tony Stark by @agustdowney​ Hope you like this one babe ;))

Pairing: Tony Stark x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, sass, fluff.

Word count: 1400ish oops?!

Fall Prompts Masterlist

Tony Stark Taglist - @raspberrymama​  @ladyeliot​ @boop-le-snoot​ @make-a-memory-drink-it-up​ @loveisallyouneed1125​  @ownsmyheart​ @anthonyjanthony666​ @downeyreads​

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Tags are open! Send in an ask or DM if you wish to be in any of the taglists ;))

…

“Would you hurry up?” you whispered, looking around the room to make sure the guards hadn’t returned, gun at the ready in your vest, just in case.

“Why? You got a hot date?” Tony asked, not really wanting to know the answer, just a natural retort that escaped while his fingers flew over the keyboard in front of him as he retrieved data from the computer and backed it up on his drive.

“Even if I did I wouldn’t tell you.”

“Aww why? You know how interested I am in your sex life.” His snarky comeback making you clench your fists to stop yourself from slapping that smirk off of his face.

“Would you just—why don’t you hurry up so we can be on our separate ways? I have no intentions of fighting with you.” you huffed, not missing Tony’s shrug.

Why did Rogers send the two of you for this mission? Sure you were in an unknown city, which Tony just ‘happened’ to be in. The man could have handled it all by himself with all the gadgets he kept boasting about, but no, the Captain seemed to have sensed the hostility between the two of you and wanted the dynamic to be more amicable. Somewhere deep down you wanted the same, but given how he got your goat on every occasion, it was hard to say the least.

“All done Miss (Y/L/N). Let’s get outta here.” Tony spun around to face you, waiting for you to take the lead, you were covering for him today after all.

The guards were easy to dodge but apparently one of the cameras wasn’t, and Stark got in its range of vision, triggering the alarm and alerting the entire building. It didn’t take long for heavy footsteps to sound through the floors as heavily armed men ran in search of the imposters.

“Goddamn it Stark! We had this.” You cursed, running up the fire exit towards the rooftop hoping for a quick escape as Tony tailed behind, already winded from the climb.

Your eyes scanned the surroundings for a place to hide, at least jump into while Tony typed something on his watch. Six men burst through the doors and fired in your direction as you dodged every bullet before firing from your own shotgun, bringing two of them down successfully as your bullet hit them in their kneecaps. A few moments later, a swooshing sound pierced the air as you saw Tony’s Mark XIV flew down and enveloped Tony’s form in a fashion that temporarily managed to halt the ongoing combat.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a fucking suit?” you yelled as he blasted the remainder of men with his repulsors before walking over to you and taking off the ground, leaving you to grab onto his neck over the armor like a rescued ‘damsel’. You kept yelling and he kept ignoring and in turn, neither of you noticed a man firing a small device onto the suit with precision that stuck on just in time before the building went out of sight.

“I think we’re about to crash –” you managed to scream before Tony’s suit gave out and sent the two of you plummeting down towards the gravel covered road. He somehow maneuvered the fall so that he landed on his back and held you tightly against him, protecting you as the impact made the suit fall apart in pieces around him while you screamed before the hit knocked the wind from your chest.

.

Your eyes opened gingerly, unsure if you two had made it alive before Tony’s rapidly rising and falling chest reaffirmed you that you had. His grip on you hadn’t budged, the metal embrace now replaced with a shirt covered one.

“Tony?”

“Yeah all good. Are you hurt?” His voice came out muffled due to the still intact faceplate as you managed to roll off of him, Tony glanced at his watch that was smashed to pieces before removing the plate manually, revealing a bloody nose and a cut to his forehead.

Your ribs smarted as you stood up dusting the dirt off your clothes, your gun missing and arms sporting small cuts and bruises. Once the initial shock wore off, your anger resurfaced and began storming away from Tony while he was too busy getting his bearings to notice.

“Hey! What about my suit? It’s offline..I-I need to get it-” he called out but you cut him off after turning around fuming.

“That’s your lookout Stark. You didn’t even think to tell me you had a suit on standby. This whole fucking operation was a waste of my time. You could’ve just done it all by yourself but no here you are behaving like a typical Stark.”

You muttered the rest of the walk, not caring if Tony was actually listening, which of course he was, he hadn’t seen such a strong reaction from you ever. A part of him was amused but most of him was afraid so he decided to follow quietly. Looking back every so often to make sure no one was on their tail.

“Um..Where are we going?” Tony tried after a few breaths when your rage-filled stomping was replaced with a brisk walk.

Silence.

You came across an empty woodshed shortly after, that would have to suffice by the time you called for backup. Making yourself comfortable in a dusty corner after sending your location details to Natasha you glanced sideways to see what your ‘teammate’ was up to.

Tony was pacing about fidgeting and muttering something to himself just outside the woodshed.

“Would it kill you to sit still for a moment?”

“Oh we’re speaking now?”

“Never mind.”

Rolling your eyes, you slammed your head back to the wall of the shed with too much force as it resulted in tears springing into your eyes. Clenching them shut you prayed the team would extract you as quickly as possible because it was starting to get dark outside.

“I’m sorry (Y/L/N)” Tony whispered, his voice meek enough for anyone to miss but thanks to your super sharp hearing, you caught the unexpected apology.

“Definitely hearing things.” You muttered, eyes still closed.

“I just—I said I’m sorry okay? I shouldn’t have put you in unnecessary danger. I fucked up.”

“I’m very much capable of defending myself against any danger Stark. What you should have done is taken care of this operation all by yourself since you had your fancy toys.”

“I always have backup in any operat—“

“Then why the fuck was I called for this mission?” You yelled, finally looking at the man who looked like he’d just been scolded, eyes cast downward, shoulders sagged and mouth opening and closing without any actual words coming out.

“I insisted you accompany me today. I—I’ve always admired your combat skills, you’re quite a remarkable woman.” Tony’s admission left you speechless, you hadn’t expected this answer at all.

“You’ve ‘admired’ my combat skills?”

“That’s what I said.” Tony muttered, avoiding eye contact.

You didn’t know if it was the exhaustion finally setting in or the situation but you laughed, shaking your head at a realization unknown to present company.

Typical Stark

“You really have a thing for women in power don’t you?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Why else would you hire Natasha as your hot-shot secretary all those years ago? Insist I accompany you today? Why are you with the great Pepper Potts then!”

That little disdain in your voice over the last one wasn’t unnoticed by Tony.

“Well you’re right about the first two.”

“What?”

“Pepper and I aren’t together.” Tony stated, matter-of-factly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Why, she got tired of having a relationship with Dum-E instead of you?” You regretted saying this the minute it left your lips because Tony’s eyes met yours with a look of heartbreak that had you internally curse yourself.

“Bingo.”

“I—I’m sorry Tony, that was unnecessary. I didn’t mean to—”

He dismissed you with a wave of his hand, resuming his pacing as the silence stretched longer. 

“Well if you ever need to talk, or a drinking buddy.”

You waved your hand towards him offering him a small smile in hopes that he’d consider your attempts of making nice.

He chuckled giving you a curt nod, still a little embarrassed about his confession, but internally deciding which bottle of whiskey to crack open later today at the tower if you’d join.

Typical Stark.

I have a fluffy smutty Part 2 in mind already!

[goldentournesol]

The Receptionist and the Profiler (Epilogue)

Chapter Eight: Epilogue

(Spencer Reid x f!Reader)

Series Masterlist

General Masterlist

A/N: Welcome to the final chapter of the series. this is just a summary of what Spencer and Reader’s life is like in the future. thank you so much for joining me on this journey. I’ve enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would. So without further ado, enjoy.

Working for the FBI made for a pretty wild life. Even though Y/N wasn’t an agent, her life had been caught up with work just like all the other agents’. It also didn’t help that her boyfriend was endangered practically every minute of every day. It was hard, but Spencer and Y/N made it work. Among the darkness, they created light for each other. Spencer was no longer dreading coming home to a quiet life of reading and rereading his favorite books. He had a partner, he had a lover, someone to depend on. She was there for him as he grieved the loss of his friend and coworker deeply and she was there when he struggled with his excruciating migraines. They walked through life together, facing the challenges head on.

Emily’s death had taken a toll on the both of them, but they were nothing short of relieved when they found out that she was alive and well. Many changes took place after that.

JJ had worked long and hard to turn into a profiler, the liaison had years upon years of experience before switching jobs which meant Hotch had to find a new communications liaison, but he didn’t have to look far at all. He had offered Y/N the job without a second thought. A lot of her job as receptionist covered a liaison’s job. She would often get numerous calls a day from nosy reporters and she’d have to shut them down. However, with the added responsibilities, she’d had to take classes and had undergone copious amounts of training with JJ and Hotch, but she found that she flourished in this new job, despite the hardships that came with it.

This meant that she had her own office now. Whenever Spencer wasn’t at his desk, he was in her office, and whenever she wasn’t in her office, she was at his desk. She often found that she missed her old job as receptionist, but nothing could replace the newfound feeling of making a difference in the world. She used to admire JJ’s ability to stand before nosy reporters and judgmental cops, and here she was, blowing herself (and the team) away with these hidden abilities. 

Before, she was aware of the general gist of the job, she knew it wasn’t easy, but the team often kept the gory details to themselves around her. Now, she had to pick and choose the gore which constantly left her with the question of whether she’d made the right choice or not. The intensity of the job had slightly damaged her spirits, but thankfully she had an amazing support system. She couldn’t have done it without Spencer’s unending support, or Hotch’s for that matter. Before allowing Y/N to accept the job, Hotch had made sure to warn her about the horrors first. She assured him she was ready, even though sometimes she felt like she wasn’t.

On the somewhat bright side, this also meant that she was around during most, if not all cases. This had Spencer jumping for joy, but it also terrified him to his bones. All his emotions were always on overdrive when it came to her. He was glad that he didn’t have to spend so much time away from her, but it simultaneously meant that he was constantly worried for her safety. He never wanted her to go into the field, ever. No matter the amount of combat training she did with Morgan. She found that she preferred interviewing victims’ families and controlling the press to facing serial killers head on anyway.

Sometimes it was easier for her to control the press from Quantico, so it wasn’t uncommon for her to stay back during cases. One particular case had dragged on for much longer than any of them had expected. The whole team was gone in Wisconsin and Hotch had asked her to stay back and hold down the fort at Quantico. The team ended up staying there for two weeks. It was the longest she’d ever been away from Spencer. Nightly calls weren’t enough for them and Spencer truly hadn’t experienced such an emptiness without her before.

As he scooped her into his awaiting arms right outside the elevator when they finally made it back to the office, he breathlessly declared to her, “Marry me.”

She pulled back from the tight embrace to examine his features, “What?” She said, voice thick with confusion.

“I don’t want to be away from you for that long ever again. I don’t want to wait anymore. Marry. Me.” He enunciated firmly. She broke out into a grin.

“Okay, I will.” She laughed and he squeezed her once more, savoring her warmth.

“This isn’t the official proposal by the way, you deserve something far nicer than all this, but I just want you to know that I’m ready if you are.” Spencer clarified and she threw her head back with laughter. Spencer’s heart soared at the sound.

Spencer took that statement and ran with it. He teased her every chance he got. At one dinner date they had planned, he had the nerve to begin his sentence with her full name, her heart dropping to her gut.

“Y/N Y/L/N, would you do me the honor of...sharing this fine wine with me?” Spencer said smugly, resulting in a shocked, but somehow relieved scoff coming from her.

A different time, he decided to give her a false alarm during one of their daily lunch walks in the park nearest to Quantico. He knelt down to one of his knees in the middle of their promenade.

“Y/N Y/L/N, will you...wait for me while I tie my shoe?” Spencer asked with a face-splitting grin. This time, she didn’t hesitate to shove his shoulder slightly, causing him to lose balance and almost faceplant into the pavement.

At this point, she truly had no idea when he was going to pop the big question. Knowing him, it could literally be at any point in time. She had to admit, though, he kept her on her toes. A month later, she was sure he’d pop the question during JJ’s wedding reception because of the way he was staring at her all night. He’d looked dreamy in his tux to say the least. Y/N was almost too shy to dance with him because of how magnificent he looked. What she didn’t know was that he was thinking the same exact thing about her. She looked exquisite in the evening gown she adorned and Spencer was absolutely enraptured by her. 

Being so surrounded by love and admiration, Spencer finally asked her to marry him the second they made it through her front door. They stood in the small hallway between the kitchen and the living room. She had just turned around from taking her heels off and was met with Spencer down on one knee, holding the most beautiful ring out to her in a navy blue velvet box.

“I had this elaborate speech planned, Y/N, I really did. I was going to talk about the stars, about the first conversation we had when I told you about the origins of yogurt, about how stupid we were for not realizing our love for each other earlier, but I realized that none of that matters right now. All I know is that this feels right, you make everything feel right. Will you marry me?” Spencer asked, his face incapable of hiding even a sliver of the adoration he felt for her.

“Yes, I’ll marry you in every lifetime and every universe.” She said, tears falling freely from her eyes. He sprang to his feet and wrapped her up in a long awaited embrace. He felt her body shake with wet laughter against his. He placed the ring on her finger and quickly kissed her passionately. Their giddy giggles flew through and around them.

Spencer knew she didn’t want a long engagement. Her previous engagement was hard enough of the both of them. Their jobs were just so demanding, it was hard to set a date and keep from pushing it back. Their wedding planner was beyond frustrated with them, but what can they do? They’re literally out there saving lives. And before they knew it, two years had passed them by and they were due to be married in two months.

But, alas, Spencer Reid seemed to have a knack for getting shot by unsubs right before weddings. While they were investigating a difficult case in Texas, Spencer was shot in the neck. Y/N was at the police station when she’d heard. She wasn’t sure who took her to the hospital to see him, everything was a blur since she got the call. She was plagued by the fear of losing him. 

