#if there's a fic you want podded now is the time to lemme know

[falrytopia]

man i am so hype for when i finish all of my schoolwork because it means i can finally cross a bunch of stuff off of my to-do list over on podficgremlin

AND FINISH THE DING-DANG GIVEAWAY PRIZES HECK

[greenunoreversecard]

Idk if your asks are open, but if they are could I request Alastor with a Teen!Reader that didn't have a lot of support while alive so they clung into him/look up to him?

A Koala and It's Tree ->Platonic! Alastor x Teen reader

Koalas don't tend to leave their home trees. The same can be said for you and Alastor.

You died, a ripe age of 16. Suicide was what it was ruled as, but it wasn't exactly believed by all. Not like the living could ask if you running your car off the highway was on purpose or not.

But the past is the past, torture and turmoil of it all left behind with the life you scorned.

And so you looked forward.

And despite the elusive nature one might assume of hell, you found your people, and like koalas, your home tree.

You found Alastor.

At first, you both hated each other. But, in neigh time you and him became peas in a pod. Mentor y mentè.

He gave you things you've never had, nor experienced. He supported your.. somewhat unorthodox ideas (but who is he to judge) and he took you under his wing in the most trying of times. He cared for you like his own, took you to work, and showed you the ropes hell.

He cared for you, and most of all, he gave you your home. He was your tree (sometimes literally)

--

It was an early morning when rapping at your door awoke you, accompanied by a small static sound you've come to associate with the person closest to your family.

Your door creaks open, and a chipper voice rings out;

"Good morning my dear! Why, it's much to late to still be in bed, up! Come now, we've plenty to do.-"

You groan and roll over, trying to cover your face from the light invading your senses as he opened your curtains.

"Now now, you know we've got ourself a meeting with a few other big shots, and it's best we get going now so we can still get to Rosie's to stop by that bakery she's insisting the cats pajamas-"

You groan again, and roll over and uncover your face.

"Man, no cappa, you sound old as balls. Who says cats pajamas?"

"And who says 'cappa' what in the lords name is a cappa"

You roll your eyes, and stand up, cracking your back. As you do so, alastor hands yoi clothes he's picked out for you to wear. He has a overlord meeting, and you guess by Extension it's now "bring your semi-adopted kid work day".

You go get changed in your bathroom, as well as brush your teeth and hair, and other hygienic processes, before stepping out.

"Ah, looking swell as always my dear! Are you ready?"

You nod, rubbing your eyes sleepily, and link your arm with the one he offered you as you drew closer.

Yeah, you've dealt with shit. But, sometimes, it's all worth it when you finally find your family, or in some cases, your tree. (of a semi adopted father)

--------

A/N: hope this was OK, and hope it was up to par. I tried to go vague ish, but if you wanted more hurt/comfort type stuff you can just lemme know and I'm wiing to make a separate fic. Thank you for requesting, and hope you don't mind I did a little blurb. Lemme know if you had smth else in mind!

Hope it was OK for my first request 👉👈

[red-of-hells-kitchen]

i'm gonna sleep 'cause you live in my daydreams

lemme say, this is the absolute fastest i have ever written and finished a smut fic JDHJSHD so thank you @jaywriteshere for the request, this was so fun to write <3<3

wc: 1814

This crystal on his palm was annoying. Why could he travel through wormholes, and what was this anomaly he kept hearing about? He was tired, and he just wanted to fix this. Y/n stepped out of the cryo pod for the God knows how many-th time. He looked across the room, waiting to see Mark step out of the other pod.

What he saw, however, surprised him. Who the hell was that? Mack? This guy seemed cocky, who the fuck did he think he was? Y/n ignored most of what he said, squinting at Mack.

"You're not Mark." That set Mack off. He looked as if he was going insane, actually glitching around the room. Until Mark appeared.

"Uh... Captain?"

"Mark!" Y/n stepped forward to reach Mark, but another wormhole appeared and he was sucked away to another universe. Y/n groaned, facepalming. "Dammit... I just want Mark back..."

Three words broke him. Those three words muttered by his head engineer, his best friend, his most trusted friend- the one he loved.

"Captain, I'm tired."

Y/n pulled Mark into a hug, closing his eyes tightly. "It's over now, Mark, we fixed it. We figured it out, it's all over."

Mark went on to say how Y/n never lost hope, giving... a moving speech. Y/n wouldn't admit it, but he almost cried.

Now, everything was right again. The Invincible II was on course to get to the new Planet, ready to start a colony. A few crewmates decided to stay out of their Cryopods for a few months, living in little rooms for the time being. They all wanted to make sure the ship was fine, a little paranoid after the initial incident.

Y/n couldn't get peaceful sleep. Well, it's not like the dreams were bad in a sense, but he sure as hell didn't expect to be having so many. He woke up with a jolt, waking up from yet another dream about Mark. Right as it was getting to a good part, too.

The Captain groaned, swinging his feet off the side of the bed and sitting up, rubbing his face. He kept the blanket over his waist, trying to ignore the elephant in the room- well, under the blanket. He closed his eyes, the dream replaying in his mind.

"C-captain, please..." Mark was desperate, his back arching off the bed. He was like clay under Y/n's hands, they worked so well together.

"Come on, pretty boy, use your words for me," Y/n said teasingly, hands running up and down the sides of Mark's bare torso. "What do you need from me?"

Mark whined- he whined- from the touch and the words. "You- I need you, Y/n, please... I need all of you..."

Y/n smiled, leaning down and kissing Mark. "That's a good boy..." He leaned back up, looking between their bodies, and-

Y/n opened his eyes, unable to continue the scene, since that's where he woke up. He groaned and slammed his fist on the bed, getting up to get dressed.

He started going about his day as normal, checking every system to make sure they were running as they should be. On his route, he went to the engine room. As expected, the head engineer was there.

"Ah, Captain, just the man I wanted to see!" Mark's smile was contagious, causing Y/n to smile as well.

"Everything running well, Mark?" He asked, holding up his tablet to check off the list.

"Yep, all systems A-Okay!" Mark said proudly. "You finished with the morning routine?" He asked.

Y/n checked off the list, glancing over it once more. "Should be all good, yep. Did you need something?"

Mark looked away, and... was he blushing a little. "C-Captain, is everything okay? After everything with the wormholes, I just... wanted to be sure."

The way Mark stuttered out Captain flashed images from Y/n's dream in his mind. He swallowed and nodded, smiling. "Yeah, it's all good! Why, were you worried?"

"No, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You know, after going through so many universes, seeing so much." Mark shrugged a little, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Gunther said he heard you talking in your sleep a couple times, and that you said my name." Y/n blushed, hoping Gunther hadn't accidentally revealed what the dreams were. "Are you having nightmares?"

Y/n sighed, shaking his head. "I'm fine, Mark, nothing to worry about. Come on, let's go eat. We've got a lot to do today."

The rest of the day went by normally, though Y/n could tell something was up with Mark. Before they all were about to go to bed, Y/n stopped Mark.

"Mark, can... can you come see me in my room? I wanna talk." He offered a smile to assure Mark it wasn't bad.

"Hm? Oh, sure, I'll be there in a minute, Cap." There was the smile Y/n knew.

The Captain went to his room, starting to change to get ready for bed. He was getting his shirt off when he heard a knock on his door. "You can come in," he called, pulling the shirt fully off. The door opened and closed.

"Hey, Cap, what'd you... need...?" Y/n turned around, seeing Mark staring at him. His face was red. Oh, he was blushing.

Y/n then realized he was shirtless. And in just his boxers. "Oh, fuck, sorry..." He muttered, reaching for his shorts and quickly pulling them on. He cleared his throat. "Right, sorry..." he blinked a few times, seeing that Mark still looked dumbfounded. "I just wanted to ask if you were alright, you know? You seemed really out of it today.

Mark shook his head and blinked a few times, redirecting his eyes to Y/n's face. "Me? I'm fine, Captain. Nothing wrong over here, just your most trusted head engineer!" He smiled but it seemed shaky.

Y/n stepped a little closer. "Mark, you don't have to lie to me. Not only are you my head engineer, but I consider you to be... a really good friend." He smiled a little. "You can talk to me."

Mark nodded a few times. Y/n could see his eyes flitting between his face and his bare chest before resting on his face. "It's like I said before, Captain, I'm just worried about you," he admitted.

"Mark, I'm fine. Trust me-"

"What about the talking in your sleep?" Mark interrupted, a worried look on his face.

Y/n paused, blushing. "Trust me, that's nothing bad, Mark." He swallowed, deciding to work up some courage. "Far from nightmares, actually... Mark, I... I really like you, okay? You're like my best friend, you're the person on this ship that I'm the closest to, and we went through all that together." He reached over, not wanting to do too much, so he let his hand rest on Mark's arm. "I really care about you, Mark, and I just want you to be okay." Mark seemed to be speechless, staring at Y/n. "M-Mark?"

The engineer blinked, realizing he was staring. "You're really fucking hot, Captain-" He laughed a little, obviously nervous.

Y/n smiled, feeling relieved. "You're such an idiot," he laughed. He moved his hand from Mark's arm, gently holding his face. He leaned a little close. "Is this okay?" He asked quietly.

Mark let out a soft noise that could only be described as a whimper as he nodded. "Y-yeah..."

"Oh fuck," Y/n muttered before closing the distance, kissing Mark. The two men immediately intensified it, the tension between them too much to handle.

Y/n put his other hand on Mark's hip, starting to pull him backwards. Mark's hands were together, resting behind Y/n's head. Mark pulled away, panting softly.

"Cap- Y/n, I need you..." He mumbled against the Captain's lips.

"Fuck, come here, pretty boy..." Y/n glanced behind him before pulling Mark back with him onto the bed.

Mark let out a surprised gasp before repositioning himself, straddling Y/n. The Captain started kissing Mark's neck, starting to suck and leave marks on him.

"C-Captain-" Mark tilted his head back, his hips bucking against Y/n. "Pl-please..."

Y/n smiled against Mark's neck, lifting his head up and looking at Mark. "I got you, Mark," he mumbled, pulling the man down into a kiss.

Mark moaned softly into the kiss, grinding his hips into Y/n's. They both let out groans. Y/n put his hands on Mark's hips, helping him move to get more contact.

"Fuck-" Mark broke from the kiss, panting and tilting his head back. He kept grinding his hips into Y/n.

"Mark..." He groaned softly, pushing his hips up into the other man.

"C-captain- oh, fuck.." Mark started moving his hips faster, panting more and more

Y/n brought his hand up, gently grabbing Mark's face and pulling him into a sloppy kiss. Mark let out more pants and moans, getting more desperate. He went to reach between them, to reach into his pants. Y/n grabbed his wrist and pulled it away.

"You're so close, baby, keep going," Y/n mumbled. "Come on, Mark, you're almost there.

Mark whined, resting his forehead on Y/n's, continuing to move his hips. He started muttering swears and 'please' before he kissed Y/n again, moaning into his mouth. His hips stuttered a bit before he let out another moan, gasping and panting. He slowed his movement before his hips stopped.

Y/n pulled him into a kiss again, smiling against his lips. "You did so good, baby, so good," he muttered.

"What- what about you...?" Mark asked, pulling away a little.

Y/n shook his head, smiling a little. "No, don't worry about me."

Mark shook his head, backing up slightly. "I want to help you-" He mumbled, reaching between them and pulling on Y/n's shorts. "Please?"

"I... fuck-" He couldn't resist and nodded. "Go ahead."

Mark pulled down the other's shorts and boxers before taking Y/n's dick in his hand, starting to stroke him. The Captain let out a soft groan.

"Come here-" He mumbled, pulling Mark into another sloppy kiss. He moaned softly as Mark sped up his hand. Y/n could barely keep the kiss, panting as Mark didn't stop. "Fuck- Mark-" Y/n gasped and groaned loudly as he came, reaching out and grabbing Mark's arm. The engineer pulled him into another kiss, helping Y/n through it.

After a few short moments, the two quickly clean themselves up; Mark taking off his now dirtied boxers and borrowing a pair from Y/n. They stayed the night in the Captain's quarters, and none of the awake crewmates questioned it when Mark came out of Y/n's room in the morning.