She’d overheard Alex Blake and JJ discuss how he’d always wanted children when she arrived at the hospital. In the back of her mind, she screamed that she’d give him all the kids he wanted, if the universe just let them breathe. 

All too quickly, she was a sobbing mess in JJ’s arms. He’d gotten hurt before, he’d been in danger before, but she’d never been as close to it as she was then, it terrified her. Garcia had arrived and guided her to Spencer’s room. In another flash of events, there was a loud bang and Y/N had barely registered that a gun was shot inside the room.

The ringing of her ears subsided just enough to hear Spencer tell Garcia, “You saved my life, do you hear me?” 

That was the second time his life was endangered in the span of two hours. Y/N looked her fiancé square in the face.

“I don’t want to wait anymore. As soon as you’re up and well, we’re getting married.”

Exactly one week later, they’d rushed through whatever they could rush through. Thankfully her dress was ready and altered, the cake was made to order, but sadly, they’d given up their gorgeous, gorgeous venue. Rossi was more than happy to offer up his backyard and the couple found it more than fitting to commemorate their love in the very location where Spencer had first confessed his feelings to her and where she’d returned them later. 

Life truly came full circle as Spencer stood in the same exact spot where he’d confessed his undying love for her the very first time. Spencer did everything he could to keep from sobbing like a child as he saw the owner of his heart stand before him, just like she did that day, but this time adorning her white dress.

Being the romantic sap that he was, he recounted almost every milestone in perfect detail during his vows. Through the unrelenting tears, of course. Y/N’s words came out wobbly and wet, but she managed to get her vows out. There really was not a single dry eye in the small, intimate crowd. The entire team had watched them fall in love oh-so-gracelessly over the years.

Their ceremony was beautiful. It was different than JJ’s had been, it was more special to the two of them. Spencer was in nothing short of awe as he watched his wife sway with Henry wrapped up in her embrace on the dance floor. Henry’s little arms and legs were wound tightly around her, the bottoms of his shoes surely smearing dirt all over the back of her dress, but she didn’t care. Not when Spencer was looking at her like that. His throat clogged itself up as she caught his eye and smiled sweetly. The same thing was on both their minds, it was like an unspoken agreement had been made through some kind of special, invisible bond between them.

He couldn’t wait to have a family with that woman.

And they’d wasted absolutely no time. Three months after the wedding, Y/N announced that she was carrying a baby Reid. Tears and cheers erupted for them all. They had found the perfect little house with the help of Morgan. It was perfect for their growing family.

Pregnancy wasn’t easy on Y/N at all. Flying all around the country and helping catch serial killers was not an activity that pregnant Y/N wanted to engage in. The team had been more than forgiving as they dealt with her mood swings and crazy cravings. It also turns out that soon-to-be mama Y/N was especially helpful in chewing out unsubs in the interrogation room, but as useful as she proved to be, she couldn’t wait to pop the little peanut out.

Spencer and the team were rushing off the jet to the hospital as they’d heard Y/N had gone into labor. Spencer had only missed the very beginning and was by her side the entire time after that.

They welcomed baby Emelia Reid into this world on a chilly September night. Spencer was over the moon, he was borderline obsessed with looking at the baby and keeping a hand on her at all times whenever she was in the room with them. 

He waited for his mother to fly out a few days later just to meet baby Emelia. He wept as he watched his mother kiss the top of his baby girl’s head. No other feeling could ever compete with the one he experienced at that moment in time.

Emelia had grown into such a radiant little girl. She was a miniature hurricane of chocolatey brown curls and rosy red cheeks. She’d already blown her parents away as her intelligence only seemed to increase with time. The similarities she had to her father were astonishing. She was a daddy’s girl through and through, but Y/N didn’t seem to mind sharing him. Not when the sight of them together instantly melted her heart every single time.

Diana tried to be as active in the baby’s life as she could possibly be, however her condition began to worsen over time. Eventually, Diana had had to move in with Y/N, Spencer, and Emelia. Thankfully, their house was large enough, but taking care of a toddler and Diana while being 6 months pregnant was inarguably too much to handle for Y/N. She’d found out that she was pregnant again, and they were expecting another baby girl. Y/N had also taken time off from work to focus on the dilemmas at home. 

The at-home nurse was doing the best she could since Spencer was always either at work or off finding Diana some kind of new treatment. He’d told Y/N that he’d been going to Mexico to get her some special medication and so she didn’t mind as long as she’d been kept in the loop of where and how he was. Spencer Reid never kept anything from his wife. They were always transparent with each other. Y/N was glad that he’d told her about his trips down to Mexico, or else she’d be out of her mind looking for him. 

But suddenly, during one trip, he’d stopped answering her calls. Complete silence on his end. It had driven her absolutely mad. It was only until JJ visited her the next morning informing her that Spencer had been arrested in Mexico for the illegal possession of drugs and possibly murder. If JJ hadn’t been around to catch Y/N before passing out, she or the baby would have been in extreme danger.

But Spencer Reid never kept anything from his wife. She’d been adamant that she would have known if he was struggling with drugs again. The last time she’d seen Spencer was during the trial. He’d looked so terrified as they pronounced him guilty and shoved him away from her. From his family. He’d spared Y/N one last broken glance, his gaze drifting down to her swollen belly. Their second child was on the way and he won’t be there to meet them. He mouthed a heartfelt apology before they took him away. Y/N wept and wept until everyone but the team left the courtroom.

“How am I gonna do this, Pen? How am I gonna do this without him?” She spoke between breathy sobs. The baby, Emelia, Diana. She couldn’t do it on her own. It would break her.

“You won’t be alone, Y/N. We’re all going to help you.” Penelope reassured her, but the only thing that was capable of reassuring her was currently in handcuffs behind closed doors.

She’d had to keep Spencer’s whereabouts from Diana and Emelia. She’d told him that he was consulting a case somewhere in California, where he also had access to the beach. Up until that lie wasn’t viable enough. Emelia’s questions about her daddy absolutely tore through what remained of her heart.

Diana’s caretaker had apparently quit and a new one came by. Y/N thought something was off, but she pushed that thought aside as she worried over her husband and the baby that they were due to meet any day now. Two months had passed and Spencer was still incarcerated, he hadn’t allowed Y/N or Emelia anywhere near the prison, but she’d broken down at the possibility of him being locked away for 25 years.

She’d visited him once, right after the birth of their second baby. They’d had another beautiful baby girl, whose name had been decided long ago by the two parents. Baby Adaline. The delivery was immensely difficult without him, but she pushed through. Y/N had almost begged Emily to pull any, any strings she could to get them to meet since Spencer said he’d only agree to see them if he could ensure their privacy and safety. They’d managed to get them in with Spencer’s lawyer, Fiona. Y/N cooed to Adaline as she cradled her in her arms, wrapped in her little blanket. The cooing served as a distraction as she waited anxiously for Spencer to meet them in the small little room. 

Suddenly the doors emitted a loud buzzing noise, prompting a loud cry from Adaline. A sound that was strange to echo off the walls of this place. Y/N shushed her gently until she caught sight of her husband walking through the door. Tears gathered in her eyes as she took in his disheveled state. His eyes found hers and quickly flitted to the squirming bundle of joy in her arms. Spencer’s lip wobbled as he entered the room. Y/N shifted Adaline to rest upon her shoulder as she wrapped one arm tightly around Spencer. No touching was allowed, but the guards pretended to look the other way, courtesy of whatever strings Emily had pulled.

The three of them bawled against each other in an unceremonious reunion. Spencer at last pulled away from his wife and stared at the baby in the bundle. He hesitated to carry her. His hands were clean, but they still felt so dirty. How could his hands hold this beautiful gift of life while they’d been committing such heinous acts within these very walls? But one utterance from his wife made that all vanish.

“It’s okay, Spence.” She smiled slightly, angling Adaline towards him. 

He gazed at Y/N closely, as if checking to see if she was sure. Y/N carefully handed her over to him and he instantly turned into less of a shell of himself and had begun to resemble the man that Y/N could recognize. He cooed to her softly, kissing her face repeatedly. Adaline instantly quieted down at her father’s touch.

The small interaction had fueled the pair for weeks. Spencer found a source of hope and was determined to see through to the other side. He would not rot away in his cell forever. The team continued to try and crack the case from the outside. Y/N was instructed to be more careful than ever. She often brought Emelie and Adaline to work with her. She had not been flying out with the team, preferring to stay close to her girls until Spencer was back.

On one of the days Y/N brought her girls to work, she’d found out that Diana had been missing. Her caretaker was accompanying her to visit Spencer in prison and then neither of them had been seen afterwards. They quickly identified the caretaker as Lindsey Vaughn. If Y/N had been on the case with them ten years ago, she would have identified her, but she was just another face to her. Y/N was livid, Vaughn had been around her children, she’d been inside her home. If Spencer didn’t get to catch the bitch, they better believe Y/N will.

Spencer was released quickly after the BAU proved his innocence. He was on his way to the office now. Y/N had been peering into Adaline’s carriage when she’d heard the high pitched voice of Emelia.

“Daddy!” Emelia exclaimed, racing across the bullpen to jump into her father’s arms.

“Hi baby. Daddy missed you so much.” Spencer said, hiding his tears in his daughter's hair. He held her tightly to his chest as he crossed the bullpen and made it to Y/N’s office. He put Emelia down gently and scooped his wife into his arms.

“You’re back.” She said softly through tears. 

He hooked his chin over her shoulder and sniffled strongly. He might not be the same man he was before, but he still loved her unconditionally. He still loved all three of them unconditionally.

“I’m here.” He repeated the phrase out loud like a mantra.

And he was here, but he also wasn’t. His wife could tell that the man who stood before her had endured hell, but when he cradled their baby girl so tightly to his chest, it was hard to imagine him as anything other than a loving, gentle father, and a compassionate partner. She knew she’d hold onto that thought forever. Once they retrieved Diana, they knew they could face anything.

As long as they were together.

And they knew they would be, for as long as the universe would allow in this life, and then the one after that.

~THE END~

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thank you for all the love, feedback is always appreciated!

[wackysideblog]

A Short Story

Hi guys, since it’s been pretty much dead on this blog (Okay, I might have gotten distracted by my main blog.) So, I decided to kick my lazy butt into gear and actually show my face around here.

Starting off with this quick protective vore short.

Side Note: This is NOT STARKER. So don’t even think about seeing this as such because if you do, I’ll hunt you down.

---

Tony didn’t know how the mission went downhill faster than a snowball tumbling down a steep hill.

It was supposed to be simple, they'd go in, get the job done and bolt for it. Of course, something had to go wrong.

Tony couldn't say he was surprised, it wasn't the first mission he went on that things quickly spiraled out of control.

However, it was the kid's first mission and that's what made it worse. God, why did he let those puppy dog eyes sway him? Why didn't he say no?

Bringing the kid was a bad idea and now Tony was paying for it.

"Kid, jump!" Out from the corner of his eye, Tony watched as the kid flipped upwards from the man behind him while also barely avoiding his own attacker.

Tony spun around, dodging a punch before blasting the soldier in the face. His body was thrown backwards, crumpling in a heap halfway across the floor.

He didn’t stir.

He whirled around just in time to see Peter web the last one to the wall. Or at least he thought that was the last of them.

The kid's head jerked up, and Tony watched as the lenses on the mask narrowed. "I hear more coming."

Awesome. Just what they need and yup, Tony decided that this mission was talons up way too fast for his liking. "Okay, now we're ditching this popsicle stand, Underoos. Let's get out of here."

He wrapped his arm around the kid's arm while raising his hand towards the ceiling. The repulsor beam barely didn't anything against the roof, and Tony switched to the laser but they didn't even work. Great.

Whatever metal they used to build this place, it wasn't normal steel. Probably vibranium then.

Tony felt himself falter. "Kid-"

A wracking explosion echoed across the base and they both stumbled, looking up with wide eyes.

"Fri, what was that?" Tony fumbled for the kid's arm again. His Al didn't have time to respond three more soldiers rounded the corner but Peter was faster already raising his hands before they had the chance to hold up their guns.

However, Peter's web gave a pathetic psshhoo before it sputtered out at only a measly foot and fell to the floor.

Tony stared. He was pretty sure everyone else was too. Peter gave a nervous chuckle next to him. "Oops."

'Oops' indeed because now the kid was defenseless too. Sure, Peter could still do hand-hand combat but these guys had guns and over Tony's dead body he'd let the kid fight them without his webs.

Not saying anything else, Tony quickly raised his palm and blasted the three into the wall. They didn't get back up.

Tony swore his heart rate doubled when there was the sound of footsteps and a slamming door. Peter looked at him and he knew what the kid was thinking.

There was one way out: They'd have to force their way through until they got to the entrance. Tony wouldn't be able to through the roof's metal in time.

The only issue was that his suit was bulletproof but Peter's was not. He couldn't risk the kid's life like that with no protection, where he was the only one with the protective armor. He couldn't take that chance a second time.

Maybe he could give a quick run down, or at least reassure the kid—

There were more footsteps. Lots of them and Tony's heart stuttered a beat.

Sorry kid.

Tony spun around. "Alright kid, no time to explain but you have to trust me. This is gonna feel weird but you're gonna be safe."

"Wha-" Tony ignored whatever question Peter had and held out a steadying hand to place on the kid's shoulder trying his best to ignore the confused look he was given.

The confusion quickly gave way and Tony watched as Peter's eyes widened as he shrank under his hand. He knelt down as Peter became shorter, following him all the way until he was smaller than one of his fingers.

He didn't give the kid time to recover, just scooping him up in his hand and ignoring Peter's yelp of surprise. Tony looked anywhere but at the kid's face because he knew if he looked at it he'd hesitate.