[missroller15]

A pirate’s desire

A/N: YAYAYAYAY! I finally have internet on my computer so I’m gonna post the first part of this fic, hope you guys enjoy it! Also just a disclaimer, if the characters are somewhat inaccurate or there’s plot holes, I’m sorry! I’m currently on a trip so I was only able to write most of it but actually sharing got complicated but anyways, yeah enjoy! Lemme know if you’ll want a part 2 :)

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

Salty air sprinkled the air as waves crashed against the boat. Jaron squinted towards the setting sun, which now illuminated the seas in vibrant shades of orange and pink. He let out a sigh of content before turning to the crew from atop the forecastle deck. “Men, get your smelly scallywag bottoms to work! We’ve almost made it!” 

His eyes scanned the main deck, looking for someone until he finally found him, with a disappointed glare. Or in other words, the regular look Jaron got from him. “Ahoy Tobias, matey-” Jaron started as he walked towards his direction. 

“Jaron, don’t. Roden and I told you that the pirate accent sounded terrible and that still hasn’t changed.” He frowned, opening up a book of mythology. A wicked grin rested naturally on Jaron’s lips as he replied.  “What you call terrible, I see as a form of uncomfort for you and Roden therefore it’s actually quite beautiful.”  

Tobias rolled his eyes, continuing. “Also, I believe we’re much closer than I’d calculated beforehand. Once we pass Sirena’s rock, then the pod should be near the area.” Jaron clicked his tongue, as he began to pace around. “And what do your books say about catching the fish itself?” 

“Not much. Just avoid hearing their voices. That’s the main warning when it came to hunting them, some sailors became so entranced by their voices that they jumped off their ships willingly to be eaten.” 

His eyes shimmered with fear as his voice spoke quietly to avoid spooking the rest of the crew. Though, not much could be done anyways if they did hear. “Ok, don't listen to the freaky sea song sung by women fish, got it.” Tobias nodded briefly before walking away to presumably do more map studying. A familiar face appeared as he walked up to Jaron. “Roden, you look absolutely terrible.” 

“Yes, because that’s exactly what one wants to hear when they get vomited on. You never were the best with words… or accents” His lips pressed in a thin line, although humor dripped from his expression. Jaron rolled his eyes, once more as he glanced at the horizon. The sun was nearly gone, they’d be at Sirena’s rock any minute now.  “It’s truly a gift you get to interact with me everyday or would you rather have a visit with the hungry ladies down below? I’m sure you won’t be able to make an opinion on how they speak when-” 

Jaron’s expression, although now only lit up by moonlight, tensed. The boat creaked as it passed by a rock, standing north of the island. It wasn’t very large but it was recognizable anywhere. Sirena’s rock, drips of pure white glittered down it. Sirena’s first and last tears of genuine love, as the tellers of the myth like to call it. 

A shriek pierced the quiet air, followed by a splash. All heads jerked towards the direction of the splash, peering over the ledge. Jaron did the same, his breath hitching. A red spot stained the dark seas. No one spoke a single word for several minutes. 

Just then, a cry filled the air for a brief moment. This time however, Jaron along with a few others were able to see for a split second the sailor, before he met death. A green slimy strip of seaweed wrapped around his neck. “The blasted women fish, they’re here.” Jaron muttered to himself, as he snuck down on his stomach to the main deck. 

He found his men, their eyes widened in horror. Jaron felt a tinge of guilt, he may not have mentioned the specifics when inviting the men to come mermaid-hunting. “Alright, matey’s-” 

“No, not the accent.” Tobias snapped. Behind his snarky exterior, hysterical fear was shining in his eyes. How did he even get down here?, Jaron thought for a second before shaking the thought. As he opened his mouth to continue, he shut it when he saw that Tobias wasn’t done. “I can’t believe we’re going to get killed by mermaids, you better have a plan.” 

Idiot, he thought, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, just as he expected, in place of the terrified stances were infuriated glares. Aggressively whispered comments were thrown all around until a terrifying beautiful melody filled the air silencing them. 

“Cover your ears, now!” Jaron commanded in a low whisper as he slowly stood up from his spot to scour the island they were drifting closer and closer to eyes didn’t make it far when a flash of slimy green wrapped around his right forearm, pulling him intensely towards the edge. His left hand instinctively went to the sword that rested comfortably at his hip. With a swift movement, he sliced the seaweed. A whimper followed. 

A weakness, good to know. Jaron thought before he yelled out to his crew.  “Men, attack!”

Shrieks and hisses came from below as more strips of green flew towards the boat. The sailors quickly scrambled to the cannons, stationing them towards the murky waters. Another seaweed flew towards Jaron’s head, it missed by a centimeter and stuck to an empty barrel instead. He quickly picked it up and tossed it over. 

In return, a yelp of pain came. With likely only seconds, he looked around the deck to make sure no other sailors had been lost. From what he could tell, all still seemed to be fine until his eyes landed on Tobias, smacking the seaweed wrapped around his knee with his book. 

There was no time to go down there so his hand flew towards his belt and pulled out a dagger. “Let’s hope this hits both your hand and your book.” Jaron aimed the dagger and with as much force as he could threw it. It stuck swiftly to the wood plank on his right. He yanked it out and cut the green strip. He stood up, the dagger glued to his hand. 

Jaron’s eyes then drifted to Roden who had the most seaweed springing towards him and the cannon he was maneuvaring with one hand while the other was aimlessly attacking. He’d be a good first mate, Jaron thought as another seaweed of green shot towards his chest. He pat his waist and pockets quickly as the plant pulled him harshly to the edge. A few crewmmates, including Roden and Tobias, noticed. I held back from the strength of the pull but it got increasingly difficult as I felt my energy drain. Tobias and another soon came up, pulling me back from my arms. Their jaws were tense, as was mine as we pulled my body back. 

The weight loosened greatly and despite our energy being drained, the excitement began rising at the sight before us. A mermaid, in the flesh. 

Chestnut brown waves framed her beautiful face that radiated complete hatred. Her breaths were quick and short but she did manage one thing out. “Bloody pirates..” 

Charming, Jaron thought, resisting the urge to laugh at the comment as if he hadn’t heard it countless times. Her eyes fell onto his, then the sailor beside him and finally Tobias. Her eyes lingered on him most before they returned to Jaron’s. The hatred, no less intense than before. 

She lunged with a screech but didn’t make it far when a net was tossed over her courtesy of Roden. The scene appeared so similar to an insect getting caught in a web.  “Get her a fishbowl. Now.”  He said nonchalantly. Roden dragged her away below deck with the help of a few others. Tobias followed behind right after. The rest of the mermaids were nowhere to be found once that one was pulled up. 

Jaron let out a sigh as he leaned against the edge. The rest of the crew ushered to their quarters, he stood alone staring into the brightness of the moon. It’s luminous light filled him with warmth, reminding him of his mother’s smile. This was all for her.. Once he got her the cure she’d accept him home again. Maybe, just maybe.

He was snapped out of his daze when a pair of hands spun him around followed by a sharp dagger held against his throat. His eyes met a pair of soft but intense hazel brown ones. “Where is she?” 

Her voice was dangerously low but threatening regardless. “Well, if you’re looking for a female. We don’t stock many but there is a replacement by the name of Tobias.” The dagger was pushed ever so slightly harder causing Jaron to wince. No, don’t let her win, he repeated in his mind. “Where is my sister? I saw her get taken from this ship and I’ll kill every single of you if that’s what it takes to get her back.” 

Jaron was taken aback. He was, dare he say, impressed. The way she spoke of her reminded him so much of how he’d protect Tobias and Roden. His brothers, not by blood but that didn’t make it any less strong of a bond to him. His eyebrows knit in confusion at a sudden realization. 

“So if you’re related to that ladyfish then where is your fishy part?” He raised an eyebrow, half-hoping that the question would distract her for a second to release her grip. To his dismay, no change. Her eyes remained hard and unconcerned. “I was born of man and mermaid, that’s how I can shift. Now tell me where my sister is before I slit your throat.” 

“Wait, that’s possible? Does the rest of the pod know? How were you accepted if you’re a mutant?” He needed to waste time. There was something in him that knew she’d bluff.. He couldn’t explain how he knew, he just did. Or maybe the sea salt was just leaking into his brain causing his braincells to mush. “I don’t answer any questions to a person of cold heart that attacks my family.” 

“Your pod attacked first! If anyone is of cold heart, it’s you.” Her lips that were previously pressed into a thin line fell into a frown as her grip faltered. This was it. He quickly grabbed her wrist tightly winding it behind her back and doing the same with the other. The dagger fell, hitting a wood plank a few feet away. She stumbled back slightly towards the wall. He’s got the advantage now. “Ok, that was all fun and games but it’s my turn to get some answers.” 

She huffed as she tried to manuevar out of his grip. “Yeah, no luck. It’s not a nice feeling, I can understand.” He had a smug grin resting on his lips. “Alright, now tell me what you did to my crewmates and I might release you scar-free.” 

“I already said that I don’t answer to people of cold heart and that I’m not going anywhere without my sister.” She sneered, leaning in dangerously close. Their noses brushed ever so slightly. “Fine then, don’t go anywhere. You’ll stay with her.” 

He called for a crewmate but no response. He tried again with Roden and Tobias. No response. 

His angered gaze fell to her’s. “What did you do to them?” 

“Find out for yourself.” Her eyes remained serious but there was a glimmer of humor in them, hidden deep inside. I released from our position and began making my way below deck, pulling along the somewhat charming yet dangerous girl. His jaw dropped at seeing every single one of his men, asleep. Soft snores came every so often from a few of them. He felt a rush of relief flow inside him. He’d seen enough death for tonight. He regained his composure before turning to the girl. “How did you manage to make them fall asleep? How did you even manage to sneak aboard?” 

“I used a seaweed rope to climb once I saw that all of them went down to their quarters.. Well at least, I assumed all. When I snuck by, I used enchanted coral dust and they all went out like a light.” Her voice said softly as though they’d wake up if her voice was loud. Jaron despite not being the most intellectual, did a bit of research before his hunt and fell upon the topic of coral dust in one of Tobias’ books. He read that inhaling a whiff could cause one to sleep for days.

Jaron glanced over at her. She radiated peace when not angered, it was almost pleasant to view but then he noticed the moonlight glittering in through the windows. His mother. This was for her. He grabbed an old rope that rested along the floor with no particular use and tied her hands behind her back. “I’d apologize but that would require regret… which I don’t have.” 

Her eyes immediately jerked to his, there was a mix of pity and sadness but hatred shined brightest of all. He almost felt a tinge of guilt. Almost.. Maybe he did. 

A/N: There it is! Lemme know your thoughts, fav parts?? I dunno what else to say besides, hope you liked it haha <333

[attllhak]

So I know you posted where each member of the chain lives in your Mer Au, but have you thought about where each one of these places would be on a map including the land? (Sorry if this makes no sense)

Hey, this actually makes perfect sense!

And sorry this took so long to get to, but I got this and thought to myself, hey! Maybe I should make an actual map!

And then I realized that I am bad at making maps. My attempts were, not good.

So I sent my attempt to my best friend and they made me this!

Which is a much better map than what I made.

So, fair warning, this map is not totally to scale. This is just a, where is everyone located sorta map.

Also, I had to figure out zora boarder politics to figure out how things worked, so if you want to know about that lemme know, I have most of the zora political structure of this AU figured out now apparently.

So, to elaborate on a few things:

The section here in dark blue, the zora waters, are a big pocket of area controlled by the zora, one of many throughout Hyrule. Something something, politics and agreements, something something. These areas have a clearly defined and marked boarder.

Mer pods do not have any marked boarders. They barely have boarders.

Wind's pod, the orange blob, is a half a days swim from the ranch. The new reef marked is the reef that Sky and Warriors and Wild/Knight's pod move to at the end of that first fic. (The Old Reef is the one they left, and is actually much further away than this map implies.) Eventually the zora will shift the boarder to include all of the reef. This reef is a day trip from the ranch. The purple blob is Time's old pod and the pod Dusk is from. It's kinda a day trip, but it's a much longer swim, so the trip is made less often. They aren't part of the protection the zora offer, but there is a standing offer. Midna's trench is much closer to Dusk than the ranch, so she and Twi and Midna usually meet up there. Midna's trench is within the zora waters.