Now wasn't the time for that.

Raising Peter up and opening his mouth, Tony tipped his hand so the kid would have no choice to slide in. Apparently, he took him by surprise because Peter didn't try to stick to him.

There was startled 'Mr. Stark!' before Tony closed his mouth again. He threw his head back, grimacing when Peter cried out as he slid on his tongue and swallowed when the small weight reached the back of his throat.

Tony grunted as Peter struggled, trying to fight against him, and swallowed again to speed him along, letting out a relieved breath when he felt the kid pass his collarbone.

"Don't move!" A voice behind him called.

Tony's faceplate slammed down and he spun around, raising his hand towards the small group of soldiers pointing their guns at him. Just as Peter finished squeezing through his chest and tumbled into his stomach, the gauntlet whirled to life.

A repulsor beam cut through the air, and the officers dove to get out of the way. A few brave ones had tried to shoot him, but the bullets barely dented the armor encasing him.

He flew up, wincing as Peter collided with the front of his stomach and scrambled around in barely restrained panic.

Pushing back his slight nausea, Tony kept at it, firing blast after blast at the soldiers. Some dodged but most didn't and then in one fluid movement, Tony did a rapid-fire of shots.

When the smoke cleared, it revealed the small group of men piled atop one another, their limbs all in a tangle.

Tony breathed in relief but he didn’t allow himself to get too comfortable. He thought he was safe, or relatively safe, before. It was a trap he wouldn’t fall for but he could talk to Peter.

"Kid, kid!" Tony laid his hand on the stomach of his suit, cringing at the clang it made and the way Peter jumped, pawing at his stomach. "Mr. Stark! Please let me out! I don't wanna— I don't-!"

"Easy, kid." Tony soothed trying to calm him, rubbing at the metal that Peter probably couldn't even feel. He tried ignoring the way his chest tightened from hearing the pure undiluted fear in Peter's voice that was directed at him of all people.

Distantly he could hear Friday buzzing in his ear about more people coming. "Pete, you're safe. It's okay."

"I'm safe?" Peter stilled, sounding so hopeful it made Tony's heart twist.

He nodded. "Yeah, kid. You're safe." I'll always make sure you are.

---

And that's a wrap! Ugh, I hate action scenes. They're my worst nightmare. Also this is just something I whipped out in my notes, so I know it's not great but I hope you still managed to somehow enjoy this.

Please do tell me of what you thought of this :)

[whats-rambled-rambled]

Smoke & Mirrors - part 3

Neil x Reader

Chapter 3: You know me too well

(see chapter 2, 1)

summary: The mission. And some blowing off steam after that.

warnings: alcohol mention, some violence, language and other explicit things, 18+ and I MEAN IT EVEN MORE THAN BEFORE

author’s note: I need to thank @vaneilla​ for planting the karaoke scene into my head. I found her choice of song absolutely glorious, and it evolved into... oh, see for yourselves.

As for everything else - I don’t even know.

4k words, bloody hell.

Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think, please?

___

“Thanks for nothing, Wheeler.”

She looked up from her tablet only to see a completely resigned Ives faceplanting on the couch in front of her. As she raised a brow, her glance drifted to The Protagonist pacing back and forth next to the window. 

When TP noticed the question in Wheeler’s eyes, he sighed. She realized that Ives must have filled him in already.

As if he could read her thoughts, the boss said, “Apparently, they’ve been at each other’s throats all day”

“You’re both damn lucky you don’t have to deal with their bullshit out there,” groaned Ives into the pillows.

Wheeler shook her head and a corner of her mouth curled into a knowing smile. 

“A little patience, guys. It's all going according to plan."

Ives muffled huff was enough of a comment, but TP stopped his pacing and shot her a confused look.

"How so?"

Wheeler bit her lip. It took her one minute around them in the canteen to guess what had happened. But if that somehow wasn’t obvious to her colleagues, she was in no place to share the information.

Of course, for a second she was tempted to say “oh, they fucked”,  just to watch Ives’ and TP’s reaction, but she knew better than to do so. Moreover, she had a weird feeling that those two morons would start being weird around them, and that wouldn’t help in the slightest. 

“Trust me, they are close to figuring it out. And then-...”

----------------

You rushed to the next cover, sending a round into a merc running in your direction. As you slid behind a crate and started reloading your rifle, the rest of the squad slowly made their way through the abandoned apartment complex. How all those mercenary groups kept getting their hands on inverted materials was beyond you, but as the boss was trying to figure it out, it was up to the ground teams to secure the cargo. 

"What's with the silent treatment today?" Neil’s voice rang in your earpiece. 

Your eyes quickly located him at the other side of the corridor. Even from a distance, you could see his raised brow as he glanced at you right before heading into the next room. 

"I'm focused on the mission,” you scoffed, checking out on the team before moving further ahead. “You should try that one day." 

As soon as you entered a new location, a bullet whizzed past you and your reflexes kicked in. A quick shot and you spun on your heel, hiding behind a pillar. 

Meanwhile, Neil glued his back to the wall. As another merc walked past him, he disarmed them in one swift move, tossing the gun away.

"Nah, I’m good,” he said casually. You watched him as he ducked under a fist flying at his face and threw a kidney punch himself. “Multitasking." 

You snorted, quite amused, jumping out of your cover to down two more men coming in. You caught Ives’ murderous glare as he moved past you, motioning you to keep up the pace. Nodding, you followed him into a staircase.

"I must admit, not hearing your voice almost made me forget how annoying you are,” you huffed through comms to Neil. Ives shot the merc waiting for you around the corner and you moved up. “And as I don't believe you can actually stop being annoying,” you continued, taking a position at the door, “but how about you don't talk to me ever again instead?" 

You heard footsteps behind you and as you looked over your shoulder, you saw Neil standing right there with his pistol cocked in his gloved hands. He leaned in, a smug grin plastered on his face.

"And lose that spiteful edge to sex we have going there?" he teased quietly and chuckled as your eyes widened at the audacity.

Wishing you could just shoot him in return, you turned away and entered the corridor. Ives waited for you at the door to another unfinished apartment and as soon as you reached him, he blasted through it, while Neil and his team took the door at the other side of the hall.  

"We, and I cannot stress this enough, do not have anything going there, blondie," you uttered through gritted teeth, sweeping through the rooms.

Sharp laughter resonated in your earpiece. 

"Sure sounds like someone needs round two, though."

Your mind involuntarily wandered back to the events of that late evening in the locker room. Neither of you has mentioned it for the last couple of days, and you kinda hoped it would stay that way. Not that you could ever erase it from your memory. And the worst part was, there were moments you were no longer sure you would ever want to.

A movement in the corner of your eye. 

That confusion might keep you up at night, but with daylight, you came back to your senses, and a little remark was not enough to cloud your lightning reflexes while you held a gun. A shot echoed through the room and another merc dropped to the ground. 

"In your dreams," you scoffed on your way back to the corridor. 

"Funny you should say that…" 

You noticed Neil walking into the line of fire in the last second.

“Watch out!” you shouted, grabbing him by the vest and pulling him back inside the apartment. You shoved him against the wall and pressed your forearm to his chest to keep him in place as the round meant for him cut through the now empty hallway. While the rest of the team returned fire and pushed forward, you caught a glimpse of fear in the blue eyes just before Neil managed to compose himself. The corner of his lips twitched into a nervous version of his usual half-smile.

For fuck’s sake...

“Well, this brings back fond memories,” he panted, raising an eyebrow.

You flashed your teeth and pressed him to the wall even harder. 

“Shut up and focus, goddamnit, or I swear I will let you walk straight into the next rain of bullets,” you fumed. 

Your serious glare made Neil gulp and nod slowly. You took a step back as you exhaled shakily. 

Readjusting the rifle’s strap, you shook off any remains of panic from your system. Neil watched you with an indecipherable expression on his face as he reloaded his pistol. You met his eyes, just to make sure he was good to go. Finding there what you were looking for, you smacked his arm lightly and ran towards the sounds of combat.

You joined your squad, focusing on providing support as you closed in on the final location. Neil rushed to the front of the action, and even from afar you could see his moves got more vicious, every blow and shot landing now with deadly precision. For a second you wondered what exactly got triggered inside of him back there.

Whatever that was though, it wasn’t enough to hold his tongue for too long.

"Hey, at least now you had a chance to slam me against a wall."

You rolled your eyes and sighed dramatically, already regretting saving his infuriating ass. 

“You know, I daydream about strangling you more and more often every day.”

A few shots later, the all-clear sounded through the earpiece. You moved to secure the exit as Ives checked the contents of the crates in the back of the room. 

Neil took a position right next to you, eyeing you curiously.

“Is it a threat or a promise?”

Seeing the familiar roguish sparks sent your blood boiling.

You narrowed your eyes, letting a sly grin on your face.

“Do you really wanna find out?”

“You two either kill or fuck each other already,” huffed Ives, walking by you with the most done expression you’d seen on him in years. “Whatever you decide, please keep it off comms, eh?”

You pinched the bridge of your nose, trying not to blush furiously. Neil’s failed attempt at stifling an amused giggle wasn’t helping in the slightest. 

As you finally looked back at the bane of your existence, he tilted his head, biting his lip before speaking up again, and somehow you knew exactly what he was about to say.

“I’m up for whatever.”

You groaned.

...yep, that was it.

----------------

One of the teams’ unwinding rituals included going to the nearby pub for drinks and karaoke. You weren’t the biggest fan of singing in public yourself and no amount of alcohol could change that, but you never skipped the opportunity of watching your squadmates getting shitfaced and pouring their hearts out through the mic. That night was no different, and even though you were taking it easy with drinking, the rest of the crew was already deep in the party mood. 

You watched Wheeler singing Black Velvet from your spot at the counter. You used to spend much more time together, but she’d got designated to leading inverted teams and you got stuck at Ives’ squad. Not that you were complaining. 

You always had good banter with him, and even the unfortunate beginning of your relationship wasn’t enough to change that. You ended up being good friends and you knew he always had your back no matter what. Even when he was absolutely tired of your bullshit. 

You cringed at the memory of his comment earlier that day. 

And because the universe wasn’t done with tormenting you just yet, you felt Neil’s presence next to you. You turned your head and glanced at him, ready to meet his aggravating stare. To your surprise, you found him standing there with his eyes fixed on his drink instead, evidently having an internal battle with himself. 

Neil noticed your puzzled expression and took a big sip from the glass before looking at you. A sheepish smile on his lips was something new, and it only made you even more confused.

“Hey,” he said, raking the fingers through his hair. “Thank you. For earlier.”

“Don’t mention it,” you huffed, frowning slightly.

“It’s nice to know you have my back, just in case.”

You were annoyed that he was making such a big deal out of it. But there was something in the blue eyes that softened your gaze and you gave Neil a reassuring smile.

“Of course,” you said and cleared your throat. “Besides,“ - a corner of your lips twitched - “I couldn’t let you get killed in such a stupid way right under my nose, I wouldn’t want it to taint my next eval’.”

“Sure,” he shrugged. “No other reason?”

“Like what?” 

You regretted asking the question as soon as it left your mouth. Because of course, Neil’s eyes lit up in response and he smirked.

“You would miss me.”

"Ah, there it is," you snorted, fighting the urge to punch him. "For a moment I was scared I was starting to like you, thanks."

He chuckled. “Oh no, we wouldn't want that now, would we," he teased, leaning your way with a roguish smile.

You clenched your jaw, trying to ignore the heart fluttering in your chest.

Neil hummed and downed his drink. A mischievous spark in his eyes suddenly made you nervous. 

“What now?” you asked, dreading the answer already.

Neil’s expression was nothing but innocent. 

“I believe it’s my turn.” 

You watched him make his way to the mic. Letting out a deep sigh, you shook your head. 

That man was going to be the death of you one day.

You finished your drink and joined the rest of the team in the booth right in front of the makeshift scene. As soon as you sat down, a familiar song started and your widened eyes darted at Neil, who was just casually adjusting the rolled-up sleeves of his striped shirt. 

...it must have been a mistake.

His wicked grin as he met your horrified gaze was enough to tell you he knew exactly what he was doing.

He started singing with no hesitation, smiling to himself.

Under the lovers sky

Gonna be with you

And no one's gonna be around 

Neil’s eyes fixed on you and he raised a brow. A small incoherent noise escaped your mouth, luckily drowning in your squad’s encouraging whooping.

If you think that you won't fall

Well just wait until

'Til the sun goes down 

You met Wheeler’s amused look over the table.

“Why is he that way?” you whined, hiding your face in your palms. 

Underneath the starlight, starlight

There's a magical feeling so right 

You could hear the smile in his voice and you forced yourself to glance back at Neil. 

it will steal your heart tonight 

Catching your eyes again, he winked, making you exhale sharply in response.

You can try to resist

Try to hide from my kiss

You thought about the way you evaded his kiss at that locker room and your chest tightened at that memory.

Don't you know, don't you know

That you, can't fight the moonlight

He knew the song by heart, and you couldn’t wrap your head around that fact.

Deep in the dark, you'll surrender your heart

But you know, but you know that you

And by the way he commanded everyone’s attention, you saw it wasn’t his first performance. 

Can't fight the moonlight. No

His voice was clear and he was definitely having fun up there.

You can't fight it

...too much fun, if anybody asked you.

It's gonna get to your heart

He walked up to the booth and a spike of panic flashed in your brain.

There's no escaping love

He made his way to Ives, a mischievous grin lighting his face.

Once the gentle breeze

Neil ran a finger along your friend’s bearded jaw, leaving Ives frozen in shock. 

Weaves a spell upon your heart

Neil turned to you and your breath hitched as you realized what was about to happen.

No matter what you think

A few steps more.

It won't be too long

He stopped right in front of you.

'Til you're in my arms

He leaned your way, putting a finger under your chin and tilting it up gently.

Underneath the starlight, starlight

He moved even closer, his eyes wandering along your features.

We'll be lost in the rhythm so right

The emphasis on the last words combined with the look on his face made your mind go blank.

Feel it steal your heart tonight

...that was clearly his plan for the night, huh?

You forced yourself to start breathing again as Neil chuckled through the next line. 

Bloody hell, you hated the effect he had on you. 

You caught a glimpse of a smug smile before he turned away. Leveling your breath, you watched as he stepped back on the stage, hoping he wouldn’t have any other stupid ideas.

But Neil seemed to be satisfied with what he’d put you through and just continued the song. 

He even aimed for one of the high notes, scrunching his nose and giggling as his voice wavered for a second, and you couldn’t stop your lips from curling at the sight. There was something endearing in his joyful demeanor out there, and you wondered how many sides to him you had yet to discover.

Before you had a chance to get too soft, he finished singing and looked at you again. The dark shade in his gaze sent a shiver down your spine. 

You needed another drink. Stat.

At least he had enough decency to let you collect yourself before he joined you at the bar. Neil ordered a vodka tonic and leaned his back against the counter, eyeing you curiously.

“So?”

You stifled a giggle, shaking your head. “For a second I thought you might start dancing on the counter."

He laughed at the reference.

"And for a second, I thought about doing that,” he said, reaching for his drink. He smiled slyly at your amused snort and continued, lowering his voice slightly, “but I didn't want you to lose your mind. Or faint, for that matter… I want you conscious for later."

Neil took a sip from the glass, savoring the effect of his words on you as you stared at him with a slack jaw.

"You want me--"

"Yes." 

You blinked rapidly, composing yourself. The last thing you needed was to give him the satisfaction of making you flustered so easily. 

But you couldn’t resist playing his game even for a moment. 

Just to see if he would back down.

"And what is it exactly that you think it's gonna happen later?" you said, taking a step in his direction. 

Neil raised a brow, turning your way. His gaze flared up as he searched your eyes for your intentions, moving even closer to you.

"Spoilers.”

"Riiight,” you smirked. The rising temperature between the two of you was slowly hazing over your mind, making your breath shallow as you taunted, “Or maybe you're all talk."

The throaty chuckle sent the heart racing in your chest. 

"Want to try me?" he teased, grazing his knuckles against your bare arm, and it took all your resolve not to tremble at the sensation. 

The pulse pounded in your ears as you took his drink from his hand, finishing it in one swing. You looked into his eyes, dark and yearning, and a corner of your lips curled.

"Well, no need to wait 'til the sun goes down', anymore."

“Blimey.”

A few moments later, you found yourself in an empty restroom, tugging at Neil’s shirt until your back hit the cold wall. His wicked grin widened at your eagerness as he grabbed your waist with one hand, running the other one through your hair. You splayed your palms on his heaving chest, moving them up to his neck to pull him closer. 

Neil tilted his head and leaned in to kiss you, but just as your lips were about to meet, your whole body tensed and it was enough to make him stop instantly. He pulled back to look at you, concerned.

"What's wrong?” he asked in a husky voice. 

You huffed, frustrated. At your own reaction. At him suddenly being all gentleman about it. And at yourself again, for not appreciating his concern. 

But it wasn’t the right moment to talk about it, and you were pretty sure he would be all weird about it if you didn’t say anything. 

"It's just--... “ you hesitated, your mind rushing to find any plausible excuse. As you finally found one, your face lit up and you nibbled at your bottom lip, staring at him challengingly. “Don't you get all soft on me now, blondie." 

You almost squirmed under his predatory gaze. Neil brought his hand to your throat, and as his fingers wrapped around it, he leaned to whisper to your ear.

"Suit yourself."

When his teeth grazed your earlobe, you gasped, feeling the feverish heat rushing through your veins. His mouth trailed down your neck as he moved his hand higher, tilting your chin with his thumb just before he brushed it against your lips. You shut your eyes and bit back a moan, feeling Neil smiling and then he ran the tip of his tongue along the crook of your neck.

All of the sudden, you heard voices on the other side of the door. Before you could react, Neil grabbed your hand and pulled you into the stall at the farthest corner of the restroom, turning the lock and pinning you to the wall again with your wrists above your head.

You exhaled sharply as you spotted the roguish sparks in his eyes. 

As some people entered the restroom, Neil stroked your temple with his nose and breathed, “Looks like we need to keep quiet.“ 

You swallowed hard and shuddered, the pulse thumping in your ears.

Still keeping his fingers wrapped around your wrists, his other hand wandered down your body slowly. He studied the way you melted into his touch, taking pleasure at the sight of the animalistic need that clouded your eyes. The last coherent thought left your mind when you felt his hand sliding under your dress, grazing against your thighs, higher and higher, and you bucked your hips, silently urging him to keep moving. 

Neil’s lips parted slightly and he leaned in, kissing your neck just as his fingers trailed under the hem of your panties right to your pulsing core. You threw the head back against the wall and your thighs tightened involuntarily as if to prevent him from backing away now.

“Christ, I’ve barely touched you and you’re already this wet,” Neil chuckled breathlessly to your ear and yanked your underwear down your legs in one swift motion. Securing the grip on your wrists, he palmed over you again, moving his hand back and forth, his digits pressing against your folds firmer with every stroke and you let out an inaudible gasp, feeling the fire at the pit of your stomach growing by the minute. 

But when his thumb started rubbing circles over your clit, you buried your face in the crook of his neck to stifle a cry ready to escape your mouth any second now. Without skipping a beat, Neil gently tapped his foot on the side of your shoe and you instantly followed his suggestion, spreading your legs for him. He hummed in approval, slipping one, then two, fingers into you, and you sank your teeth in your bottom lip as the sudden bolt of pleasure seared your every nerve. 

Neil picked up the pace, curling his fingers inside you just right, and a quiet moan built in your throat and you nuzzled your face into his neck even further; the spicy scent of his cologne ingraining in your hazed mind with every shaky breath you took. 

Feeling you getting closer to the edge, Neil let go of your wrists and pushed you back on the wall. Cupping your face with his free hand, he pressed a thumb against your mouth firmly. You panted heavily as he kept tracing your parted lips in almost the same rhythm as his fingers slid in and out of your throbbing core. You closed your eyes as the fire from the pit of your stomach almost consumed you. 

And just when you thought that you couldn’t take much more, you felt the pad of his thumb grazing against the tip of your tongue at the same time the other one flicked your clit. Your mind went blank and you sucked on his finger, trying to muffle a whimper.

“Good girl,” Neil breathed into your ear. “Now come for me.”

And so you did, your every particle dissolving into a blissful pleasure roaming through your body wave after wave. 

When you regained your senses, you were greeted by the self-satisfied grin you knew all too well. You scoffed and shook your head, too much of a mess to form a coherent comment. You listened for a second, trying to figure out if there was anyone outside, but it seemed that you two were alone, at least for now. Then your eyes wandered down and your mouth watered at the sight. 

Without thinking twice over it, you palmed the bulk in Neil’s trousers, looking up to meet his gaze. 

The hint of surprise mixed with the sheer hunger in the dark blue eyes made your racing heart skip a bit.

"Are you sure?" he rasped, placing hands on your waist.

You nodded, your fingers already fighting with his belt. 

"Stop talking."

Neil raised a brow, amused. 

"Maybe you should ask nicely."

You looked at him in disbelief and turned towards the stall’s door, huffing, "Maybe I should leave you like this."

Neil wrapped his arms around you.

"Mhm," he murmured into your neck as he squeezed your breast, his other hand sliding down your body.

"Fuck--" you gasped as his fingers pressed to your clit again.

His throaty chuckle vibrated on your back.

"What was that?" 

You moaned, rolling your hips to brush against him.

"...please."

----------------

You dampened a paper towel to clean your smudged makeup.

"Wanna grab something to eat?"

You glanced at Neil’s reflection in the mirror, watching as he tucked the shirt in his pants.

"You're reading too much into this,” you tried to make your voice as casual as possible.

"I wouldn't dare," he laughed, joining you by the mirror. "What if I promise not to talk to you unless you ask me to?" 

You mused over it for a moment, staring at Neil’s attempts to fix his messy hair.

"And if you break the promise?"

The blue eyes met yours and lit up.

"I'll let you punish me however you see fit."

You scoffed. 

...but then a corner of your lips twitched into a half-smile.

(next chapter ->)

[achliegh]

Golden

Prologue

Yeehaw Leo… it's all because this song came on one day (I don’t even really listen to country anymore so it really is fate). Leo is based off that song, each chapter is going to be based off a yeehaw song too.

Characters belong to @lumosinlove

TW/CW: Smut, terrible yeehaw sayings and jokes, injuries, mentions of past death, minor character death, underage drinking, mentions of past arrests, cringe

Chapter 1:

Picking Wildflowers

“Ohhhh Leo! Oh Leo! Leo! More More!”

“Please Leo I’m soooo cloosse! Ah! AH! AHHHH!”

Laughing both Finn and Logan were clapped on their shoulders as Thomas and James came up behind them. Red faced Logan and Finn laughed a long, a little more awkwardly and stiff, but much more relaxed than they were at the beginning of the trip.

They kept poking fun and walking beside each other to bump shoulders. Finn, who had a mild limp, and Logan , who still has a bite mark on his ass cheek, walked into the locker room. Everyone had heard the two of them moaning last night with their angelic cowboy so the chirping wasn’t a surprise. Then again, when everyone noticed Finn limping instead of Logan they couldn’t help but stare in wild amusement.

No one on the rest of the team got to meet Leo so they all thought he was some scrappy hick who is into threesomes. Which he is, but he also is one of the sweetest people Logan and Finn had ever met! He gave them a goodmorning/goodbye kiss. What an angel, but they don’t know that, or that he snuggled with them all night even when Logan thought he was a comforter in his sleep and tried to kick him off the bed. He held them just as close as they have held each other for years.

It brought a lot of feelings to the surface that Logan didn’t want to acknowledge yet. Finn knew he was got to daydreaming about Leo’s sweet words he whispered before they even got him into bed, all day.

“Is this all we are going to hear about today?” Logan sets his bag down in his stall and starts undressing. Huffing annoyed as he looked in his bag for his practice jersey.

“You think we would talk about anything else when your moaning of a hillbilly’s name is still fresh in our brain?” Sirius walks past them and bumps Logan playfully with his hip so he jolts forwards a little having to catch himself with his hands in front of his face so he doesn’t faceplant into the locker behind him. The shorter guy glares a little and sticks out his tongue in a show of true maturity. Taking off his pants and changing before anyone sees the bite, he turns around to sit and put his socks and tape.

He feels a tap on his thigh and looks at Finn who is holding his phone so only they can see it, and there is a text from Leo. They had both sent him good morning texts and added him to a group chat because they honestly really liked him, they literally talked about Leo as they got dressed that morning, but they weren’t for sure he would actually answer them.

Text From: Cowboy Sweet Ass

8:15 am

Y’all want to come help me with something later <3

I want to see you again before you leave :)

They share a look of equal excitement and slight arousal from what this implies, Finn texts Leo back, both having this dazed almost soppy look on their face, especially when they looked at each other. Leo was having an effect on the guy and everyone on the team could feel it. Chirping aside, they were happy for them. Maybe this would get them to finally talk to each other.

They could hope.

Leo was dressed for success, overalls without a shirt that were pretty baggy on him and his square-toed work boots, he was sweating in the summer heat as he pushed his hair back under his ball cap to keep the sun out of his eyes as the ranch hands worked with the horses and he worked on fixing the baler. It was nine am and over 80 degrees, sometimes he doesn’t enjoy Louisiana as much as he thinks. But nothing could ruin his mood, humming cheesy love songs to the radio, tapping the rhythm on the machine. Smiling, he takes a step back from the bailer and wipes the sweat off his forehead with the rag from his pocket.

He sees a light blue 1967 Chevy C/K10 pulls up the dusty driveway and parks in its usual spot next to the main house. Who else but Clayton, the man of the hour, hop out of the truck wearing one of his stupid short ass crop tops that stop just below his nipple, making it easy for Leo to tweak them when he annoys him, with his jeans, belt, and boots that are falling apart. Strutting over to Leo he smiles bright and meets him by the bailer.

Leo smiles and they dap, tapping their foreheads together.

“Sooo, how was last night? I saw you leave with those two buffies and I knew you were getting double.” Clayton smiles and hands Leo the wrench he needs when Leo holds out his hand and laughs a little. Leaning on the machine and tipping his head back to soak in the sun.

Leo and Clayton have been friends since kindergarten, having never been apart for more than two days, they told each other everything. They were so close that their parents think they are going to end up together someday. They feel different about it. But they tell each other everything, everything, maybe even too much sometimes.

Traveling together for rodeo has gotten them so close that people just assume they are related somehow. It gets weird when they drunkenly kiss sometimes though. Clayton roping calves and Leo riding bulls has made them a hot commodity with the ladies but they make it clear that they aren’t interested… or that Leo isn’t interested. Clayton would still tap that.

“Dude, they were amazing! Fuckin Montgomery Gentry got me laid.” Leo waits a second for Clayton to catch on, then when it clicks that he is talking about Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy, when he stands back up from where he was squatting next to the baler to fix the belts and gets a slap on the back as Clayton whoops. Jumping around he shakes Leo’s shoulders.

“That's fucking hilarious! They took that song literally! Damn, you gotta try and keep ‘em, are you seeing them again? Or was this one of your hook ups that could work but you don’t want it.” Leo narrows his eyes at Clayton and grabs him into a headlock, struggling to get away from the 3” taller man. Clayton falls to the ground when Leo lets him go.