All of these locations are in a Necluda-type region in the south.

East of this is a more jungle-esque Faron region.

Legend's pod, in pink, is in this area. It's a full day's swim from there to the ranch. You will also notice a little shape labelled 'Hyrule's Cave' in this area. Because Hyrule still lives in a cave in this AU. The little inlet there maybe-probably leads to Lake Hylia. Idk, not set in stone on that yet. This inlet is 100% part of Faron though, the edge of Faron/Necluda is east of the inlet. Not by a lot, but yeah.

And you did mention the land, but that's all really vague in my head still? Like, Gerudo Desert in the west, Death Mountain in the north, Hyrule Castle kinda in the center. I don't need to know exactly where those are at this point, so I haven't thought about it.

[a-tomb-with-a-view]

I know fandom appreciation thingy was on Monday. But I have no sense of time, and I just really think that @on-irratia yk?

So here, have my favourite fics of hers because I remembered that I’m friends with one of my favourite authors and wanted to scream about it (if anyone wants me to do a full jatp fic rec list I will but I’m just. Lottie. Rn) unfortunately I cannot just list her entire works here, so these are a select few that I think everyone should read because it will genuinely make you a better human :

Like icarus and the sun (my love finds a home with you)

Have you ever wanted to feel incredibly yearny and gay?? Have you??? Well, with the help of this willex husbands sunrise masterpiece, you can either experience it or feel validated in it

Sinking deeper, still reaching for the end of the light

Okay this one is great and I love love love it, because it’s got the anger and the sweet lil Trevor bonding, and it makes me feel incredibly validated in my anger at my parents not accepting me at first, even if they grew to, and even if your coming out was wonderful, I really think you should give this a read just to have some insight into what Alex realistically would be going through if the Mercers got a redemption arc, and also just for the Alex getting the love he deserves

To skirt or not to skirt

The gays wear skirts and the gays cannot function while their bfs are wearing skirts genuinely need I say more

Almost legends

I wouldn’t call myself the og Bobby stan but I am definitely choosing to take credit for some of his popularity, and y’all. Y’all. I am not kidding when I say I cannot rec this hard enough I’m love it

Key around his neck skateboard in his hands

Just. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I’m love this so much and it goes into Willie and his background and his relationship with Alex and if I had to scream from the rooftops about one thing for the rest of my life it would be this fic

Taking the chance (making a move)

This fic and its sequel (its boggie y’all) just. They make me happy. They refill the serotonin. Boost the hormone economy. Reading this fic is like putting actual fuel in your engine after months of driving with literal water in the tank

Shining bright

Okay if you’ve ever read anything I’ve written about Bobby and the accompanying authors note, you know I don’t feel my feelings very much. This series, though. This fucking series. I’ve laughed til I cried over it, I’ve been so soft I cried over it, and I cried over the ace one as well, and if you want to experience the full spectrum of happy-feelings-that-could-make-you-cry, this series is the motherfucking place to start I’m telling you

All days are nights and nights are bright

Now, if you’ve read many of my works you may be thinking: “but meg, where’s the polyamory?” Well it’s right the fuck here, lemme fucking tell you. If I needed a meme to describe me whenever I even thinking about this Fic, it’s the bird one with the massive inhale and the screech, because holy mother of fucking god is it incredible. You want prose? Here you go. You want the prettiest description of Willie Wilbur Williamson Williams to ever exist? Here you go. You want idiot gays prancing about the bog and falling in love? Well here you fucking go

Now I know there are people out there that vaguely think I’m a decent writer, and if you do, then I’m gonna need you to trust me to also recognise incredible decent writing, and go just. Enrich your lives, lil baby gays. Enrich your fucking lives

(Tide pod isn’t on here because I helped write it but also she’s writing half of it and guys. Guys. Just. Self promo here too but just go read that @anxiousacesexplorethelitverse )

[oyubaat-tapcaf]

Another Job Is Done //Mandalorian x Reader

Here is my first ever Mandalorian Fic, written for @propertyofdindjarin

(small remark, I used ur name so this is kind of Mando x reader but also not)

I am a huge star wars nerd so im happy you preferred a mando fic

Have fun reading!

summary: Din had a bad experience while hunting down a quarry, leaving him with his feelings clear.

wordcount: 2985

warnings: canon typical violence, kind of a near death experience, a little bit of angst but lots of fluff

The ramp of the Razor Crest made a loud hissing noise when the hydraulics started to work on opening it. As the end of it reached the floor, the Mandalorian entered his ship. He seemed exhausted. He did not strut, as usual, his body language showed, this fight hadn’t been easy. He seemed like he even got hurt, more than usual. 

Mando grunted when he pulled the unconscious quarry up into his ship. He was in pain. This womprat he’d been hunting down was hard to catch and also a very good fighter. Well, not good enough. Din closed the ramp and hurled the quarry up into his carbonite chamber then he pressed the button to freeze him. Another job is done. Finally. 

He groaned quietly under his beskar helmet and let himself fall back against the wall. He wasn’t hurt badly but he was sore. He had been awake and going for a few days now, he needed food, water, and sleep. And maybe someone to hold onto. He was gone for a couple of long days and he was on edge. He liked being alone, but since he had the kid he realized how nice a little bit of company can be. He changed since he got the child that’s why this job was a little different. The job was a well-paying one. That was because the quarry was on a planet that was hard to get to. It was behind a big dangerous nebula. There were only a few people who were able to get to the other end alive and he was lucky that one of those people was willing to help him. His piloting was good but not good enough for the turbulence he might face in the nebula. Well for 50 percent of the bounty. That was a good deal. Even half of the money was enough for Din to buy food for him and his little friend, also to buy new fuel and new bullets for his pulse rifle since he was out of them.

The Mandalorian was too proud to admit it, he liked the pilot that was with him. She was a nice and beautiful young lady. She knew what she wanted and she got what she wanted. He remembers discussing the deal with her. She knew how to make a good deal, and she wasn’t intimidated by Din's appearance. Usually, people were acting different around him, some even being afraid of him. They heard the stories of Mandalore and its population. They heard of the strong beskar armor and Mandalorian combat skills. So Din usually gets what he wants. But that pilot...she wasn’t having it. 

“Look, I know you are an amazing hunter, but I’m just as good of a pilot, so that means we will split the bounty in half, no discussion needed,” she said while sipping away on her spotchka. Her eyes were challenging him, daring him to disagree with her.

“You will fly on my ship. And I will hunt down the quarry,” Din leaned forward looking straight into her eyes. “I don’t think 50/50 will work for me.”

She scoffed and shook her head. “My way or no way, Mando. You don’t know frag about that nebula. If you want to fly through it alone, do it. But lemme tell you even your beautiful beskar can’t save you. “

Din was a little angry at first but she then smiled at him, kind of mocking him but he was so lost in her beautiful face that he just sighed and jerked back as he caught himself staring. This helmet on his head was making his life easier.

The Mandalorian nodded and they shook hands. She wanted to invite him for a drink but he declined, as he always did. 

 Din sighed, back to his current situation. He and Rae had traveled a long time together, they got in some trouble with a few pirates and they had to shoot themselves out of it. They crashed on Teth and had to repair the Crest together, spending some nights sitting together and listening to the sounds coming from the jungle that was near, sharing some stories from their past. The child was always with them and the pilot got along with Din’s little friend. 

Even if this whole mission was kind of more than the Mandalorian signed up for, he enjoyed the company of the young pilot. When they finally arrived at the nebula Din realized why she wanted 50 percent of the money. She knew what she was doing, maneuvering the crest through the turbulences and clouds of gas. Maker, Din was lost, he had so many strong feelings about her and they all came crashing down on him while he was hunting down the quarry. He had tried to suppress his feelings for her. He didn’t even know what was going on. Stars, he never fell in love before, he was a loner. The youngling made him discover his soft side. At least under all that armor.

The quarry wasn’t easy to catch and Din nearly got into some bad trouble. His opponent nearly gained the upper hand at some point, leaving Din with an experience he can save into his album of “situations to avoid”. He had lost all his weapons except for his flame thrower and before he could even think of a way to get himself out of this situation, a strong cord had wrapped around his body leaving him unable to move his hands. He heard laugher, now knowing if it just was ringing in his ears from being hit so hard before, or if someone was laughing at him. The Mandalorian heard a vibroblade buzzing to life, he had opened his eyes to see his opponent, a nautolan, grinning, standing right in front of him.

“I’ve always wanted to kill a Mandalorian before.”

He stepped forward. Din tried to move but he realized, somehow the nautolan had wrapped up his whole body with cord, he couldn’t move his legs either, leaving him sitting on the floor and watching the nautolan stepping yet another step closer to him.

“I can even keep that amazing beskar to myself,” he murmured. He reached out with his hand, the blade touched the Mandalorians helmet with a metallic noise, ringing in Din’s ears. He was tense, still needed to collect himself, trying to seek his way out. He was a Mandalorian, he was raised his whole life with the knowledge that he will eventually die. It was nothing new to him, his whole life was living from day to day, not knowing how many of them are left for him. But right now he couldn’t accept that. There was this mission bigger than him and bigger than this quarry. The child. He needed the Mandalorians' help. He was his foundling, Din needed to come back to him. But there was even more. He had suddenly felt so lonely, kneeling on the floor, a vibroblade whirring right beside his head. The Beskar clad man was in love and nobody knew about it. He never had someone to kiss, to love. The pilot didn’t even know that Din was thinking about her, every damn minute, every day he woke up, hoping he would have the courage to tell her about his feelings for her. And he never did. 

The Mandalorian had snarled, this was not the end, he was not going to die like this. The adrenaline had shot up, into his system and Din had pushed his feet against the ground, falling forward with such force that he fell into his opponent. The nautolan had lost his balance and fell forward, the blade slipping out of his hand. Din caught it and cut himself loose, then he whirled around, jumped to his feet. He had kicked the green man right into his face with his boot, the nautolan had lost his consciousness immediately. 

That’s how he got the quarry back to his ship. Din was still trembling a little, after this experience, he was so happy to be back inside the Crest, back with his foundling and back with her. He groaned again and slipped down the wall, hitting the floor. His legs sprawled out, away from him he sat on the ground as a youngling would.

“Ni'm haryc”, he murmured to himself immediately feeling the exhaustion in his tired bones. 

***

You sat in the cockpit of the Crest, fiddling with your gloves and watching the child who was soundly asleep. You were nervous about the Mandalorian's return. He was acting differently around you since a few days ago and you were afraid that he was annoyed by you. His body language was always showing that he was nervous as if your company was something he was not used to and doesn't want to get used to. 

You sighed quietly and laid your beat-up gloves down. You really hoped that Mando was safe out there. You liked him more than you wanted to admit and him getting hurt on his daily adventures had you restless at night. Especially the last two days were hard. He was hunting down the quarry and you just had to wait for him. But hunting the quarry also meant flying back home and parting ways. You didn't want that to happen. You knew it was going to happen nevertheless but you felt the urge to kick something when you thought about leaving the Razor Crest and its amazing team. 

The Youngling was so cute and surprisingly good at keeping you company. You realized that you could even learn from him, in a way. 

And Mando, let's say it, you were into him. He was kind and polite, always trying to make your stay on the Crest comfortable. But you also liked his darker side that shot pirates and threw them off of his ship while it was in the air. He protected his family like he would protect his eyeball. 

You were ripped from your thoughts as you heard the hydraulic ramp slid down. Probably Mando, he was the only one besides you who had access to the Crests controls. Hopefully, it was him. You waited a few seconds. You heard steps and something hitting the wall. Then you heard the Carbonite chamber go off. Yep, it was Mando. He was back. 

"Kriff, finally," you whispered and got up from the pilot seat. The child was still asleep so you left him in his little pod. 

You slowly made your way down the ladder down to the cargo hold, as you reached the floor you saw the Mandalorian sitting on the floor, legs sprawled out like a child would seeming weak, exhausted, hurt. You were shocked at how weak he looked, you never saw him that way before. You looked at his muddy boots and his dirty armor, his cape was ripped apart and soaked in mud too. 