“I don’t do that! Plus, I want them to go out to secret with me tonight.” Leo looks at him while wiping the grease off his hands and squinting a little as the sun gleams off the metal right into his eyes. The red creeping down his neck doesn’t go unnoticed by the dusty friend and he smirks at him.

“Playboy Leo going on a real date… damn they must have really had an impact on you.”

“Well they rode me at the same time, so that left an impression. It’s funny how I feel more comfortable with two people rather than one.” They start walking towards the house to grab some water and tell Eloise that Clayton is here, so when Judy calls they can tell her that her son is indeed still here.

“One on the dick and one on the face or something weird?” Leo smiles and shakes his head as he gulps down a glass of water.

“How do you just always know?”

Text From: Cowboy Sweet Ass

6:01 pm

I’m outside Sweethearts

ShortCake

6:01 pm

Comming out

CarrotStix

6:01 pm

I’m gey

Leo laughs a little as he reads the texts, he hasn’t stopped smiling all day after he gushed about the boys to his mom and sudo-brother. Texting them when he could he didn’t have time to change before he came to pick them up, but knowing how they react to him… it will be just fine.

Logan gets into the truck first, sliding into the middle and planting a kiss on Leo’s cheek making them both smile brightly and dopey. Finn gets in and leans over Logan to plant a steamy kiss on Leo’s slightly dry lips, taking him by surprise but he melts into it, pulling away until they are still close enough to bump noses.

“Hi” Leo can’t help but laugh as Finn smiles a blushes before sitting back and buckling up, Logan grabs his face looking a little excited and gives him a kiss as well, a bit more possessive and sharp but when they pull away Logan gets buckled while Leo is still blinking in shock.

“Nice to see you too.” He smiles stupidly and relaxes into the seat before switching gear and starting to drive, the rink is close to the outskirts of town. “Alright, tomorrow is mama’s birthday! So.. that means I need to get her some of her favorite things, like wildflower, smooth rocks, and some honeysuckle. I’m taking y’all to a place only Clayton and I ever go, and it has all of those things… and we can go skinny dipping because I like seeing y’all naked.” Leo smiles innocently at them for a moment as he pulls onto a gravel road and starts driving.

“You don’t plan to kill us right? I mean we could probably take you but… I’d rather you take me” Logan bites his lip and leans into Leo’s side, Leo takes his hand off the steering wheel to wrap it around Logan’s shoulders and takes one of Finn’s hands.

“Ditto.” Finn smiles and is looking out the window in awe, as someone who has grown up in the city and really hasn’t been outdoors much he isn’t used to seeing all of the thick trees and wild plants. He squeezes Leo’s hand in excitement.

After a half hour of driving and listening to some oldies music on the radio, they pull over to the side of the road and Leo turns off the truck. “Okay, one more kiss” He leans over and kisses Logan with hand on the back of his neck, humming in contentment before smoothly pulling away and kissing Finn in one smooth motion. He pulls away and sighs happily leaning his head back on the seat, when he opens his eyes he sees Logan and Finn kissing and his heart skips a beat watching them. “Okay, we have a job to get done before we get into some sexy stuff!” Leo is more so reminding himself than the other two who pulled away and are looking at him the same way they did last night.

Getting out of the truck Leo walks toward the woods he pulled up next to and notices the boys aren't behind him, turning around he sees Finn looking at him with the biggest puppy dog eyes through the window. Oh yeah, the door is sticky.

He can’t get the door open.

Laughing Leo walks over to the door and opens the jammed door with ease, bowing slightly. “Your majesty” Finn snorts and gets out of the truck before patting Leo’s head and moving out of the way for Logan to hop out.

Logan takes Leo off guard by leaning his full body weight into him after he closes the door, Leo being the sweetheart he is, just scoops Logan up like he weighs nothing and smiles when he lets out the most manly squeak. Finn sneaks a picture smiling as he moves to their side.

Leo leads them through the thick woods and only sets Logan down when they reach a Grove with a crystal clear small lake and flowers everywhere. It was beautiful.

“This is what we call Secret, because we don’t think anyone really knows about it but” He shrugs “Maybe someone does.” He walks forward and sits on a stump, around the stump is a bunch of small white flowers that are two lipped and smell very strong.

Finn walks towards the water and sees a bunch of minnows socializing in the shallows, crouching down he feels the water, taking note of how warm it is. Logan was mesmerized by all the flowers growing, all different colors of shapes. Bee’s buzzed around the surprisingly silent grove and Logan watched them before picking a couple handfuls of flowers.

Leo looks up at Finn first and smiles as he sees him picking out rock he finds because Leo mentioned they needed some, and then his eyes move to Logan who is holding armfuls of beautiful flowers and even has a couple of leaves and petals in his extra curly hair from it drying in the humid heat. Leo felt so at peace with the whole situation. It felt natural.

Logan hears someone walking toward him and looks up with his arms just overflowing with flowers, Finn is carrying handfuls of wet rocks that keep falling out of his hands and he keeps bending to pick up to just… drop more. It was funny and Leo seemed to agree as he was taking a video of Finn dropping and picking up stones.

“Here” Leo holds out a cloth bag and catches the rock that just fell out of Finn’s hand to finally stop the cycle. They put everything in separate appropriate bags before setting them on the stump Leo was sitting on before.

Turning to the boys and smiling, Leo unbuckles his overalls and drops them after he kicks off his boots, so he is just standing there in his tight teal boxer briefs that have dumplings on them. His smiles turns into a teasing smirk as he turns to face the lake having his back to his boys and takes his underwear off before looking over his shoulder at them and then running into the lakes and driving in. Fin and Logan strip so fast, tossing their clothes wherever and following this Casanova into the water.

Two hours of dunking, kissing, splashing and holding each other close. They decide to lay in the short grass of the grove where the flowers don’t reach, sprawling out in a circle, the top of their heads facing each other. They pass around a spliff that Leo brought in the pocket of his overalls. Relaxing in the setting sun as they air dry.

“What day do you guys leave?” Leo has his eyes closed as he is relaxing holding his hand out for the spliff as Finn shotguns Logan, handing it to Leo as they end up sloppily kissing each other before pulling away to answer.

“A week, so you can call us up anytime.” Finn smiles and rolls onto his stomach propping his head up on his hands as he watches the smoke fall from Leo’s lips. His eyelids feel a little heavy as the exhaustion from practice and the cbd from the weed soak into his nerves.

“Are we going to have sex tonight?” Logan also rolls onto his stomach bumping into Finn’s shoulder as he clumsily does so. Leo opens his bright eyes and tips his head back to look at them. “I am really tired but… I also kinda want to suck you dick.” Leo huffs out a laugh and flicks the roach into the lake where a fish slurps it up later.

“I would not say no to that, sweetheart.” Leo bites his lips a little as Logan flushes pink and crawls over to him sliding between his legs leaving light kisses and nips on the tops and inner of his thighs and watching him get hard. Then Logan notices it.

“Do- do you have a worm tattoo with a lasso on your inner knee?” Logan can’t help but laugh as Leo nods smiling. Finn, who has been in heaven watching, joins Logan between Leo’s legs and notices the small tattoo as well and kisses it.

“I have a bunch of little ones. Can you blow me now?” Leo props himself up on his elbows, an adorable blush spread across his cheeks and nose make him look so delicious. Finn and Logan share a look before smiling and licking up Leo’s shaft on opposite sides causing Leo’s head to fall back and his knees to spread more. “Fuck.”

Logan and Finn continue to mirror each other as Logan massages Leo’s taint and balls while Finn sucks on his head, Logan on the base.

Leo is a mess.

His back arching, his jaw tense from making himself hold off from fucking up into their mouths or grinding back onto Logan’s hand. He is gripping the grass so his hands will be stained tomorrow, sweat beading on his hairline and chest. Moaning every once in a while when he can find his voice.

Finn takes him down as much as he can as Logan squeezes just right causing Leo to cum hard, throwing his hands in his hair and tugging it. Once he finishes riding out his orgasm he just flops down all boneless.

“Give me a minute and I’ll get you off.” Leo exhales slowly and props himself up to look at them and a flush of want rushes through him. Finn had gotten himself off on Leo’s leg, how he didn’t notice he didn’t know, Logan looks like he hasn’t moved but his face was blissed out, he came untouched and if that wasn’t the sexiest fucking thing Leo has ever seen. He didn’t know what was.

Cleaning themselves up with some lake water and getting dressed they carry their treasures back to the truck. They all slide in and make their way back to town. Leo sings some shitty old songs with his hand on Logan's upper thigh as Finn has his head on his shoulder drifting in and out of sleep, by the time Leo makes it to the hotel they are staying at, both of them are asleep. Kissing their foreheads he slowly shakes them awake.

“We’re here, come on darlings, let's get you to bed.” He gets them up and smiles as Finn stretches like a cat and snuggles into his side as he supports them on either side. Walking them to their room he waits for one of them to unlock the door and hears a couple of guys yelling around a ‘cheater in go-fish!’ and Leo can’t help but wonder what it's like to travel with a team like Logan and Finn’s.

After a few tires Leo just takes the key from Logan and swipes it to unlock the door. Leo stumbles a little as they both lean forward. He sits them on the bed and get them undressed.

“What do you like to sleep in?” Leo asks as he located their bag in the corner of the room. Logan mumbles something about Finn’s shirt and Finn just mentions boxers. Leo gets them situated, having Logan lift his arms so he can put Finn’s shirt on him. It's baggy and makes Logan look so sweet that Leo can’t help but lean down and give him a sweet kiss.

Tucking a smiling Logan into bed he moves to get Finn under the covers and see him pouting.

“Wa kith” Leo tries not to groan at how these two beefy boys can be so sweet and cute that it hurts his chest. He gives Finn a kiss and pulls away, watching the two snuggle into each other.

Leo realizes he wants this, every night.

Swallowing down the sudden fear that crashed over him he turns to leave, forgetting to put the hotel key on the night stand he doesn’t realize he still has it until he is getting ready for bed himself in his room that's too large for one person.

Now he has an excuse to see them again.

[madsthewordclown]

Fire Lily | Pt. 10

warnings: none ig?

Eventual Zuko x Reader

a/n: sorry it took me so long to get this up! I took some time with my family over the holidays and struggled a little to get back into Writing Mode. This chapter is very focused on Y/N, and at this point she’s basically blocking out thoughts of You-Know-Who. She’s got more important things to worry about. Also, I just feel like Sokka and Y/N would vibe. I think anyone who would end up with Zuko would have to get along really well with Sokka. Anyway, enjoy!

Fire Lily Masterlist

Y/N found ways to be useful and tried to stay distracted. It turned out to be very useful, having a firebender on their ship. And, as it turned out, Y/N could make a career out of acting. Even Toph said so, which Y/N felt was quite the feat.

There were, of course, whispers about her. Y/N wasn’t stupid. She knew that not everyone trusted her. But Katara seemed to, for whatever reason, and Sokka was slowly coming around. Toph already liked her well enough.

“Where’d you learn that?” Toph asked Y/N as they sat in the small room that they shared with Sokka and Katara in the belly of their ship. “I’ve been meaning to ask. I recognized your bending. Those are earth bending forms.”

“I wondered why they weren’t so… Ka-pow!” Sokka punched the air for emphasis. Sokka tended to be very goofy, Y/N had noticed in the past few weeks aboard the ship. But Y/N could also tell he had a tactical mind. Sokka was crazy intelligent; you could tell even from his nonsensical rambles.

“My father gave me an earthbending scroll when I was little.” Y/N thought back to the moment. It had been a surprise when he came back from a visit to the city. “He thought it might help me, even if it’s not the same kind of bending.”

Y/N didn’t mention that she spent most of her time neglecting practicing. She didn’t want to firebend at all for a long time. But in the past few weeks, the others had needed it. So, Y/N delivered. Casually lit a flame in her hand to trick enemy ships.

Y/N didn’t want to admit it, even to herself, but it felt good, even in small moments.

“Well, it sure does work!” Sokka replied, putting his arms behind his head as he leaned back on his cot. “You know, Fire Girl, I wasn’t sure what to think of you at first, but you’ve really helped us out.”

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, it’s been great kicking some Fire Nation butt with you,” Toph agreed. Sokka and Y/N laughed. There really hadn’t been much butt-kicking, but it was a nice sentiment. Y/N had mainly stood back and let the others lead the way when they’d captured the ship from Chameleon Bay.

Sokka had actually offered to spar with her with the hook swords. Y/N had declined for the moment. She kept the hook swords underneath her cot. She’d have to rely on what bending she could do, for now.

“And,” Sokka added with a smile, “I think we look great in the armor.”

It was nice, Y/N thought, to sit and laugh with Sokka and Toph. They didn’t trust her completely yet, and with good reason. But Y/N had a feeling that they could get there.

And it was nice to laugh despite their situation. Aang wasn’t awake yet, and Katara spent every moment she could by his side when she wasn’t providing the ship with fog cover. But here she could light the lanterns and take a minute to laugh. It was almost better than the tea shop.

Almost.

Y/N tried not to think about Lee—Zuko. She had to keep reminding herself about that. He wasn’t her friend, not really. He wasn’t from the Earth Kingdom at all. He was Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. A firebender. And apparently obsessed with hunting the Avatar, as Sokka kept saying.

The Avatar. Y/N hadn’t been there when it had happened—when the lightning struck Aang down. Azula’s lightning, and Zuko had joined her. Y/N’s sadness and anger was almost overshadowed by heavy disappointment. The boy that she had known was grumpy but kind as well as caring. She remembered the careful hand he’d placed over hers. Lee would’ve jumped out of the palace with Iroh, and she would’ve followed him. But Y/N knew Lee was gone.

“The armor isn’t very comfortable,” Y/N noted, leaning back on her cot and enjoying the feeling of her light clothes after a day up on deck.

“Sometimes you have to suffer for fashion, Y/N,” Sokka joked. “Speaking of fashion, I think we all need some new clothes. You guys stink.”