Mando looked like an injured Crayt Dragon, majestic but hurt, weak. Full of rage and fire but not able to use it anymore. He was panting his helmet leaned back against the wall, hands left weak beside his legs, his gloves also muddy. You started to panic. Is he okay?

“Are you okay, Mando?” you asked and made a step forward. Careful. 

He turned his head a little so his visor was facing you. 

“...No.” he pressed out. Even under that mud, his beskar was gleaming in the dim light of the Crests cargo hold. You were always kind of hypnotised by the way his armor reflected the lights. You knew that he knew it, he had caught you staring various times. But he had never mentioned it or called you out on it. It even seemed like he enjoyed it. You remember one time, as you were repairing his ship he caught you staring as he was welding some parts together and you were mesmerized at how beautiful the lightning bow was reflected by his beskar plates. He had turned around, looking at you stopping everything he was doing. 

You stared back right into his visor not being able to look away. He had tilted his head a little bit, so slowly as if he was grinning at you. You could only imagine but you knew he had a smug smirk going on under that damn helmet. You could just smirk back at him shrugging. 

He had chuckled, so softy, his shoulders shaking, just a little. Then he had turned back around and started welding again. 

“Kriff, Mando, what’s wrong, do you need help?” now really panicking as you got pulled back into reality.

“No,” he answered, again. 

Now you were just confused. What was wrong with him. He was acting weird and you didn’t know what to do. 

“What are you talking about…? I-” 

“Shhh.” he shushed you. “Don’t panic. I’m not hurt.” 

You relaxed a little, you weren’t very good at playing doctor and you knew that if Mando would get hurt bad, you wouldn’t be able to help him properly. Your shoulders dropped in relief.

“Maker, you were really scaring me. Don’t do that again Mando.” 

The Mandalorian chuckled. Him chuckling was very rare so you knew something was up. The last time you heard him chuckle was when he caught you staring.

“I am okay. I’m sorry for scaring you. I am kriffing sore.” he huffed, looking at his dirty boots and at the trail of mud he left on the floor. “I...I had a hard time. I- ...yeah.” he was stuttering. 

You looked at him questioningly. He still acted strangely.

You closed the small gap between the two of you and sat down in front of him with your legs crossed. His visor followed your movements. 

“You don’t seem okay to me, Mando.” you whispered looking at him,

You saw his shoulders rising, just a few millimeters, but far enough for you to know that you hit a nerve.

“I…” he paused again, slowly taking off his dirty gloves revealing his skin. You never saw him take anything off, this was the first time him showing you his skin. Oh boy, somethings coming.

He laid his gloves down between his legs, looking at them for a little too long as if he was still thinking, forming sentences in his head.

“Look, I had a hard time today. I nearly got into some...bad trouble and- “ he stopped and cleared his throat.

Your heart rate picked up on speed as he raised his head to look at you again. Your hands trembled a little but you realized he was too. He was nervous. 

“I just realized that if I died, I would die alone. Like, I mean I know the child would miss me but...I never had someone...special.” his helmet tiled down at his trembling hands again.

“Someone special?” your mouth was dry like kriffing Tattooine. Your heart was beating, you could even hear it, stars, Mando could probably hear it too.

“Yeah. I never thought about that stuff. I always liked being alone. But since….” he stopped again taking a deep breath. His voice was rough as he continued.

“...since I met...you, I realized how lonely I am.”

You didn’t know what to answer to that. You knew what he was trying to tell you but didn’t dare to help him out and say what you wanted to say. You were too nervous. You both sat in awkward silence for a few seconds which seemed endless.

“Look, I….you...you are special to me.” he gulped and looked up again. His voice was muffled, his vocoder having a hard time picking it up. But you heard him still.

“Mando...stars.” you felt your cheeks heat up. Hearing these words out of his mouth felt so strange. The Mandalorian, who was always short on words, telling you he had a crush on you. You didn’t know how to respond to that.

“I’m sorry.” he sighed and his gaze dropped again. “I shouldn’t have said that.” his shoulders dropped and he suddenly looked so small.

“No, no wait, Mando. I...you can’t imagine how...how. Oh well.” you never were good at feelings. “I am feeling the same...about you. It feels like you are my missing piece.”

As he looked up at you this time you could tell he gained his confidence back. 

“You know,” he started. “ You know, you were on my mind all the time as I was hunting down this womp rat.” he gestured to the frozen nautolan. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

You felt your cheeks heat up even more. You must look like an idiot as you were smiling at him. All those times you were thinking about him you didn’t know he was thinking about you too.

He suddenly held out his hand. His bare hand. No dirty Mando-Gloves with holes that had been stitched up poorly. His bare skin.

“Please take my hand, cyare.” he murmured.

You were surprised by his nickname for you, probably mando’a. You slowly reached out and gently took his hand. His skin was warm and soft just like you imagined it. As your fingers intertwined with yours he slowly and gently pulled you closer to him. You followed his movements until you were sitting awkwardly between his sprawled-out legs, very very close to him. He smelled like gunpowder.

He cradled both of your cold hands in his warm ones, his hands were so big next to yours. 

“My name is Din.” he breathed and even if his eyes were covered you knew he was looking deep into yours. You were surprised that he had told you his name, since it’s sacred, and hidden, like his face. 

“That’s a beautiful name.” You smiled. 

He chuckled and cradled your face with one hand while pulling your other hand down to his cold breastplate. 

 “Thank you, senaar.” 

[tagsecretsanta]

From @Thundergeek59

to @little-old-rachel

Secret Santa does not own this work, full credit to the author mentioned above!

AN: This is only my second fic and I thought it was only going to be a couple of paragraphs, however, Jeff decided to take this over totally and ran away with it. I now know what you writers mean when you say your characters take over!  I hope you like it, I had fun writing it

Rating: Gen/Family fun

Wordcount: 2900 ish

Jeff sat up and swing his legs over the side of the bed, toeing on his slippers.  It was still dark as he reached for his cane and shrugged his dressing gown round his shoulders. “May as well get up as toss and turn in bed”.  Stuffing his communicator cuff in his pocket, he padded out his door and headed to the kitchen.  

Grabbing a small bottle of juice and a couple of biscuits he headed out towards the pool deck and sat on one of the loungers.  Idly munching the biscuit he gazed at the pool, lit up by the underwater lights, and his mind wandering back to Gordon’s pre-Olympic training when he used to time him with his stopwatch, then chuckling as he remembered having to dive-bomb his little fishie in a vain effort to get him out of the pool, several hours later. 

“Oh Lucy, our little fish is all grown and you’d be so proud of him – of all of them”

With a sigh, he pulled himself up on his cane and continued walking down the path to the beach where Virgil had thoughtfully built a bench for him so he didn’t have to sit on the sand, which only thinly covered the sharp volcanic rock.  From here he could look out to the bird colony on Mateo.  He remembered his first few weeks back home,  when easily overwhelmed by boys and noise, he had sought the solitude by the beach.  Just listening to the waves ebb and flow calmed his mind.  

He looked to the red glint just gracing the edges of the horizon and realised Gordon would be up soon to power though his pool routine while Scott would be just behind, setting off round the island on his daily run.  Eight years and some things never changed while others were irredeemably different.

It was Virgil who caught him by surprise with a hand gently placed on his shoulder. “Hey dad, we’re going to get the tree now, do you want to come along?”  “Thanks for the offer but I think I better stay and help your Grandma with dinner preparations.” He declined. “You sure?  We’d love you to join us and anyway, Max is there to help in the kitchen and Ridley and Kayo will be available to fix any potential culinary catastrophes”.

“I’d only be a hindrance with this”  he replied, waving his stick.  “Actually dad, I have an idea I think you might like”.  Intrigued, Jeff let himself be persuaded, hoping he wouldn’t regret it.

As soon as Virgil had set down Two at the edge of the forest, Scott and John set about configuring a suitable pod.  With Gordon awaiting the arrival of Lady Penelope and Alan still in bed, the party consisted of Jeff and his three eldest and he was looking forward to just doing something social with his boys, a nice change from being ferried to hospital appointments.  He was, however, starting to wonder what form Virgil’s surprise idea would take when he heard a soft cough behind him, announcing said son’s arrival.

The sight that greeted him as he turned around was not what he was expecting.  In front of Virgil was a fully functioning hoversleigh, complete with T2’s green livery with the addition of red flames down the side, a red padded seat with a matching throw.  Words failed him, causing a worried frown to appear between Virgil’s brows, until a deep chuckle rose from Jeff, and a smile twitched at the corner of Virgil’s mouth, pleased that his dad had felt comfortable enough to let his lighter side out.  “Certainly is different” laughed Jeff as Virgil helped him into the sleigh.

Scott and John’s faces were a picture as the hatch descended with Virgil and their father.   “Oh my word, you really did it!” John exclaimed as both brothers tried to stifle their guffaws when they saw their father with a green bobble hat and gloves, looking like one of Santa’s helpers sitting in the sleigh.

“Well, I’d been tinkering with the old hover bikes back at the ranch and decided to see how far I could take the modifications and, well, here she is...”

“Well, let’s see what this baby can do” said Jeff as he pushed the controller forward and... nothing.  A quizzical look at Virgil “Safety feature.  You gotta push the red button first but be careful, I haven’t fully tested.....” He couldn’t finish the sentence due to the cloud of snow covering him. 

“WooHooooo” Jeff whooped as he surged forward down the track, leaving them all brushing snow off themselves.

“You do remember that he likes to go very, very fast” Scott said

“Yep, better jump in the pod and catch him before he heads out of sight” added John. ‘C’mon Virg, hop on”.

Scott steered the pod at speed, following the trail of snow kicked up by the sleigh. After several hair-raising twists and turns Jeff had managed to turn the sleigh into a clearing and was doing doughnut spins, thoroughly enjoying himself.  Finally he came screeching to a halt mere inches from his sons, who were once more coated with a dusting of snow.  “Gee Virgil, that’s gotta be the best fun I’ve had in years!  Reminds me of that time Lee and I tested out the moon rover on Alfie.”

“I’m pleased you had fun, but I hadn’t got around to telling giving you the low-down on all it’s features”.  

“Well, as an Airforce pilot you kinda just learn on the job, part of the fun really, isn’t that right Scott”.   “Sure dad, but you just about gave me a heart attack back there.”  “Ah sorry, Scotty, but you gotta admit, if it had been you trying her out, you’d have done the exact same thing”.  “I guess so” Scott conceded.

While Jeff and Scott had been talking, John had been surveying area, seeking out the perfect tree.  “That one, over there, what do you think Vigil”.  “Looks good to me, lemme bring the pod into position” Virgil replied as he hopped up onto the pod and drove it over to the tree, Scott and Jeff following in it’s wake.  

“Ok guys let’s do this.  John, you take that side.  Virgil, get into position with the saw and dad and I will be over here to tell you when to stop cutting and get the pod grapples ready”  Pure IR commander front and centre. “Yes, and I’ll be shouting encouragement from the sidelines” chuckled Jeff.  He’d had time to see his boys work together over the past few months and marvelled at how seamlessly they all fitted together, deferring to each other’s greater expertise.  He’d learnt from bitter experience that his opinions on the best way for them to do something, more often than not screwed with their well oil system and got them second-guessing themselves, which was not what was needed in the field.

 He was fortunate, so fortunate that his boys had developed the way they had, working in the way they did and in the process, turning IR into something more than what he had originally envisaged.  He’d been away from it all for too long to be able to step back in and run it the way he had and he was coming to terms with that, despite how much his pride and sense of usefulness had been hurt.

“You’d have loved this Lucy – just look at our boys working so well together, just like they did when they were little”. 

“You ok dad?” John was first to notice the faraway look in his fathers’ eyes.  “Yes, I’m fine, just  telling your mother about you all”.  John gave Scott a look, who in turn quirked an eyebrow at Virgil. Virgil imperceptibly shook is head.  Jeff, watching the exchange and remembering how they had been doing this since they were children – saying so much without uttering a word.  “I know those looks, and no, I’m not crazy, you gotta remember that for 8 years I only had your mother to talk to, so it’s got to be a bit of a habit.”  

The boys looked anywhere but at their father, feeling caught out with muffled apologies.  “C’mon lets get this tree strapped onto the pod and back home” Virgil successfully diverted the conversation to the matter in hand.