“Speak for yourself.” Toph reached over to punch Sokka in the arm. Y/N laughed. Sokka wasn’t wrong—she was wearing the same clothes that she had been when she went to the palace in the first place. While they had been washed, they had definitely seen better days. There were a few tears in the sleeves of her dress, and it was stained with dirt, and the neck was starting to stretch out.

Y/N was grateful that they’d managed to find her a pair of pants on board, although they did look a bit ridiculous with her rag of a dress over it. The apron she had was tossed overboard shortly after they had reached the boat. Y/N might have set it on fire first, but that was nobody’s business.

Y/N had trouble sleeping on the ship some nights. It was always rocking at least a little bit. But she had a cot and having other people in the room turned out to be a comfort. There was the constant rhythm of Sokka and Toph’s breathing, and then Katara’s when she would finally slip in after hours spent watching over Aang.

Y/N’s months spent traveling felt so far behind her, but she could remember when she had to sleep outside on the ground, sometimes in the middle of the woods, if soldiers were nearby. Luckily, lighting a fire was always easy, if not terrifying. Y/N curled up under her blanket and let the soft sounds of the ship lull her to sleep.

“You’re a liar. If you would have just told the truth I would still be here.” Y/N recognized the voice, but she couldn’t see it. Everything was dark. Her hook swords were in her hands.

“Why did you have to let me take the fall?” Jet’s voice whispered.

“I didn’t mean to,” Y/N called back, desperately. “I didn’t mean to!”

“Y/N, calm down!” Suddenly, her brother was in front of her, holding out a hand. Y/N looked down and saw the molten metal of the hook swords dripping down onto the dirt, handles charred beyond repair.

“I can’t,” Y/N’s chest heaved. “I can’t.”

“Listen to me, Y/N,” Bihun said, stepping closer. “I don’t have much time.”

Suddenly, Bihun’s hand seemed to begin to fade, bits and pieces of it seeming to float off into the air like ash.

“Y/N, look at me.”

Y/N finally tore her eyes away from the burnt handles of her swords and met her brother’s eyes.

“Boiling rock, Y/N. Don’t forget it.” Bihun’s entire right arm was gone now, grey bits of ash floating through the air. Bihun smiled kindly, and Y/N wished so desperately to reach out to her brother, to hug him, but her feet felt stuck to the ground. “Now wake up.”

---

Y/N awoke, sweat sticking pieces of hair to her forehead. She wiped it away. Y/N was startled as she noticed Toph standing over her.

“Finally, sleepy head. Up and at ‘em.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Y/N swatted, pushing her blanket off of her before standing. “Where are we today?”

“Heck if I know,” Toph responded, turning away to lead Y/N out the door. “That’s a Sokka question. I can’t see anything past this ship.”

“Am I up on deck again?” Y/N asked, changing the subject.

“You’re the only firebender we have, Y/N, even if you aren’t very good,” Toph stated in answer.

Y/N frowned at the slight insult, although it was true. She knew little beyond a few earthbending forms, but she was the only firebender on the ship. If they came across other Fire Nation ships, she was their best shot at convincing them to let their ship pass.

“Go get your gear on,” Toph said, pulling her own brown cloak over her head. Y/N was a bit jealous of Toph’s very lightweight disguise—the first time she put on the Fire Nation armor she had almost fallen over. She also wanted to puke a little bit when she saw herself in the mirror.

After a solid ten minutes of struggling—a great improvement from the twenty it had taken the week before—Y/N placed the heavy helmet over her head, opting to keep the face plate tucked away in a pocket for now. She didn’t particularly like having her face covered. It made her feel less like herself and even more like a Fire Nation soldier, although it did come in handy to have her facial expressions hidden when they came across other ships.

Y/N made her way up to the top deck of the ship with only slight difficulty. The Fire Nation armor was much more mobile than she had imagined.

Y/N blinked at the sudden brightness of the sunlight streaming down onto the ship. The open ocean was already enough to deal with, but no one had ever said anything about how hot metal ships could get with the unblocked sun shining down on them all day. Luckily, Katara seemed to be periodically dousing the deck with sea water.

“Y/N!” Sokka called, walking over to where Y/N was standing. He was also in his Fire Nation get-up, but he wasn’t wearing the faceplate either. “Ready for another day?”

“Sure,” Y/N deadpanned. “It’s too hot to function.”

“Where’s that fiery spirit, huh?” Sokka grinned, bumping Y/N with his elbow. “Get it?”

“No,” Y/N lied, trying to ignore the terrible joke. “Do you know where we’re at?”

“Not really,” Sokka admitted. “My dad tried to describe the general area to me, but I haven’t spent enough time looking at the Fire Nation maps.”

“I’m just glad we’re through that pass,” Y/N shuddered. “As long as we don’t go back there.”

“Yeah, the Serpent’s Pass is… difficult,” Sokka agreed. “Keep an eye on the water and let me know if you need anything, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Y/N nodded. “Any news on Aang?”

“Not yet,” Sokka frowned. “But I have a good feeling about today.”

“Sokka!” Hakoda called from across the deck, waving an arm to beckon his son.

“Duty calls!” Sokka dismissed, turning and leaving Y/N to look out onto the wide expanse of sea.

The one advantage of Y/N’s position is that she wasn’t usually asked to do many chores. Not that she would mind helping, but Hakoda had said that they never wanted to have to struggle to find her if they came across another ship.

The clear sky clouded halfway through the afternoon, darkening the sea beneath them and turning the sky a depressing gray. “What was that about a good feeling?” Y/N asked Sokka nervously as he came over, three scrolls tucked under his arm.

“It’s not storming, is it?” Sokka pointed out, sitting down on the floor of the ship, armor clanking. “Look at these maps with me.”

Y/N hesitantly took a seat next to him, sliding the helmet off of her head to wipe the sweat from her brow. She enjoyed the cool breeze that swept by. Sokka took his faceplate out of his pocket to put on the edge of the scroll to hold it down.

It was a map of the Fire Nation, Y/N realized. The country was shaped almost like a loop of islands, Y/N realized, with the capital city of Caldera, home to the Fire Nation palace in the center of it all.

“We’re about here, I think.” Sokka pointed to a blue spot on the map, just off the shore of the Earth Kingdom.

“By the colonies,” Y/N realized, gasping lightly. She hadn’t realized how close they were to her home.

“Yeah,” Sokka said nonchalantly, before seeing the look on Y/N’s face. “Are you okay?”

“I hadn’t realized we were this close. I used to live there.” Y/N pointed to another spot on the map, her finger nearly touching Sokka’s on the scroll. “Just a handful of miles north.”

Y/N stood, looking to the north. Land was just barely visible in the distance. Somewhere on that piece of land, a little way inland, was her parents’ home. She briefly wondered if they were still there.

“That’ll be our first stop after the invasion, then,” Sokka offered. “Well, maybe not the first stop. But it really would be a good waypoint on our way to… whatever’s next.”

“What is next, Sokka?” Y/N asked. She surprised herself with the question. She realized none of them knew what a life without the war was like. Even when Y/N was too young to be aware of it, it had affected her.

“I’m not sure,” Sokka admitted, looking at Y/N with kind eyes. “But’s it going to be awesome.”

“Do you know what ‘boiling rock,’ might mean?” Y/N looked back down at the map. It was silly, her dream wasn’t real. But weirder things could happen, she was sure.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s a landmark of some kind. But it’s not on this map.” Sokka recognized Y/N’s expression fall. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Y/N assured him. “Just thought I’d heard of it somewhere.”

---

Y/N was not prepared for when the Avatar stepped out onto the deck that night. She had been the only one who hadn’t gone to visit him while he was out. She felt like it was wrong. She didn’t really know any of them well, least of all Aang. And Katara watched over him like a hawk. Y/N felt like she needed the privacy.

Y/N also did not take into account how Aang might react when she casually lit a torch for Hakoda with her firebending. She hadn’t thought of how backwards the Avatar’s world would seem when he first awoke. It was weird for all of them, but at least they were conscious for most of it.

Y/N sat with Sokka and Toph as Katara spoke with Aang and brought him back inside for another healing session.

When the Avatar resurfaced again, Sokka brought Y/N and Toph over to where Aang and Katara were sitting to explain the invasion plan.

“We’re working on a modified version,” Hakoda added.

“It’s Sokka’s plan,” Katara snapped before turning back to Aang. Y/N had sensed some tension between Katara and her father since arriving on the ship—she had seen the other girl storm off a few times. It appeared that she wasn’t wrong.

“Yes, Sokka’s plan,” Hakoda looked at his daughter out of the corner of his eye, a confused look on his face. “We can’t execute a massive invasion without the Earth Kingdom’s army, but the Fire Nation is still vulnerable.”

“So, we’re planning a smaller invasion,” Sokka explained. “Just a ragtag team of our friends and allies. We’ve already found Pipsqueak and the Duke.”

Pipsqueak and the Duke waved from where they were chowing down on noodles a little way across the ship.

“And our biggest advantage is we have a secret… you!”

“Me?” Aang blinked.

“Yep!” Sokka said proudly. “The whole world thinks you’re dead!”

Aang’s face paled. The Avatar stood quickly and ran to the side of the ship. Y/N wondered if he was about to be seasick over the side. She averted her eyes. Sokka stood to go and reassure Aang.

Y/N looked out over the ocean on the other side of the ship and noticed the shadow approaching. “Hey, there’s a ship!” Y/N called. Sokka and Aang turned around to look.

“I’ve got this.” Aang’s glider snapped open. “The Avatar is back.”

“Wait!” Katara rushed to Aang’s side. “Remember, they don’t know we’re not Fire Nation.”

“We’ve got it,” Hakoda said, putting a hand on Y/N’s shoulder.

“I hate not being able to do anything,” Aang muttered.

“Don’t worry, buddy,” Sokka reassured him. “We’ve got a firebender on our side.”

“What?!?” Aang looked around frantically. Y/N gave a shy wave. She’d have to explain that later.

Katara helped Aang and the others get below deck as the ship came into view. A man in a uniform matching Y/N and Hakoda’s called out to them. Y/N took the faceplate out of her pocket and slid it into place.

“Commander, why are you off course? All Western fleet ships are to be moving toward Ba Sing Se to support the occupation.”

“We’re from the Eastern Fleet, actually,” Hakoda corrected. “We’re delivering cargo.”

“Nice of Admiral Chan to let us know…” The Fire Nation commander replied. Y/N got a sinking feeling. They weren’t convinced.

“Are you questioning my authority?” Y/N called out, praying to the Spirits that she sounded confident and in-charge.

“Who exactly are you?” The commander questioned. Y/N thought of a lie—a Fire Nation name she had heard from home.

“Captain Yai,” Y/N replied as smoothly as she could manage. “And who are you?”

“Commander Muso,” the man replied. “I didn’t know Admiral Yai had a daughter.”

“I didn’t know our army promoted insolent men to command,” Y/N answered.

“I didn’t know our army promoted a girl to command,” Muso sneered. Y/N dared to light a fire in her palm and watched as Muso recoiled.

“I would hate to have to issue a challenge, Commander. Be on your way.”

“Yes, of course, ma’am.”

“Captain,” Y/N corrected.

“Yes, Captain,” Muso amended glumly, motioning to his men. Before long, the Fire Nation ship was pulling away. Y/N let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding.

“That was awesome, Y/N!” Toph cried as the others emerged from below deck.

“Thanks.” Y/N smiled.

“And that was a really lucky guess with Admiral Yai,” Sokka added.

“I know!” Y/N felt the excitement catch up to her. She had been pretty cool.

“Nice work, Captain,” Hakoda praised, giving Y/N a pat on the shoulder. Y/N smiled as the Fire Nation ship faded out of sight.

Fire Lily Masterlist

taglist: @kaylove12, @akariblue, @wolfiemichele, @aquatickanye, @sunflowerr-mami

[fallingappleshurt]

Secrets to Save You

Its here after way too long of a wait!

Tommy plays baseball, Techno has a few issues in the Nether, and his family gets increasingly worried

This took longer then expected because I just really didn’t want to write this chapter but then next one should be out soon!!

Chapter 3. Rising Restlessness

TW: non graphic violence, swearing, fighting

It had been three weeks since Techno and the Captain had started working together and Techno was exhausted. It wasn’t constant trips to the Nether, he usually only had to go twice a week. It was gathering supplies late into the night and the constant anxiety that they were going to be caught.

He had to convince himself that the guards weren’t giving him weird looks, that the people in the fourth ring weren’t going to snitch on him, that Tommy wasn’t going to snoop in his room and find the maps, that there weren’t hundreds of eyes always on him.

His nerves were fried, and his family could tell. Phil resting a hand on his shoulder, Wilbur’s worried glances, Tommy straight up telling him he looked tired- or in his words; “You look like shit,” but was obviously concerned. He said that Techno should ‘relax’.

Techno guessed that was why when Tommy had a school day off, he drug Techno to a baseball field with his classmates. He wasn’t really interested in sports but after Phil said someone should be keeping an eye on Tommy, he agreed to go.

Tubbo was there, looking healthy and happy, as he waved at Tommy from the metal bleachers.

Techno sat down next to him, looking over the field, it was a dusty little square with four pieces of metal sticking out of the ground, kids scrambling to random positions on the field, Tommy was in the middle of the field, casually tossing a ball.

“Why aren’t you playing with the others?” Techno asked Tubbo, who deflated slightly.

“My dad wants me to take it easy, I’m lucky he even let me out of the house today.”

Techno nodded, “Makes sense, how’s your chest?”

“It aches a little but other than that I’m fine.”

They sat in a comfortable silence while more kids trickled onto the field. Techno watched Tommy throw a ball at a kid with a bat.

“What is Tommy doing?” He asked.