It didn’t take too long to get back to Thunderbird 2, Jeff taking a slightly more sedate pace on the return journey.  What the boys didn’t know was that the reason for the slower pace would make itself apparent as soon as they exited the pod.

Whooooosh...... splat!  A perfect hit and a whoop of joy from the elf in the sleigh.  Scott looked down at the remains of the snowball that was gracing his uniform.  “You did not just snowball me, did you? Scott scooped up a handful himself “You know what that means.....”   “You wouldn’t hit an old man in a sleigh?” Words were barely out of his mouth when Whumph... direct shot to the sleigh, there followed a rapid volley from the sleigh to the other two sons. Virgil and John only had time to cast a quick glance at each other when they realised what was going on before  Boooooffffff..... fluuuuufffff.......Thwaaaak!  

In the meantime, Scott was building a small cache of snowballs, ever prepared, ready to dive into the fray.  He decided that his chances were better if he and Jeff teamed up against Virgil and John.  Whilst  Jeff could quickly manoeuvre the sleigh out of some of the shots, not all could be avoided.  Virgil had the strength and John had the trajectory calculations going on in his head, weighing up the best type of snowball for the distances involved – enough to make a good splatter but not hard enough to cause damage to sleigh or person. The were quite a formidable team against age and experience.

“Okay, okay, I concede defeat” Jeff laughed as one final snowball splattered against his gloved hands raised in mock surrender.  It had been a long time since he’d seen them rosy cheeked in the cold air, just enjoying themselves, “Well, I think it’s definitely time to head back to the Island” John shivered as they loaded pod, Christmas tree and sleigh onto Two’s elevator.   “But we need to make a quick stop off en-route” added Virgil.  “What could we possibly need on Christmas eve that we haven’t already got” Jeff queried.  “Wait and see” was his reply.

Thunderbird Two took off as soon as everyone was strapped in.  Virgil and Scott in the pilot and co-pilot seats with Jeff and John behind in the passenger seats.  Jeff regarded his middle son who was staring out of the window “Penny for your thoughts” he said.  “Hmm? Oh it’s nothing, just daydreaming really”.  “Uh huh, and would that daydream have anything to do with a lovely young astronaut that’s waiting for you back home?” asked Jeff. 

 John could feel the heat creeping up to his cheeks  “Maybe, just idly looking forward to having a few days downtime together.  Our schedules rarely coincide, so it’ll be nice to spend a few days dirtside with her”.  “You thinking of bringing her into the family business?” Jeff asked.   John had not seen that one coming and, clearly agitated, tried to steer the conversation away. Truth be told, he had thought about it but that would imply a whole load of commitment he wasn’t sure either of them could give right now.  

“Not really thought about it to be honest” was all he offered.  “You sure could do with some additional help up there on Five and she is a fully trained astronaut ....and... well, I like her”  You could have knocked John down with a feather.  What the heck had happened to his father and who was this amiable alien who had taken over his body!

Vigil raised and eyebrow at Scott while all this conversation was going on, realising it was touching on a subject neither of them had even dared ask John about.  Scott quirked an eyebrow back, a small smile dancing at the corner of his mouth.  He’d love to stay and listen in but felt it was getting into personal territory that neither of them had a right to enter without invitation.

“Just stopping off here for a few minutes guys.  Scott, wanna come with?” Virgil asked, the please remained unsaid but was clear from his expression.  “Sure, we’ll be back in no time, no need to get up you two.” Scott replied as they both exited the cockpit.

“Ok, I know, it’s not my place to interfere” Jeff continued “but take it from someone who’s been there, when you find someone you just feel totally comfortable with, you don’t just let it slip away.  I’ve seen you two together John, the way you interact, believe me, I’ve never seen you look so comfortable with anybody outside this family, with the exception perhaps of  Penny.” 

Clearly blindsided, John being John, wanted a bit more clarification “Dad, when you said family business, you didn’t just mean International Rescue, did you?”  “Well son, that would be up to you” Jeff left the ball in John’s court. 

 “This thing we have, it’s quite new and we’re having to work round rotas, so we haven’t actually had a great deal of time together. Certainly not enough to make as big a decision as I think you’re suggesting”.    “Son, sometimes you just gotta trust your gut and leave your head and logic to one side. That’s all I’m saying”. 

Their conversation was interrupted by Scott and Virgil entering the cockpit with several boxes carrying the logo of a well known Swiss chocolatier and four steaming takeaway cups.  “Thought we could all use some hot chocolate” Virgil passed out the cups to welcoming hands. “Just what we needed. Got anything in these boxes to go with the cocoa?” Jeff asked. “Sadly, these are for home. I promised Kayo we’d pick up some goodies for everyone to enjoy with our Christmas mimosas and I’d hate to be the one to tell her they didn’t make it home.” Replied Virgil.  “Well it’s a good job I popped into the patisserie down the road while you were busy getting the drinks and got these”  Scott beamed, clearly collecting extra brownie points as he carefully opened the smaller box, revealing the most wonderful choux pastry creations liberally topped with dark and white chocolate ganache, lightly dusted with edible glitter and gold leaf.  “Wondered where you’d wandered off to” mumbled Virgil mid-chew, trying not to spray glitter everywhere.  “You’re not the only one who knows the little out of the way places” 

“Neither of you would know about either of those places if Eos and I hadn’t scoped them out first” John huffed.  He was pleased the conversation had moved on from the rather uncomfortable personal probing of earlier and was quite happy to keep it that way.

 “Call it teamwork” Virgil added as he slipped into the pilot’s chair.  “Well, from what I see, teamwork is certainly something you boys excel at and I couldn’t be prouder” Jeff added as he raised his hot chocolate in salute to his eldest three.

Waiting to meet them in the hangar were the two youngest, Alan bouncing on the balls of his feet, Gordon trying unsuccessfully to hide his delight at the size of the tree that was appearing from Two.  What they hadn’t expected to see was hidden behind the tree. “Oh my God!” Gordon exclaimed as he caught a glimpse of green and red.  He and Alan ran over to check out what had caught his eye and of course, check out the tree.  

Wow, it’s a beaut” enthused Gordon, gently stroking the machine.  “I thought you were all talk when you were going on about fixing up one of the old hover bikes”.  Virgil just shrugged, enjoying the youngster’s reaction to his handiwork. “You even painted on the flames!” Alan shrieked in delight.

“Well, hello to you too” said Jeff, slightly miffed but totally understanding of their enthusiasm for the new piece of kit rather than welcoming him back.

“Oh, hi dad” Alan finally waved, not taking his eyes off the machine. “You know, I was the one your brother allowed to test drive that thing” Jeff added.  That got their attention.  “Aw Virgil, I thought I was your favourite brother” whined Gordon “You know it’s always been me” replied Alan as they both turned towards there father, their interest piqued.  Virgil just rolled his eyes.  “So, how was she? Was she fast? Did you fall out? Did you test it to it’s limits?” so many questions tumbled from Alan who was now more interested in what his father had to say. “Walk me to the elevator and I’ll tell you all about it” said Jeff putting an arm around Alan’s shoulder.  “C’mon Gordon” Alan gestured for his brother to join him.  Gordon ran over, slipping quietly under Jeff’s other arm.  Jeff positively beamed as he finally had their full attention and a new tale to enthral them.  

The three older brothers looked at each other and smiled.  It’d been a long time since they’d seen their dad so relaxed and happy. 

Definitely the best day he’d had since returning from the Oort cloud and perhaps a new Christmas precedent had been set with the hoversleigh for future tree collecting.

End

[mellicose]

That Woman Over There - Chapter 2

A You Me and Him Fix-it Fic

Rating: Teen, for some mild w|w eroticism (You bet your sweet ass)

Word count: 4452

Warnings: none

Summary: ~ Set after the birth of Monty, Olivia’s baby ~ A dear friend of Olivia comes to visit for a week, and she disturbs the fragile peace between her, Alex, and John.

Read Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

She woke with a gasp.

The sofa bed was nice enough, but her back ached for her own bed at home. She could’ve gotten a hotel, but Livvie insisted she stay at the house. Her and Alex wanted to take care of her.

Her heart rate decreased to something normal, and she realized why she was scared.

It was too damn quiet.

In her apartment in the meatpacking district, there was always noise. Dump trucks emptying bins full of glass bottles from all the nightclubs and restaurants. Foreign assholes driving around in their souped up sports cars, their engines roaring. Drug dealers screaming to each other from their respective corners. And underneath it all, the thrumming, coked-out heartbeat of the city.

Here, in this lovely little oasis, there was nothing. Not even the big-throated crickets that sang American suburb-dwellers to sleep. It was strange. She rolled out of bed and checked her cell phone. It was a little after 3 AM, local time.

It was 11 PM in New York. She usually went to sleep around that time when she was in the planning stage of her installations. She stretched and looked around at the dark living room. Everything seemed to be in the saturated primary colors of childhood, so different from Livvie’s cool, clean, and pastel. Furthermore, Alex’s influence was clear - in the art on the walls, and the upholstery on the furniture.

She stretched, arms high over her head, and caught of whiff of sweat and cigarette smoke from the pub.

“I need a shower,” she said softly to herself, and shuffled quietly up the stairs. Alex and Olivia’s bedroom door was open. Their blinds were up, and a breeze stirred the paisley curtains. They were a painting of domestic tranquility - Liv, snoring softly with her hand still on the rail of the small rocking crib. Monty lay on his back, dreaming. Alex slept on her side, hugging her pillow, her bum pressed against Olivia. Olivia’s other hand rested on the soft hillock of Alex’s hip.

Her chest twitched in a silent sob. She was so happy for her. She had everything she wanted, and deserved. Back when they first met, Olivia was resolved that although what they felt for each other was real, it was just a naughty phase. It was a mess - Connie, the more outwardly passionate one, came out to her conservative Catholic parents immediately, but Olivia refused to ruin her parent’s lives with such unpleasant news. She was angry at the time, but she could never hate her. In any case, experience taught her that people have to come out at their own pace - it should never be forced, even by a partner.

Alex was the one who convinced her to do it - the one she refused to obfuscate about.

She was a lucky woman.

After her shower, she went to the kitchen to make herself some coffee. She felt for the light switch, found it, then decided not to flip it. There was enough light coming in through the window to see her way around.

She rummaged through the cupboards for a loose pod and slammed it into the coffee maker. She looked out the window as she waited for the drink to brew.

There was music, very faint, and another sound that was familiar. A high-pitched whine. She opened the window and stuck out her head. John’s house was dark, but in his garden, there was a large shed whose door was open. That’s where the warm light and noises came from.

“What’s he doing in there at this hour of the morning?” she said to herself. Most probably crouched in front of a computer screen, typing filth on his MRA reddit page. She picked up her cup from the coffee maker and walked to the back door, staring out in curiosity, then decided to step outside. She wrapped her robe tighter around her and looked over the low hedge to his garden.

The music was intelligible now - it was pop, but in a language she couldn’t understand.

“Oh my God,” she said, and a half smile made her lip twitch. It was Kpop. She was sure of it. That leather-clad chode listened to Korean boy/girl bands? It was too much. The light spilling from the open shed door painted a warm yellow wedge on the lawn. It looked … inviting.

Her toes curled on the grass. She noticed the whine had stopped. Had that been a different kind of music? She walked to the hedge to take a closer look. The silk of her kimono caught in the neatly trimmed bush. Sticks poked at her hips. She raised her cup for a sip-

“Why you spying on me?” John said, coming up from behind and putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Virgen Santísima!” she said, clutching at her chest. The cup flew out of her hand and spattered hot coffee on her feet.

“Oh my God - I’m so sorry -” he said, his smile fading to genuine distress. He put down the steaming cup in his hand, pulled his t-shirt over his head, and dabbed at her feet.

She slapped at him. “Get off me! Why the fuck would you do something like that? I almost had a heart attack-”

When he saw the skin at the tops of her feet reddening, he nearly started to weep.

“I didn’t mean to scare ye like that. I saw you snooping through my kitchen window when I was making myself some tea-” He pointed to the cup by his feet. “What are you doing looking over hedges at this hour of the mornin’?” he asked, his accent becoming broad by the end of the sentence.

“I was making coffee, and I heard noises coming from here.” She shrugged. The fact was, she was being nosy. She just didn’t think she’d get caught.