“He’s the pitcher,”

“What’s that?”

“He throws the ball for the batter,” Tubbo explained, pointing to someone standing across from Tommy.

“Uh huh- and what’s the batter?”

Tubbo laughed, “Do you not know what Baseball is? Or how to play it?”

“Uhhhh, no,” Techno raised an eyebrow.

“I forgot you’re really weird, I’ll explain the game, so-”

“Wait hang on-”

“So there are two teams,” Tubbo continued, ignoring Techno’s interjection. Tubbo described the different teams and the field positions and point systems, Techno didn't get a lot of it but he appreciated the thought.

He watched as Tommy reared back and threw the ball with force Techno didn’t know he possessed. The batter missed and the person behind him called out, “Strike one!” and tossed the ball back to Tommy.

Techno watched as Tommy made the other boy strike out three times, he made it look easy.

“He’s really good at this,” Techno commented.

Tubbo nodded, “Oh yeah he’s our best pitcher, can’t bat for shit but he’s got a good right hook,” He paused, “Good left hook too.”

Techno chuckled, watching the game continue, other kids slapping Tommy on the back. Occasionally he’d look over to the bleachers, Tubbo would cheer and Techno would give a thumbs up.

After about an hour Tommy jogged up onto the bleachers, sweat beaded on his forehead.

“What’d you think?” Tommy asked, Techno shrugged.

“Decent.”

Tommy looked elated.

“You should come down and play with us, we could use another player.” Tommy gestured to the field, Techno shook his head.

“I don’t play sports-”

“Yeah yeah I remember, just figured it was worth a try.” Tommy said, jumping down the bleachers, “Last time you tried you couldn’t get it and kept making that little grr noise.”

“I do not make a ‘grr’ noise!” He shot back but Tommy was either too far to hear or just didn’t care. Techno guessed the latter.

“You do,” Tubbo said, nudging his shoulder, “I’ve heard it.”

“Lies,” Techno said, putting his hand in front of Tubbo’s face, as Tubbo laughed.

They watched Tommy for another hour before the game started to dissolve and they went back to their apartment, Tommy telling them more about pitching.

Later that night Techno went back to the Nether. When he had dropped Tubbo off, Captain slipped him a note saying that he was running low on gold and knew there were small pockets in the Nether.

Techno didn’t have anything to really mine it with but he did have a rusty trowel and the netherrack was softer then stone so it might work.

Techno moved quickly and slightly to the portal, heart in his throat the whole time. He was hoping that after going to the Nether a few times that it would lessen his anxiety but it hadn’t, in fact it felt worse. He pushed the feeling down, he had a job to do.

After lighting the portal and stepping through Techno headed west, he remembered seeing a large pocket gold in that direction. On the way he grabbed a few blue fungi for Skeppy, he didn’t ask for any but Techno knew he’d find some use for it.

Once he spotted the sparkling gold snippets he knelt down and pulled out the trowel. He started chipping away at the netherrack, ripping small hunks from the rock and tucking it into the pouch on his belt. Captain said he didn’t need a lot so Techno didn’t want to stay for too long but he also didn’t want to come back.

He was picking over the vein one last time when he heard a howl of rage. He whipped around, grabbing his sword to see a group of Piglins charging at him all with raised swords and cocked crossbows. He realized he couldn’t take them all at once, quickly pocketing the trowel, he turned and started sprinting.

More Piglins came tearing at him from other directions, panic rising in his chest, Techno ran into the blue forest in hopes to lose them. He didn’t want to lead them to the portal, not knowing if they could cross through or not.

The roots of the fungi ripped and pulled at his ankles and Techno almost tripped multiple times while the Piglins barely seemed to notice them. After realizing he probably wouldn’t be able to outrun them, Techno started looking for something to climb onto, to get the high ground.

Only to then trip and faceplant into the netherrack.

Techno rolled away just in time to barely miss a golden sword to the back, taking out his own sword, Techno kicked the closest Piglin away, and scrambled to his feet.

An arrow shot past his ear as he lashed out at another Piglin then clashed swords with another. There was no point in holding out and letting more Piglins gather so he looked for escape options.

He could try climbing up one of the trees but he could still be shot. There was a huge, sharp, slope to his left so that was out of the question. The forest seemed to thicken more to the right and the only way he knew to get back to the portal was back through a crater. Trying to get a look at his escape Techno realised an issue.

There was a huge line of fire blocking his path, it looked like a ghast and piglin got into a fight, debris still littered around.

Mentally recapping his options were 1) try to get up the slope and most likely fall or get shot into a horde of Piglins. 2) He could try the fungi forest and get cornered again or 3) he could run through fire. Great.

The fire was his best option but he’d really rather not be set on fire today.

The choice was made for him as he disarmed a Piglin and stepped back, one managed to jump forwards and slash his shin.

Sharp stinging pierced his skin, adrenaline overriding his indecision, Techno turned and rushed through the fire, trying to ignore the heat licking at his legs. He weaved through the forest and under rocky overhangs and didn’t stop until he dove through the portal and knocked out the purple.

He collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. That was too close for comfort, he didn’t even know what he did that made the Piglins so upset, he was wearing the pin!

The adrenaline was wearing off and Techno could feel pain searing up his leg, the ends of his pants were scorched and ashy and the skin around was red and swelling. The cut on his shin was long and sallow, slowly oozing blood.

There was nothing he could do, Techno sighed, twisting his pant leg to try and cover the wound. He stood up, brushing dust and dirt off his clothes and face, and climbed out of the cave.

He shuffled through the fourth ring, making a pit stop at Skeppy’s and throwing the fungi through the hole in his broken window then headed towards the Captain’s house.

Techno tried to walk as normally as possible to avoid stares from the people who were just trying to get to work. He managed to get to the Captain house and dropped the nuggets of gold into a flower pot by the door then set off home.

He didn’t know the time but by judging the amount of people out in the streets Tommy would be at school and Phil, hopefully Wilbur too, would be at work.

Techno hobbled into their apartment and felt a rush of relief upon seeing the place empty. After stashing his sword under his bed he went into the bathroom and pulled out the first aid kit. He gingerly cleaned the wound and wrapped a bandage around it.

He was trying to push off sleep so he started on housework, dishes, laundry, and tidying up. He stitched up the ends of his pants then gave in to the tiredness and fell asleep on the couch.

Someone prodded at his shoulder, rubbing at his eyes he saw Wilbur leaning over him, “Oh thank god you’re alive.”

Techno sat up, blinking the sleep from his eyes, “Uh, yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?”

Wilbur licked his lips nervously, “We were all pretty worried when you weren’t home this morning,” He trailed off, Techno looked away, he forgot they assumed he was going to duel.

“I-I’m, uh, sorry about that, I’m fine.”

“It’s alright,” Wilbur paused, “but are you okay? You’ve been really, uh, weird lately.”

“What?”

“You’ve look like a wreck, I haven’t seen you like this in years-”

“I’m fine Wilbur, don’t worry about it.” Techno said flippantly.

“Okay but whenever you say to ‘not worry about something’ that makes me worry more.”

“That sounds like a you problem.”

Wilbur let out a defeated laugh, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Should’ve known you were just going to blow off the question.”

Techno raised an eyebrow, “Okay, uh rude.”

“Yeah I’m definitely being the rude one here-”

“You kind of are-”

“I’m trying to make sure you are okay and you’re being an asshole but that’s normal for you so I don’t know why I’m surprised.”

“I told you I’m fine, you’re the one whos being an asshole.”

Wilbur shook his head, “We have been worried about you for weeks! Those damn duels are becoming more and more frequent and you have been acting like a paranoid cunt!”

“Why are you all so hung up on the duels?” Techno glared at Wilbur, rising to his feet. He was trying to fight the rising panic in his chest, he didn’t trust himself to not slip up about the Nether. “I’ve been doing them forever but now everyone has a problem with it?”

“We’ve always had a problem with them! Techno you could get seriously injured! We just let you go on with them because you’re so damn stubborn!”

“Well thank you so much for allowing me to provide for you guys, its a fucking wonderful opportunity.” Techno threw his hands out to the sides, Wilbur sighed again.

“It’s impossible to have a conversation with you-”

“With me? You change the subject every minute, I’m getting whiplash.”

Wilbur groaned, “That’s it, I’m too tired for this, I tried to care but no it’s over. You win. You fucking win.” He stalked off to his room and closed the door much too loudly.

Techno flopped back down onto the couch, rubbing his temples, that was bad. He didn’t want to fight with Wilbur but he didn’t know what to do.

So he sat there, staring at the wall and trying to formulate some type of apology but kept coming up short. He got up and tried to start something for dinner, willing Tommy or Phil to get home and fill the quiet of the apartment.

They had a box of pasta and a can of beans, Techno opted for the pasta and started boiling water. Phil came home a little while later, talking about his weird day at work and Techno was thankful for the background noise, the anxiety adrenaline was starting to wear off when Techno remembered Tommy.

He looked at the clock, 6:34, Tommy should have been home by now. Logically he knew Tommy was probably just running late but all he could think about was a guard grabbing him off the side of the road and shipping him off to god knows where.

Techno tapped his fingers nervously against the counter, “Did Tommy say he was going to be late?”

Phil shook his head, “I didn’t hear him say anything like that, he’s probably fine though, you know how he is.”

Techno nodded, biting the inside of his cheek. He couldn’t stop thinking about Tommy, he could be kidnapped or hurt, waiting for someone to come help him. It hit Techno that some of the guards could’ve taken him and his blood ran cold. They could’ve grabbed Tommy just like they grabbed him and he would just be gone, they wouldn’t be able to find him again.

What if someone noticed him sneaking out, connected the dots, and grabbed Tommy as a hostage. They could try to trade him for money or resources, they could report everything-

“-hno? Techno!” Techno was knocked back into reality with pots clattering and fire sizzling filing his ears. The pot was boiling over. He rushed to take off the lid and turn off the heat.

“Techno, are you okay?” Phil placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m worried about Tommy, he should be here by now.” Techno couldn’t stop his hand from shaking.

“Do you want to go look for him? We’d probably intercept him on his way home from Tubbo’s.”

Techno nodded, he grabbed his shoes as Phil called for Wilbur. He whipped the door open and rushed down the rusty stairs, Phil and Wilbur trying to catch up.

It was cold out, the sun was setting and the wind was sharp and strong. Techno moved quickly along Tommy’s normal route, eyes flickering frantically from building to building, he tried to pick up on every sound and movement.

Wilbur came up behind him,“Techno, calm down. He’s probably just running late.”

“What if he’s not?” Techno didn’t voice his other thoughts and continued down the street, getting increasingly worried.

They had been looking for 10 minutes and it was getting darker which put Phil on edge too.

“He should’ve a least started home by now.”

“You guys worry too much, Tommy is a smart kid, he’s fine.” Wilbur said reassuringly, Techno could hear the nervousness pricking in his voice.

Techno heard something crash up ahead and ran, skidding to a halt to see Tommy trying to set someone’s trash can up straight. He ran up to him, looking him over.

“Are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah?” Tommy gave him a weird look, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Techno couldn't express in words how much he wanted to simultaneously slap the kid upside the head and hold him and never let go.

“I was just worried, you were late and it’s dark out.” He tried to coat his words with his normal nonchantelness.

Wilbur and Phil came up behind him, visibly relaxing when they spotted Tommy.

“See! I told you guys he was fine, you were worried for nothing.” Wilbur said, satisfied.

“You guys were that worried about me?” Tommy asked, a smile tugging at his lips.

“It was mainly Techno-” Wilbur was cut off as Techno elbowed him.

“Aww, well, sorry I didn’t mean to worry you. I was trying to take a shortcut through the alleys and got lost.”

Techno sighed, Tommy was fine. He wasn’t trying to escape anyone, he wasn’t hurt, everything was fine. He could feel Tommy’s eyes bore into him but he ignored it as Wilbur walked forwards, messing up Tommy’s hair and putting an arm around his shoulders.

“Let's get back home, hopefully Techno didn’t burn dinner.”

“Oh fuck the pasta-” Techno was okay with ignoring his and Wilbur’s argument, he was too drained to want to fight anymore tonight.

Everything seemed alright except Tommy was oddly quiet the rest of the night.

[countessofbiscuit]

*shakes my tin cup like a victorian street urchin* please ma’am spare some rexsoka porn for a poor lass down on her luck?

hope this fills your boots, anon <ladles out some sad smut> it’s all i’ve got ;__;

Some Diversion

(ao3 + art that inspired this by @redsong) (3k, Explicit) 

People were always more receptive when you told them you were honeymooners. Even in a motel that probably couldn’t pony up for a classified ad in the planet’s second-best travelzine.

“Oh!” chirped the concierge, a glum theelin, skin faded by spice. “Congratulations.”

It helped that she and Rex looked odd and threadbare themselves, having stuffed beskar in the backpack and left plates in the ship. Rex stepped an inch closer to put a hand around Ahsoka’s bare midriff, playing along. Her eyes welled up at the gesture. She smiled through it, selling the charade with a wave of her hand under the counter. The concierge became extremely obliging: happy to offer a quiet en-suite near the rear exit, uninterested in payment until checkout, and supremely sorry they didn’t keep bubblezap on the premises.

Ahsoka was just grateful the farce couldn’t follow them to their room.

It’d be a cruel facsimile of previous missions, and of dreams whispered in the dark, now that they could actually do it: get hitched and cut loose. But somehow, with that face and that other chip in his arm—the identifier, a detainable offense to remove even under the Republic—Rex was less free than he’d ever been. He’d jumped the fence. At least in the Grand Army he could leave the wire now and then.

No—Rex hadn’t jumped, Ahsoka reminded herself: she’d flung him over it. And she was finding her actions harder to justify, when he’d been nothing but a studied blank these past few days, clearly at pains to hide himself from her, Force or no Force. White noise had more personality.