“It’s my shop,” he said simply, still inspecting her feet. “And you need some aloe for this burn.”

“I dunno whether Liv’s got that, but I can put some calamine lotion on my legs.”

He stood up, a head taller than her. “That’s nonsense. I have an aloe plant on my back porch. I’ll cut you a leaf or two. You’ll be good as new by tomorrow.”

He walked through a gap in the hedge and beckoned to her. She stared at him, unmoving.

“Come on. You were already snooping. Might as well get a closer look, eh?”

She rolled her eyes, but followed him. The skin of her feet was beginning to sting. He put his shirt back on - coffee stained and damp - and walked quickly across his yard to the back porch. He took a small knife out of his pocket and sliced a long, meaty leaf from the plant, then expertly began to peel and split it. Her eyes drifted to the shed door.

“Sit,” he said, pointing to the steps. “They’re clean.” She lifted the kimono over her knees.

“Alright, sweetie, lemme get a good look at those welts.”

“Don’t call me sweetie,” she said curtly.

He shrugged. “Sorry. Encarnación.”

“Or that. I really don’t like it.” She was surprised he remembered. Most English speaker didn’t, or when they did, they mangled it.

“Why not?” he said, gently rubbing the cooling aloe on her skin. Despite being tense, she sighed with relief. “It’s like a Spanish puritan name. Very prim and proper.”

“It means incarnation, but it brings to mind red, bleeding meat. It’s grisly.” She shook her head. “I don’t know why my mother insisted on it and not a nice easy name, like Maria … or Rosa. Rosa’s nice.”

“You and roses,” he said softly, pressing the translucent heart of the leaf on a particularly nasty burn.

“What do you know about me?” she snapped, pulling the robe tight around her thighs.

“Olivia talked a lot about you, especially right before you came. Both Alex and I were very curious to meet you. The artist who makes magic with flowers. The beautiful New York socialite who took Liv under her wing and made her visit one of the best times of her life. ”

She snorted.“Olivia exaggerates.”

“Not about you,” he said earnestly, shaking his head. “Not even a bit.”

“Uh, thanks,” she said, standing up. “I should get back.”

“Of course. Away to bed with ye,” he said, wiping the aloe juice on his jeans. She resented his tone, but she didn’t know why.

Just as she crossed the hedge into Olivia’s yard, he ran to her, covering the distance in four strides.

“Yes?” she said.

He held up the other aloe leaf. “Forget to give it to you. For later. Again, I’m sorry. That’s what I get for trying to be cute.”

“Right,” she said, taking it. “Thanks.”

She turned just before reaching the back door.

“By the way, what’s in the shed?”

He gave her a mischievous grin, something he was quite good at. “My own magic,” he said, and gracefully vaulted the waist-high hedge to his yard.

Show off.

He watched her shadow as she walked into the house, then went into his shop.

Cedarwood plants, already cut to size, littered his work table. Behind it, his hand tools were neatly hung on pegs, or stored in the cabinets underneath the table and against the walls. He flipped off his radio and stood at the shed door, hands on his waist, like his grandfather used to do. A jaw-cracking yawn made him tremble, and he looked down at himself. His carefully chosen concert t-shirt was stained and wrinkled.

I didn’t much like the Verve anyway.

He took it off and cleaned the sawdust from the bandsaw, then oiled the blade.

Take care of your tools, his grandfather always used to say. They’re your bread and butter. That, and keep your shop clean. A shop is a reflection of the craftman’s mind. Organized shop, organized mind.

He finished sweeping and brushed the sawdust into a trash bag. He liked it there, in that shed - the smells, the memories, the peace. Lately, he preferred it to parties and pointless affectation. Mannism was his bread and butter though, but after the divorce, his anger had faded to bemusement.

Not all women were horrific, soul-draining harpies with silky skin and soft, lovely parts he still ached to touch. Not all of them were out to use and discard. Alex and Olivia had convinced him of that. But that was only them. It could be a lesbian thing.

He thought of Connie’s burn-spackled legs and smiled. He really shouldn’t have scared her. And he felt awful for scalding her, but happy he was able to care for her afterward. Maybe she didn’t see him as …

Scoliosis boy. He sucked his teeth.

Did he deserve it? Maybe a little. But he was more than his business. He hoped he could prove that, even though he didn’t know why he was compelled to do it. He picked up the pre-sanded boards, ran his graceful fingers along the smoothed edges.

“You’ll have to wait ‘till tomorrow,” he whispered, and piled them neatly at the corner of the work table and locked the shed.

He did some back stretching exercises in the dark, focusing on long, lean, and straight. After, he breathed on his lilies, then went inside for a good sleep.

Olivia woke up before Monty, breasts aching.

The morning sun sliced into Alex’s placid sleeping face. She was so lovely. The last bit of pink was growing out of her bleached locks, and it made her look like an ink-watered daisy.

She put her hand on Alex’s belly, let the ache echo to nothing, then nuzzled her.

“Good morning,” Alex said sleepily. She spread her legs and lifted the blanket to give her access. Olivia’s mouth watered at the smooth heat between Alex’s thighs. “Don’t stop. I’ll pretend I’m sleeping again if you like,” she said, and chuckled.

Olivia sat up.“No, it’s - um, I have to pump, ASAP. My breasts are screaming.” She waved her hands over them anxiously. The pale orbs were painted with fine blue veins, something that Alex had found is quite enticing. They were heavy, warm, and filled with life. Alex crawled to her and pulled on her tanktop strap.

“Why don’t you you just feed Monty?” she said, grazing her fingertips on her swollen breasts. “You just had two glasses of wine last night.”

“Dunno. I just want to pump this bit out, just to be sure. There’s enough bottles in the fridge to get to this afternoon.”

Alex pulled down the other strap, and gently undid her stretchy nursing bra. Her beautiful nipples were chapped red and sore with Monty’s voracious feeding. She cupped her breasts gently in her palms, caressing the hot silk of her skin with her thumbs.

“They’re being slowly gummed to oblivion,” Olivia said, flustered. She tried to cover herself, but Alex shook her head and removed her hand. She sat on her haunches in front of her.

“It’s okay,” she said, and kissed the tops of her breasts, brushing her sleep-warm lips on her skin. Olivia let out a soft wheeze that made her smile. She started to undo the tie on her pajama bottoms, leaning into her until she lay back. She pulled them down past her hips and ran her fingers right underneath where her c-section scar was a fading pink line. Olivia tugged at the post pregnancy belly wrap she still wore.

“Monty’s right here,” Olivia said breathlessly.

Alex kissed her, biting her lower lip. “Then be quiet.” Her hand moved down to where Olivia was downy and damp, and she sighed.”That’s yummy,” she said, then quickly removed her sleepshirt. Alex’s breasts were still pert despite the pregnancy - but a bit larger because of it. She was both cursed and blessed, and the glint of steel on her left nipple made Olivia swear. She wanted to give in, but there was something in her that had gone dormant. The thirst she had for Alex before and during the pregnancy had faded to nothing. It’s as if her pussy was broken.

Alex started to pull off her sleep pants, but Olivia shook her head.

“Not now,” she said softly.

“I’ll be gentle, mein frau,” she said, her eyes wet with entreaty. It had been over six months, and oddly, her own experience had not hurt her libido. “You won’t have to do a thing but lay back and enjoy.” She kissed the insides of her thighs. She was so needy that even Olivia’s faint scent made her shiver. Just as her head dipped between her thighs, Olivia popped up.

“No! Please,” she said. Monty began to whine at the noise. “See? Monty’s up.”

Alex sighed, then pulled Liv’s pants back up. “I’ll wash up and prepare a bottle.”

“Nice,” Olivia said, already picking the baby up from the crib and clicking her tongue at him. “Good morning, darling. How are you? How are you?”

Monty gurgled and tugged on her blond hair affectionately.

She watched them from the door, waiting for her blood to cool. She was horny, but so happy. She had Olivia. And a beautiful baby boy. It was not what she imagined at this point in her life - but it was better. The fading pain worked its way to her heart.

It’s what she called it, when she couldn’t face up to calling her by name - Jo. Baby Jo. John knew, and thought it was fitting - it was like having a girl junior. But Jo wasn’t to be. At first, her bitterness made her want to hate all the world in general, and Olivia specifically. After all, if she hadn’t inseminated without consulting her, she wouldn’t have gotten blind drunk and slept with daft John and gotten pregnant.

It was all cause and effect, right?

She wanted to hate her, but she couldn’t. It was impossible, even though she was angry. Olivia was type A to the hilt - a rad barrister, and super-organized and persnickety - but her pregnancy was a mess. She couldn’t be a mum alone. And, even thought at first it hurt to see her own belly shrinking as her’s grew, she powered through, for love.

If she could have no regrets about smoking laced weed at a fucking carnival, or getting pregnant by the dudebro next door, she could stay with Liv. And she did.

She went downstairs and found Connie doing stretches on the living room floor. Her legs were stretched and wide apart, and she leaned into the carpet, breathing slowly. She wore no more than a pair of panties and a tank top with lace cups. In other words, she could see everything. And everything was banging.

She had the body karate going on.

“Oops!” she said loudly, walking past and into the kitchen. She slammed a bottle into the bottle warmer.

“I’m so sorry!” Connie said. She heard her running around the living room, a zipper, and rustling cloth. She came in wearing a pair of jean short shorts and a t-shirt. She smiled bashfully. “I hate being that bitch, but it seems like I’m her regardless sometimes.”

Alex put her hand up. “It’s totally okay. We don’t do much stretching ourselves lately, but it’s still a nice to watch.”

Connie smiled, and dared to touch Alex’s tangled bleached locks. “I know it’s not on purpose, but your hair looks awesome,” she said, pulling on her fading pink ends. “Are you gonna cut it off, try another color?”

“I wanted to cut it off,” Alex said.

“You going straight then?” Connie said, joking.

“Never! I want to cut the pink out and try something else. I was thinking… green and purple.”

“It’s perfect. You’re giving me all sorts of mermaid teas,” Connie said, fluffing her hair. Her body was pressed against her side, and the softness of her breasts made her feel dizzy. Before she could stop herself, she looked down.

“The Eurythmics,” she said, pointing to Connie’s shirt. She tried to ignore the fact her nipples poked through the fabric.

“You like ‘em?” Connie said, puffing her chest out. Alex blushed. “They’re sick right? Annie is, generally.”

“Yeah, sick. Totally,” Alex said, hoping she didn’t notice her ogling, but Connie seemed oblivious.

“Here,” Connie said, took it off, and handed it to her.

“Shit -you don’t have to do that-” Alex said, but took it from her. She averted her eyes, but she could still see lace and perked nipple in the corner of her eye.

“Naw, man. I want you to have it - something to remember me by. Also, I have another one, with her wearing that rad feather headdress from the Why video. I’m good,” she said, and walked back to the living room to cover up.

Olivia came downstairs, and Alex heard a squeal and the smack of kisses as Connie took Monty in her arms. Olivia went into the kitchen, eyebrows high. She waved her hands over her body, cupping her hands underneath her own breasts in a curvy pantomime.

“I know,” Alex said, wrapping her arms around her waist and kissing her neck.

“She tends not to wear much - she’s been like that since she was a teenager,” Olivia said into Alex’s hair. “I’ll tell her if it bothers you,” she said, but she chuckled.

“Eh … I think I can deal for the rest of the week,” Alex said, winking at Olivia. They both looked into the living room, where Connie swung Monty in her arms to the baby’s delight. She wore an open-sided 90’s MTV t-shirt.

“I get it,” Alex whispered. Monty’s star-shaped hands grabbed at Connie’s breasts. He was hungry.

“Hmm?” Olivia said. Her arm was wrapped around Alex’s ribs.

“I wouldn’t wear much either if I looked like her,” she said.

Olivia swatted her bottom. “You know you’re quite yummy yourself, with your little sailor shorts and see-through tops,” Olivia said. Alex raised her brow. Now she was frisky? But she would take what she could get.

“Maybe I’ll wear something nice today,” Alex said, then gently bit her earlobe. The little gold hoop in Liv’s ear clicked against her teeth. The hand resting on her ass finally squeezed.