She struggled anew when he tossed her poncho aside, leaving him in just his blacks, stamped with that bendu they couldn’t unpick or peel off. Sleek and broad-shouldered and solidly familiar in all his Rex-ness. It reduced her choice to something carnal, and her stomach roiled with shame. Ahsoka gripped the windowsill, unable to even face him in this small room made smaller by the hutt-sized bed.

“I’m taking a shower,” he declared behind her.

Ahsoka stood at the window and stared at their y-wing in the shiplot until her eyes crossed. In just her sparring bra and leggings, she probably looked like some sorry tailhead picked up the station who was already regretting her companion for the night.

Her regrets were abundant, certainly, but how could Rex be one?

The sonic hum ceased, eventually, followed by a rationed burst of water in the sink. Rex padded and rustled around the room. Ahsoka remained fixed to the window. She couldn’t bear to turn around and acknowledge the old sham that had never been so awkward. Faking wedded bliss was once a promise of things to come, not a reminder of everything that had gone wrong.

When Rex’s thighs pressed against hers from behind, Ahsoka nearly crashed into the ceiling.

“Soka,” he mumbled. He circled an arm around her waist, anchoring her, and thunked his forehead against her rear lek. The intimacy washed over Ahsoka like a warm bath. They hadn’t been this close since burying the last of the men they'd been able to reach; her head had bonked his as they arranged Fetch’s broken limbs, their tears that wouldn’t run dry mingling in dots on Fetch’s dusty armor.

“You don’t have to, Rex,” Ahsoka heaved, forcing the words out.

“What.”

“Pretend—pretend like we used to.”

He went very still, catching his next breath before it swept down her skin. “I was never pretending. Were you?”

She swallowed. “No.”

“Good. Didn’t think so.” His voice was husky. His cock was impossible to ignore. Hard and free, lengthening between her thighs where she stood quivering. “And I’m not pretending now,” he said, jerking up to jerk the blind down.

Ahsoka jolted. Rex still wanted her. Even if just to scratch an itch. Even if just to spend one more night in the slipstream of normalcy, before it dissipated forever. The thought was heady, a faceful of exhaled spice. His nakedness against her skin smouldered. This was the first thing that felt real, that felt normal, in days.

She reached for Rex’s hand and slipped it into her bra. Her nipple tightened at the contact, sparking something in her belly. When he palmed her with interest, she tugged the zip down at the front, freeing her breasts, and Rex shucked her bra from her arms.

Ahsoka shoved his other hand down the front band of her leggings. “Touch me, Rex,” she croaked, arching into him.

He obliged. His fingers spread her fine folds, thin from neglect and starved of blood. Ahsoka opened her thighs further, allowing him the full use of his broad hands. His slow, two-fingered strokes against her besh pulled her pleasure down until it pooled like hot oil that threatened to leak. Her arms, propped atop the windowsill, felt spongy and not equal to his skill. These were the same deft fingers that could shoot straight two seconds post-op, when he was still half-under—fingers that could take life and make it worth living. Rex had mastered this terrain a long time ago. He’d know exactly what to do next: two knotted joints would slide into her—

Rex backed off, to her thin moan of protest. “These need a wash,” he said. He squatted and rolled her leggings down to her ankles.

Ahsoka huffed at his martial fastidiousness. “So do I.” She’d only seen wet wipes since a sink in Sundari. But she’d always been an impatient, hitched-skirt of a lover, either by nature or necessity. Hard to know, anymore.

Her right foot was barely free from the fabric when Rex thrust two fingers into her slit. Ahsoka wobbled and choked on a squeal. The first gasp of the little death that was building in her core.

“You’ll just make another mess.” Rex curled his fingers against her ring, making her vision tremble, loosening her body’s grip around his knuckles until it proved his point. Her slick leaked out, wetting her upper thighs. She flopped forward onto her elbows and let her head hang heavy, to watch his face and watch the blue bleed into paleness down his brown skin.

“What are you going to do with my mess?” she panted.

“What I always do.” He brushed the back of his hand up her thighs, catching some of the slick and bringing it to his mouth. “Clean it up.”

It was definitely meant in tired jest. A natural answer in the easy back-and-forth they fell into before a fuck. But it hit different, now—now that she was standing over leggings still stained with moondirt and blood not her own. Ahsoka slumped forward, away from his hand. Had Rex not been clone-quick and stood to catch her, she’d have fallen to her knees against the wall, faceplanting into the grotty wallpaper where she belonged.

“Hey, hey, hey … ” He may have been trying for comfort, but his voice struck flat, like a flint against her heart; Ahsoka’s face flushed hot with tears. “Don’t think about it, Soka. Fuck, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn't have—stop blaming yourself.”

They’d already had this conversation—a few times before they’d even dug the first grave. I’d have done the same, he kept saying. But that was an empty reply to a question Ahsoka hadn’t asked, assuming her hypothetical boots in the situation. What would he, Captain Rex, brother and commander to those men, have chosen, if she hadn’t selfishly chosen for him?

And he refused tell her. Because he had his own guilt to bear. Because there was no easy refrain for the truth that would alienate the one person he had left: After what you did, I would have chosen my brothers. I should have chosen Jesse. Even in madness. Even in death.

Ahsoka sobbed, held in Rex’s silent, naked embrace. She was a juggle of raw emotions—guilt, devotion, shame, desire—each clamoring for primacy; some needed to fall naturally, or she’d be crushed trying to hold them all.

Her Force-blessed privilege had told her, you can fix this. She’d been so very wrong, and she’d taken everything from Rex in her blind panic of an attempt. But she could still give him this, at least: her body and small comforts.

Ahsoka breathed deeply through her nose, making a show of regaining composure. Rex's hands gripped his elbows around her. She unfastened one to guide it down to her besh again. “Please keep going,” she said hoarsely, nuzzling her montral against his cheek in encouragement.

His fingers weren’t eager. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“We’ll sleep better,” she countered. They hadn’t slept at all since passing out in their respective seats at the edge of a waystation’s artificial atmosphere. Too many unknowns, too much distance to cover. Surely this would ease some of the anxious wakefulness parked behind her eyes. Ahsoka reached back and found his halfie. It answered to the heel of her hand. “And you started it.”

Rex groaned into her lek, gripping her crotch. “Cockheaded shiny mistake.”

“Finish the drill." She bucked into him. “Please just fuck me out of my head.”

With a pained sound, he began stroking the length of her crotch, like he wanted to tease her in half. Her slit burned for lack of him. With every pass of his fingers, her core clenched as if to suck them in. Ahsoka tugged harder on his cock.

Rex tried to spin her around, weary of this mutual reacharound, but Ahsoka squared herself firmly. “No—from behind.”

His brothers had always held flashes of Rex in the twitch of their smiles, in the warmth of their eyes and the quirk of their earnest brows. Now she was sure it would torment her in reverse. She couldn’t meet his face right now. They were all carved into the features of each other. But saying as much would magnify his survivor’s guilt, adding a mirror to his own, until Rex was trapped in his own reflection.

“If you’re sure,” said the man who knew all her preferences, and doubted the choice of this one.

Ahsoka had all the vanity of a secondhand binary droid. That Rex also knew. She couldn’t quibble convincingly about her red eyes or puffy face. “I’m sure. I want you like this,” Ahsoka repeated, plaintively, rising on her toes in invitation to present her ass. “The harder the better. Like that night in Iziz—on the balcony.”

Rex paused, quickly fetching the memory. “You were in heat, then.” Read: it was easier to thrust like an animal because your besh was too loopy to bite back. A jealous urge to drive everyone else from her head had probably helped, too. It was the first time he’d ever marked her.

“Yeah, and I still can’t think of Onderon without getting wet. So just … take me back there.”

“Alright,” he said. “Into the glass you go. Hold on.”

Ahsoka shuddered at the gruffness in his voice. But Rex proposed himself gently, holding his stout head to her folds. She eased back to push her slit around it and stuff it through her ring. She groaned heavily around the space his cock took up. Then Rex plunged in, giving her the rest, until Ahsoka felt gluttonously full.

He hissed. “Stars almighty. Fuck.” He held still for a beat, as if to recalibrate his sensor array in the vacuum of her body. “You’re tighter than baby’s first blacks.” Like he had any reason to act surprised. But it was calming, in a crude way. One charade supplanted another, like this. They weren’t newlyweds: he was just some washed-up veteran looking for a good time, and she was a local dropout, cashing in on mundane speciesism to cover the debt.

Ahsoka latched onto the conceit and relaxed into the lewd delight of his nakedness flush against her. Of him inside her. “My tail—” She tilted her head back, to offer Rex the forbidden thing his eyes had lingered on since she’d rocked up again, taller and longer and fuller in interesting places. “Take it, Rex. Pull it.”

He didn’t need telling twice. Rex swept his palm along the underside, stopping finally to grab the midsection, just above the flare of her fattier tail. Ahsoka trembled when he squeezed, her nerves clattering between alarm and arousal. A tog who submitted to tailgrips was considered as base as a twi who invited lekjobs. But she had nothing to be missish about anymore, and certainly not with him.

And to be in thrall to Rex, her captain, this best of soldiers, was still a fucking thrill.

The ache of Rex’s grip warred with the pleasure of his hood sliding inside her walls—back and forth, back and forth, until he reached her ring, gauging the give he had to work with.

Holding fast, hand on lek and hip, Rex plowed into her.

Ahsoka cried out, rebracing her arms against the sill to counter him. She slickened further to the sound of smacking skin. What ass she had rippled with every punch of his thighs, and she hoped he was eating up the view.

A purr curled under Ahsoka's breath, sharpening into a growl at the strange clench around her headtail. If her adrenal system got too offended by the intensity of their fuck, she’d be drooling venom into the carpet and would have to sleep on the floor, away from him, for fear of a feral dream. She’d been gagged in Iziz.

“Drop my tail, Rex,” Ahsoka panted. “But don’t fucking stop.”

He let go, but his pace ebbed. Never would take her every order. “You alright?” he asked.

“Yes, yes,” she growled. “Mouth was going cottony.” Ahsoka rocked into him, testing her grip against his shaft. The window of opportunity was narrowing. “Harder,” she urged.

Rex held her hips to better his leverage. He thrust, again and again. Ahsoka tightened around him, his movement tugging her tacky cunt and plucking at her bliss. He took her with him as often as not.

Dropping to her elbows, Ahsoka dunked her head again to get an eyeful of his effort. Rex’s legs were sturdy and strong, flecked with fair hairs, knees pistoning his handsome, muscled thighs. Where they met, his sack hung gravid; it was ready to fill her, slapping her wet folds as they careened together. Her lekku tossed wildly, tits jiggling in time. She’d have to wait for her next heat for a real socking, but this was all Ahsoka needed, now. A vestibular riot. A rave of simple physicality.

Rex made a sound like straining plasteel. “‘m close—so close.”

Everything—all the sucking and jerking and grunting—coalesced in a ferment of pleasure, contracting around knowledge that Rex was the cause of it. Her brave, bright knight, a golden heart and warm smile at the end of so many shit days.

“Fuck—gods beyond, I’m gonna—Soka, I’m—” he groaned and spasmed hard. One shuddering arm landed beside her face.

A heat flooded through Ahsoka. She had to tell him—she had to warn him over the roar of climax in her own head. “Hold on, Rex—oh! Rex—” Her orgasm punched down. She lurched under it and into the curl of Rex’s arm, her senses whiting out.

There was really little danger of flying off in telekinetic euphoria. She and the Force hadn’t communed beyond the basics in days—suited her just fine, there wasn’t much to hear now, and the void was worse than anything. And she was beyond exhausted.

She remained rooted to Rex, held underneath him, sagging soggily. More comfortable than she’d been in weeks. Rex could probably maintain the hold for the next few inescapable minutes. But it was awkward.

So he shimmied them backwards to the bed, where he sank onto the mattress, bringing Ahsoka down with him, hugging her to his bare chest. He couldn’t do otherwise. Her besh had him in a primal lock, eager to relieve a togrutan penis of its seed; it regarded the presence a much broader human appendage as an affront. Ahsoka relished the fullness, but she’d long since been made aware that this aftermath sucked major dick, and no, that wasn’t just a turn of phrase. Untold millennia of reproductive evolution simply refused to recognize Rex’s frequent caller card—or accept that it’d have better luck sucking glue through a curly straw than getting viable swimmers out of a clone.

So they sat, waiting it out. Rex knew the drill.

Once or twice, Ahsoka’s lungs ballooned to speak, but she didn’t have any idea what would come out. Her lek was tucked into his neck. His carotid pulse thumped into her tips, and his strong heart beat solidly against her back. We’re still alive, she might have marvelled, had she not paid for it so heavily: a destroyer of men, whose valiant hearts lay dead as moondust.

At last, Rex sighed broadly, clearing himself out to say something. It took some time before he did, Ahsoka dreading all the while that they’d fucked an inch forward, only to fall a klick back.

“I forgive you, you know,” he said, factually. Like a reporter beginning a transcript of bad news. “For trying to save me. For not letting me march away.” The words were like the stubble on his cheek. Raspy. A little harsh. Trying, in particular, cut her deeply—and not just as someone who still half-believed herself a Jedi. Rex deemed her actions a failure … or unfinished, at best.

But Ahsoka had heard the words correctly, and there was no lie in them. Rex went further. “I’ve got … there’s a lot of work to do.”

There was a chink in the blastdoors. Held open in the way he rephrased what was on his mind. Ahsoka felt a draft of hope. “I’m here to help, Captain,” she said, completing a circle of intimacy as she took his hand. “If you want me.”

Rex twisted to look at her. She let him find her eyes. “I do,” he said. He squeezed her fingers and closed a bleeding circuit of faith with a kiss.