“I won’t complain,” Olivia said, flushed. Just a half hour ago, everything was dead underneath her belly button. She watched as Connie lifted Monty’s shirt and blew a raspberry on his belly. The baby screamed and giggled, kicking into her flat belly. She stared at the line of her throat, down to the softness beneath. Hers were the first breasts she ever touched, and tasted. All at once, her muscle memories came back. She remembered the different textures and flavors of her, her sounds. Her arm twitched around Alex, bringing her back to herself.

That was years ago. And she had learned a lot since then. She looked down at Alex, who smiled indulgently as Connie pretended to eat Monty’s chubby feet.

“Om nom nom nom,”’ Connie said, then tickled his sides. He wriggled with pleasure.

Alex’s hair smelled like lilac and smoke, a scent she now found comforting. The byzantine blue of her eyes, her easy beauty, made her giggle out loud like Monty. She was surrounded by love.

Connie looked up. “Like mother, like son,” she said, smiling at her. Alex kissed her cheek and walked into the living room.

“Time for breakfast, peanut,” she said, picking up the baby. Connie pouted, and patted the sofa.

“Commere, Liv,” she said. Olivia sat beside her, back straight and knees clenched tight together … until she saw the red blotches on Connie’s legs.

“God, what happened?” she said, tapping the skin delicately.

“Ah, nothing. I spilled some coffee on myself last night in the dark,” she said, shrugging. She didn’t know why she didn’t say what actually happened.

“You would, “ Olivia said. Connie’s clumsiness was a running joke. “I have some calamine in the cabinet. I’ll go get it.” She stood and walked into the kitchen.

“You don’t need to-”

John walked in, fresh as a daisy, wearing a giant grin. She was beginning to think it was his thing. And it was annoying.

“Morning, beautiful. Sleep well? He said, sitting down in the overstuffed chair in front of the window. He wore loose-fitting pants and a tank top. His freckled arms were slim, but well-shaped. He crossed his ankles in front of him, and his long legs seemed to stretch to the middle of the room.

“You’ve made yourself comfortable,” said sardonically, opening her suitcase and digging through it. She had to keep her hands busy.

“You look great. Classic MTV was the balls,” he said.  She pulled a silk drawstring bag from the bottom and spilled its contents on the sofa.

“What is that tangle?” Olivia said, coming back with a steaming cup of herbal tea and the bottle of pink mud.

“I thought you hated herbal tea,” Connie said, eyeing the cup.

“It’s for better milk production,” she said, but she made a face. Connie and John laughed together, but Connie stopped. The synchronicity made her want to kick his leg. Olivia plucked at the ball of necklaces on the sofa.

“Why would you do this?” she said, trying to separate a pearl necklace from a tangle of gold and silver chains. She held up the pearls and clucked her tongue. “I gave you these! They’re Mikimoto,” she whined.

Connie shrugged. “Don’t have a jewelry box,” she said.

“But what about the one your mother-” Olivia started, then her mouth snapped shut. “Right.”

John looked back and forth between them, curious.

“What is it?” he said.

“Mind your business, Braveheart,” Connie said. It didn’t have the effect she wanted, since he leaned back, holding his stomach and laughing with his whole body.

“Oh, that’s rich … brilliant,” he gasped, slapping his thighs. His face was pink, his large eyes rimmed with tears.

“Oh, fuck off,” she said, and walked into the kitchen, where Alex had Monty in a high chair. She fed him porridge, which he wore more than ate.

“What’s he going on about now?” Alex said, then gently scraped the porridge from his chin with the spoon.

“Something that wasn’t that funny to begin with,” Connie said, walking to where Olivia had started scrambled eggs.

“I’m sorry,” Olivia said, her brow furrowed. “I can’t keep my mouth shut to save my life.”

“No biggie,” she said, and gave her a quick hug, and a peck on the cheek. She stared into the skillet. “I’m starving.”

“I know. You like them with dill and green pepper, on buttered toast?”

“You know me too well,” she said, and sat by Alex. She dipped her finger in the warm porridge, tasted, then made a face. “That’s nasty.”

“It’s for Monty. It’s made with Liv’s breast milk.”

“Oh wow,” she said, her face twisted. Alex and Olivia laughed. Porridge flowed out of Monty’s mouth as he smiled, wanting to share in the merriment. Connie made a thumb’s up at Olivia. “Really prime product. Good job.”

John loped in, curious about the laughter, and took some eggs from the pan. “Ooh, that’s better than your usual,” he said, and tried to get more. Olivia slapped his hand with the spatula.

“That is for our guest,” she said, spooning the fluffy eggs onto a plate.

“Aren’t I a guest?” he said, sniffing at the herbed eggs as she put the plate in front of Connie.

John looked over her shoulder. “You fancy sharing a bit with me? It looks like a lot, and I’m sure you’re watching your figure.”

The kitchen went silent. Even Monty seemed to squeal with disapproval.

“I’m not suggesting she needs to...” His voice cracked. The women stared balefully. He put his hands up. “I think I’ll make my own brekkie,” he said, and backed out the door.

“What a twat!” Connie said, her face red with anger.

“Language!” Olivia said, pointing at Monty.

He poked his head back into the kitchen. “ I wasn’t suggesting that you aren’t absolutely gorgeous, mind you. You sure you don’t want to share?” He gave her a toothy grin.

Alex threw the burp rag at him. “Bugger off, mate,” she said.

Olivia just threw up her hands.

Read Chapter 3

[of-suns-and-guns]

Kara/Alex ficlet: "say you won’t let go"

This started with @justanexercise and I doing some aimless Kalex thought-experiments about what if Kara had had to make the same choice as last season, but with Alex on the line, annnd I accidentally wrote a fic, and she convinced me it was good enough to post. So here's a thing.

—

say you won't let go

—

The choice boils down to Alex, or the world.

And both of them know, there's really no choice at all.

So Kara makes the decision that will force Alex to leave the only planet she's ever called home, and Kara will have to watch her leave, like Alex isn't the only reason Earth ever felt like home to her.

Unless...she doesn't.

Because maybe Kara couldn't have lived with herself if she'd chosen one person over the entire world, even if that one person was Alex.

But that doesn't mean she has to lose her.

Alex puts on a brave face as she types in the coordinates for her new home, an Earth-type planet J'onn has promised will grant her refuge.

Time is running out, but she's been putting off this final goodbye for whatever few extra seconds she can.

"Alright, it's all set." Alex swallows and looks at Kara, who's practically leaning into the cockpit like she's scared Alex will fly off too soon. Alex forces a smile, and reaches out to pull Kara down into a hug. "I love you. So much. More than I ever thought I was capable. So much more than you'll ever know."

Kara clutches at her, watching the seconds to pod-seal count down on the dash, waiting for the right moment, the moment Alex won't be able to stop it. "I love you, too," she rasps into Alex's shoulder, choking on the sob that rakes up her throat.

Alex holds her just as tightly, chest seizing with every painful breath. "Y-you promise me you'll be good, okay? And don't-don't forget that people need Kara Danvers just as much as they need Supergirl, alright?"

Kara's head jerks in a nod, inhaling Alex's scent and using that to drown out the rising terror.

The seconds continue to tick down.

Kara whimpers.

"Hey, hey," Alex hushes, pulling back to cup Kara's cheek. "It's all gonna be alright, you'll be okay."

Kara sniffs and wipes at her face. "I'm not worried about me."

Alex breathes out a small, watery laugh. "You never do, and that's a problem."

"Alex—"

"I know, but you don't have to worry about me, okay?" Alex cuts her off, smile perfectly soft and entirely reassuring. So much so that Kara would almost believe her, if that belief mattered, given the circumstances, and what she was about to do. "It'll be fine. Hell, maybe, if Winn can figure out the portal, you could come visit me sometime. See just how fine it'll be, yeah?"

Kara breathes through her emotions, eyes flicking to the dash. Nearly...nearly...

"Hey," Alex pulls her eyes back up, searching her face for a moment, before leaning in and pressing a lingering kiss to Kara's cheek. "I'll be okay. I promise."

The pod chimes.

Kara licks her lips and takes a deep breath. "I know. Because I'm coming with you." And then, before Alex can fully process what she's said, Kara climbs right into the pod alongside her.

"Wh-what!" Alex whips horrifies eyes over to Kara, then frantically around for a way to stop the launch. "Kara, no, you can't—" She growls and slams her hands against the dash when a voice tells her the sequence cannot be stopped. She turns on her sister, pushing at her chest. "Get out, go! Now! I won't let you just throw away your life, to—"

"Alex," Kara breathes, cupping Alex's face and bringing their foreheads together, pod humming as the cover closes. "Without you, I have no life."

Tears flood Alex's eyes, shaking her head, hand covering Kara's. "But they need Supergir—"

Kara tips her chin forward, brushing a ghosting kiss to Alex's lips. "Supergirl wouldn't last a week without Agent Danvers to swoop in and save her."

Alex gasps out an almost-chuckle, then the pod begins to lift.

Their eyes meet, and Alex squeezes Kara's wrist, face pinched. "I love you, alien girl."

"We're both gonna be alien girls now," Kara whispers, eyes wet and adoring as she brushes away a tear from Alex's cheek. She searches Alex's eyes for a moment, before ducking her head and capturing Alex's lips with another lingering kiss, sighing when Alex stutters to return it, hesitant, as thought she's not sure it's real just yet.

The pod shakes as they cut through the atmosphere, breaking the kiss, though neither moves far away, foreheads touching, eyes locked on each other as they near the exosphere.

"You ready for this?" Alex asks, looking terrified but so, so strong.

Kara swallows back her own terror, reminding herself she's done this before, and nods. "It's just the next step of our great adventure, right?"

Alex hiccups through her laugh. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."  She squeezes her eyes shut as the shaking tapers off and the emptiness beyond their pod becomes nearly oppressive. "I'm so glad I got to do all of it with you."

Kara sucks in a soft breath when Alex steals the next kiss, humming when Alex's hand slips down to cup the side of her neck. "Mmm, me too," Kara breathes into the kiss, before silence reigns, save for the muted beep of the homing system, and the the soft sighs and hums as they face down the unknown, always stronger together.

—

fin

— 

Hope you liked it! Lemme know what you think? And maybe share it, if you liked it, cause the tags are gonna get scary here soon, so I don’t blame anyone who wants to stay out of ‘em (we really need to settle on a universal safe-space tag).

Thanks for reading!

[laffayettereincarnated]

tree bros short fic

uug this is short and crappy my first DEH fic yay

also on AO3

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11120349

lemme know if you actually want more of my writing

Connor worked out pretty quickly that Evan said sorry a lot. And since after the computer room incident and they became friends -at least Connor hoped he could call Evan his friend- he’d noticed it more. And more. Evan apologised for everything; for Connor getting angry, and Connor being an ass; Evan apologised for every question and every text message he sent ended with a hastily typed apology. And it was grating on Connor’s nerves. They were just in Connor’s room, because it was pissing with rain and no way was Connor eating ice cream and hanging out in the orchard in this weather, despite Evan’s protests. So instead they were lying across Connor’s floor, arms spread out and listening to music. It wasn’t very exciting, he knew, but they did this when they at the orchard anyway. It was peaceful. Connor’s eyes were drifting closed, revelling in the silence; it wasn’t the same silence as usual, because he could hear Evan’s breathing along with his in the warm quiet of his room and he knew he could get used to this. Until Evan broke it with a “sorry.” dammit Connor sighed. “dude, what are you…” “s…sorry for um…this…I mean…you said no…you said… not…” Connor could hear the panic rising in his voice and sighed, “Dude, what…” “Sorry, I mean, you said no to going to the orchard and um...I under…appreciate... that um… “Dude”, Conner said, turning on his side to see Evan red in the face. Evan pulled himself upright, beginning to pull on his shirt “S…sorry I’m rambling, uh, I’m…” “Dude, stop apologising.” Connor groaned, trying to calm his growing heartrate. Evan gasped out another, “I’m sorry…” and Connor snapped. “dammit Evan stop apologising!” He regretted it instantly. Evan flinched way too hard for it to be healthy and quickly pulled himself in, his breaths becoming shorter and frantic. “I’m…I’m…” “shit dude.” Connor moved across the floor to Evan but Evan retreated instantly; Connor tried not to let it sting. Breath. Don’t flip out. That won’t help matters. “Evan…” Evan was shaking, avoiding eye contact with Connor, gripping his knees in a vice. “I’m sorry, for, I’m” “sssh Evan,” Connor had never heard himself speak so softly. “It’s fine, really.” He wanted to say stop apologising, but it seemed to be Evan’s default, and being blunt appeared to only make it worse. He edged closer to Evan, breathing out in relief when Evan stayed still. His eyes wouldn’t meet his, but he wasn’t trying to get away anymore. “Just l…let me, um... apologise….” “You did nothing wrong,” Connor snapped; Evan flinched and Connor cringed internally. Nice one, freak. “I mean,” Connor ran his hands desperately through his hair. “look you apologise all the time and…” “I know.” Evan mumbled. “It’s ann…noying and…” “Hey.” Connor gripped Evan’s arms and when Evan stiffened he kinda regretted it, but held on anyway. “It’s not annoying, it’s just…” Connor fumbled for something to say, like seriously, why wasn’t he any good at this? “You shouldn’t apologise for, um doing nothing wrong? Uh,” Connor looked around, like the words would magically appear in thin air. “like, my mum used to say, don’t apologise, uh, say thank you. Instead.” Shit Connor that’s dumb. But it’s not my idea, it’s my mums, her fault. Evan looked up that, eyebrows twisted slightly in confusion. “What...uh...d…does that….” Connor pulled himself straighter, thought process going into overload. “Um, like…okay what are you apologising for? Right now.” Evan seemed to debate answering, maybe testing if it was a trick question. “Just tell what you were trying to apologise for?” Evan stuttered out a hasty “for probably bother…um… getting in your space, f-for expecting, um that you wou-would…” Connor didn’t understand what the hell Evan meant so replied “okay what did I do to get an apology?” Evan looked up, confused. “I did something so you felt you had to apologise because it inconvenienced me or some bullshit,” Connor continued, “so think about what I did. And thank me for that. Instead of you know,” Connor loosened his grip on Evan’s arms, trying his hardest to look in Evan’s eyes without freaking out, “apologising. And stuff.” Something crossed Evan’s expression, and it seemed to click as he shakily muttered, “um…y-you invited me o-over to your um house? Even though you…uh…we didn’t g-go to the orchard?” Connor wanted to roll his eyes but managed to control the urge. “Dude, of course I fucking invited you. I still wanted to hang out, the weather was just fucking awful.” “oh,” Evan’s eyes darted to the floor. “s-sorr…” “Evan.” Evan jolted, and opened his mouth, possibly to apologise again because he snapped it shut instantaneously. Connor simply raised a questioning eyebrow and waited. Waited. “th-thank you. For um…in-inviting me to the…to your h-house even thou…” “Anytime dude,” Connor replied, punching Evan lightly on the shoulder. He shuffled back over to where the music was playing on his bashed-up speakers and went to scroll through his I-pod, bored of whatever the crap was playing. He tried to ignore the voice in the head telling him he’d punched Evan way too hard, or cut him off way too early, or messed whatever they had for good… “Than-thank you, Con-Connor. For, um…not, uh…” Connor decided to wait for Evan to finish, feeling guilt rise in him because you don’t deserve to be thanked for doing nothing. “For not, um… I mean…you’re like the f-first to n-not just, uh, just shut me down wh-when I apologise so uh…thank you.” Connor wanted to say something along the lines, don’t thank me, I’m a piece of shit, but decided that was too blunt and he didn’t want a nervous, apologetic Evan again so he just nodded in reply. Tried to ignore the buzz in his chest from Evan thanking him, from the idea that he might have helped Evan. “What music do you want?” “u-uh do y-you have cold-Coldplay?” Connor smiled, turning ‘viva la Vida’ on and letting the familiar opening fill the room. When he turned to see Evan he was smiling, and Connor felt his heart skip a beat. Dammit.

[imaginetonyandbucky]

Could you write a fic where Tony and Bucky have been through so much in getting and staying together (maybe after CW?) that they just know they're each other's one and only and forever after. So when everyone (Avengers/civilians/media) doubts them and ridicules their relationship or when 'incriminating' photos or other proof of cheating or betrayal is brought up by well-meaning friends or malicious a-holes to break them up, they shrug and say 'I trust him, he would never-', pretty please?

Sampoured himself a glass of juice and took it into the wide commonarea. He really had to stop letting Steve goad him into doing shitthat was about four levels over his actual capabilities. All hewanted now was to flop on the big couch and whine about how much hiscalves hurt.

Barneswas already there, watching some celebrity gossip show, of allthings. Sam blinked in confusion, then remembered that Stark had goneoff to Tokyo on a business trip yesterday, and Barnes hadn’t beenable to go along, because his legal status in Tokyo was still inquestion. Bucky-boo was probably hoping for a clip about his guy.

Theshow didn’t disappoint – not long after Sam collapsed onto thecouch with a grunt of greeting, it flipped to a segment on Tony’sarrival in Tokyo. The host chattered inanely over a video montage.There was Stark being greeted as he got off the plane, signingautographs in the airport, a cute shot of him posing with a kid in anIron Man costume.

Barnessighed soulfully and Sam glanced back at the TV to see Stark walkingalong a red carpet toward some event, looking even sharper thanusual. Next to Stark was a Japanese business mogul at his side with apretty girl on his arm. Damn, why did rich old guys get all thepretty ones? Barnes, of course, only had eyes for Stark.

“Youknow if you told him how much you liked it, he’d probably wear thetux for you at home,” Sam pointed out.

“It’sspecial ‘cause I don’t get to see it much,” Barnes said, whichwas a fair point.

Samwished the show host would shut up; her voice was grating. Oh, thepretty girl was the business guy’s daughter. That was a bit easierto swallow. Sam wondered if Stark was going into business with theguy, whether he could hook Sam up with an introduction. Sam closedhis eyes and stretched his aching calves again and visualized Rogersrunning into a brick wall or something else nearly as hard as hishead.

He’dprobably just go right through it. Parachutes and doors were conceptshe was still working on, apparently.

Barnes’breath hitched and Sam cracked one eye. Then he sat up, fast, becausethe TV was showing Stark dancing with the daughter. Closely. Theywere definitely not leaving any room for Jesus in there, holy shit.The girl said something, and Stark threw his head back and laughed.

Barnesmade another soft, indeterminate noise. Shit shit shit.

(Mobile readers, ‘ware the readmore!)

“Barnes,hey,” Sam tried. “It’s, I’m sure it’s not anything.” Hewasn’t sure of any such thing, actually, but Sam wasn’t gonna beable to restrain the Winter Soldier by himself, so he was stalling.“You okay, man?”

Barnesput his hands over his mouth. “Maybe.” He sounded a littleshaken. “It’s just, he’s…”

“Hey,I know, man, it’s not cool. But it doesn’t necessarily meananything.You know his rep.”

Barneswasn’t listening. “Those’re the steps we were practicingtogether, for the charity thing next month,” he murmured.

Samwinced. Jesus, Stark…

Barnessniffled, and Sam groaned inwardly. How the hell was he the onegetting stuck taking care of a heartbroken assassin? “C’mon,don’t jump to conclusions, you’ll work it out,” Sam tried.

Butthen Barnes dropped his hands, and he was… smiling?

Teary.But smiling.

“Thehell,” Sam wondered.

Barnesflashed him a grin. “He’s sayin’ hi,” he told Sam. “KnewI’d be watching, wanted me to know he was thinkin’ of me.”

Samglanced back at the TV. “Buck, I hate to say it, but are you sure?”

“SureI’m sure,” Bucky said. “You know how much we went through toget where we are? No way is he throwin’ me over for a fling.” Theshow switched to someone else and Bucky flicked it off, then fishedhis phone out of a pocket and dialed. “Hey, baby, I’m notinterrupting anything, am I? …Nah, I just saw the segment onStarshineandcouldn’t resist. That was the sweetest– Oh yeah? Hang on, lemmejust go somewhere a little more private.” Barnes winked at Sam andstrode for the elevator, still talking.

“Mornin’,gorgeous,” said Tony. Bucky looked up from his tablet and tippedhis head back so that Tony could lean in for a kiss on the way to thecoffee. “Good run?”

Buckysnorted and went back to scrolling through the news. “No suchthing,” he said, like he always did. “I only go ‘cause it’smarginally less awful than enduring Steve’s sad puppy face.”

Tonygrinned as he sat down and stole the toast from Bucky’s plate, justlike he did every morning. Bucky only bothered with a token defenseand protest. (Bucky actually made the toast, took one bite out of it,and then left the rest for Tony every morning just so Tony would eatsomething.Tony probably knew that, but as long as they didn’t mention it,then it still worked.) “I’d think you’d be immune to Steve’sface by now.”

“Thereis no immunity to that,” Bucky said reasonably. “Anyway, it nevergets old watching him challenge Sam to contests that Sam knows damnwellhecan’t win.”

Tonysnickered and brushed crumbs off his fingers. “What was it thistime?”

“Hurdles,”Bucky said. He scrolled a little further, to reveal a lurid headline.“Oh, look, you’re cheating on me again.”

“What?”Tony leaned into Bucky’s side, reading. “Oh dear, I’ve beenfound out.”

“Indeedyou have, you hussy.” Bucky delivered it deadpan and off-rhythm,like a second-grader delivering memorized lines in a school play.

“Butmy love for– Wait, who is it? I forgot to check.” Tony scrolleddown to check the article. “Oh, right. My love for Natasha cannotbe denied. An ocean to our pond.”

“Don’tworry,” Natasha told Bucky with a smirk as she came into thekitchen. “You can have him back now; I was only in it for themoney.”

Buckyfelt the smile tugging at his lips. “You betrayer,” he toldNatasha.

“That’sSultanVile Betrayertoyou,” Natasha said. “Any coffee left?”

“Mr.Stark! Mr. Stark!”

Tonyglanced up and rolled his eyes. Honestly, reporters.It was eight in the morning and the Avengers had just come off asix-hour-long battle with a pod of honest-to-god giant squids off thecoast. They were all exhausted, bruised and bloody, and covered inslime, seaweed, and other things better not considered too closely.Godforbidtheybe allowed to go back to the Tower and take showers before having toput on their public relations hats.

Still,maintaining the goodwill of the press was part of the job, so Tonyplastered on his public face and directed a well-practiced smirk intothe camera behind the woman’s shoulder. “Yes, hi, hello. There’llbe the usual post-incident news conference at the Tower; you’llwant to contact our PR office for–”

“Yessir, Mr. Stark, and our usual correspondent is already on it, but inthe meantime, since you were so valiantly defending us when themorning editions rolled out, I wanted to get your reaction to this.”She held up a newspaper – Jesus, they still madethose?– with a photo covering most of the top half.

Tonystared at the photo for several long seconds, then swiveled his headto look over at his boyfriend. “Tell me this is doctored,” hedemanded.

Buckyglanced at the paper, then looked away guiltily. “Baby–”

“Don’tyou ‘baby’ me!” Tony snapped. “How could you?”

“Comeon, Tony, it’s not that big a deal,” Bucky pleaded.

“Notthat big a deal? Dammit, you promised Icouldbe the one to let the paps catch me kissing Clint!”

Buckysighed and put his hands on Tony’s shoulders, pulling him away fromthe reporter. He glared at the camera and said quietly, “Look, theopportunity was there, and I jumped. I’m sorry. What if I let yoube the one to imply it’s a three-way, instead?”

Tonypouted at him. “Can I do it in today’s press conference?”

Bucky’sshoulders slumped. “I guess, since I didjumpthe gun on you already. Just make sure you let Clint know we’reupping the timetable.”

Tonybeamed. This was going to be epic.“You’re the best.”

“Whend’you reckon they’ll stop trying to make us have jealous fits andbreak up?”

“It’sthe press,” Tony said. “So approximately never. But most of thesemi-respectable gossip rags are starting to figure out that we’retrolling them, so pretty soon we’ll be down to just the bottomfeeders, and those are really just funny. I’m holding out for oneof having a secret affair with Bat Boy.”

“God,I love you.”

“Iknow.” Tony leaned in for a kiss, heedless of the slime.

~ @everyworldneedslove