#now when he started working at the casino i assume he went for a lot of quickies in the bathroom from the stress lol

[whoredmode]

time for a longwinded explanation/attempt at connection between the price-sharp family and the akuji family. this is my effort at sorting out what exactly the deal is between these families—i’m gonna be talking about stuff that is confirmed in canon, stuff that is implied, and lots of my own headcanons that i’ve extrapolated from the aforementioned canon/implications.

so we know canonically that the “buyers” referred to in sr1 by the rollerz are confirmed to be the akuji family (and when i say family, i mean it referring to the yakuza family itself). and in my opinion, it seems as if the price-sharp family and the akuji family have known each other for a long time, it’s just that this whole deal of buying/selling parts is comparatively new to their business arrangement. i believe for there to be any amount of trust between the two, enough for a deal like this, implies that they’ve been working together for a long time. in my opinion, decades. 

the sharp family is written, at least to me, to be somewhat of an old money stilwater family. it seems as if they’ve had roots in the city for a long time, given the amount of money and influence they have (outside the fact they can fund an entirely new gang; sharp is canonically in charge of a lobby for hughes’ election). so i believe part of that power came from being a crime family, specifically financial crime. and with that, several decades before the start of sr1 (i’d guess probably around the 60s/70s), they made connections with the akuji family. this ended up becoming an extremely close arrangement that continued strong into modern day.

originally i believe the arrangements between them started with, like i said, financial crimes. more specifically, money laundering; the money itself probably came from gambling. this falls in line with both the rollerz running the pool hall, the casinos the ronin run in sr2, and, if you’ve read my extensive post on stilwater’s history, you’ll know that i believe the city itself has a long history of activities like that. who’s to say one of the richest, oldest families in stilwater didn’t get their start back in the day through the gambling scene? later on, this money laundering expanded, now with money coming in from other ventures like front companies that dealt with finance and construction (think back to all the suburb construction in sr2). and, with sharp being (presumably) a corporate lawyer, it’s not impossible to assume he had connections to people at ultor. that said, i don’t believe he ever facilitated any deals between the akuji family and ultor, as the ultor dealings seem to be a shogo-only pursuit. that said, i wouldn’t be surprised if they’d at least been introduced in some way before. 

heading into slightly more headcanon-y territory now as i start to talk about the individual family members themselves. if you keep up with my rewrites at all, you’ll know one of the main antagonists of my sriv rewrite is jamie price, the last member of the price-sharp family. she’s joseph’s twin sister. she’s on a revenge quest for obvious reasons. during sr2, though, she works as dane’s secretary. with shogo and the ronin becoming a thing in sr2, the two would have to see each other again; without getting too ahead of myself, he is a bit of influence on jamie in regards to her deciding to revive the rollerz one day. but regardless, why would the yakuza come into stilwater in the first place? unless there’s a hole left by the death of their biggest partners. i believe following the news of joseph and william’s deaths (along with the death of william’s sister/joseph and jamie’s mother shortly afterwards), members of the akuji family went to stilwater to scope things out. or, to put it more bluntly, protect their rackets. shogo ended up leading the charge on that end, which quickly led to the formation of the ronin. knowing about sharp’s dealings with ultor, shogo took it upon himself to get to know them, which eventually leads into them working together. 

but going back to the family members themselves for a moment. i don’t think this is the akuji family’s first time in stilwater. in fact, i think they’ve been there multiple times. what leads me to believe this is 1) there’s several instances of NPC dialogue where they talk about having met kazuo many years ago, and 2) that mr. wong, another longtime resident of stilwater and thorn in the side of both the sharp and akuji families, says that shogo killed his dog years ago. the way this is said sounds as if this happened a long time ago, and wong has (understandably) been holding a very deep grudge against him. i think at some point when shogo was a kid, he did this on purpose, knowing that wong was an enemy of his dad’s. speaking of kazuo, though, i do wanna take a minute just to talk about my own headcanons of the family ties. so i think kazuo and william are the ones who have known each other the longest, having been the ones to strengthen this whole arrangement. i believe that one of kazuo’s lieutenants (whom i’ve named kenichi price), ended up marrying william’s sister and is the father of joseph and jamie. thus, this made the bond between the families stronger. i think joseph, jamie, and shogo grew up seeing each other often since they were essentially family friends. and, with all this in mind, this is exactly why dane wanted jamie to be his secretary. if anyone had any knowledge or say in this type of shit, it’d be the girl who literally grew up having playdates with the oyabun’s son.

[theretirementstory]

Bonjour à tous, it is the first week of January, New Years Day came and went with me feeling rather glum. I didn’t feel like eating and consequently had no “special” meal on that day. By Wednesday my good humour had returned as had my appetite.

It has been a year now since I had my stent fitted in my heart, I am hoping to have another appointment with a cardiologist in the next couple of months just to confirm that all is well. I go to see the oncologist on Monday to (I assume) discuss how I feel after the radiotherapy.

It is currently 1c and cloudy and the highest temperature is due to be 3c, I don’t think I will be poking my nose out of the door today. My friend said she felt that snow was on the way, I am praying it is not!

Pauline eventually came to see me on Tuesday, she had been to Dijon for New Year but hadn’t really enjoyed herself as she was too busy looking for accommodation in Barcelona. Then she messaged me on Wednesday to say that her mother’s partner had passed away that morning. Her mother was due to drive her to Lyon on Thursday or Friday for Pauline to take a Flixbus from Lyon to Barcelona. She is flying today from Paris, she hadn’t really wanted to fly because of the smaller luggage allowance but maybe that is better.

Monique came to see me on Tuesday too, it was wonderful to see her and we had a good chat. She had had a great Christmas with her family and grandchildren, the twins will soon be celebrating their 2nd birthday, it’s amazing to think they are only two as they seem to have been around a lot longer.

I didn’t get in touch with the plumber (again) as the central heating and the pressure bar on the boiler seem to working satisfactorily.

Anie has sent me a photo of her with her family in Indonesia, she seems to be having a wonderful time. I am very pleased for her, although her family have been in France a lot in 2023, it has been a lovely holiday for her.

So the cleaner came on Thursday and asked if I would like to go to the Casino restaurant in Montier en Der. As I am really trying to keep myself safe from any infections, wearing my mask while out shopping, avoiding crowded places, plus only eating food prepared by myself. I explained it was something I could do after March but she said how about going next Thursday. I said I would let her know, went online to check out the menu, discovered there were only a couple of dishes that I would eat and decided to decline her offer. It’s important I keep myself well until my immune system is back up to full capacity.

I am “itching” to get out into the garden and prepare things for the springtime. Unfortunately, a lot of weeding is needed and the ground is too wet to deal with that at the moment. I do want to place cardboard around the rose bushes and mulch on top of the cardboard (this should be done in January) I am wondering if that will work around the hydrangea paniculata. At the moment there are so many weeds around it I fear it will become smothered. I am considering covering the area, weeds and all with the cardboard.

In France, from January 1st, they are encouraging people to discontinue putting food waste in the dustbin and encouraging the use of composters. Looking at the booklet that arrived it states quite categorically “no weeds, their seeds etc in the composter.” Now when your garden is full of “mauvaise herbes” where on earth are you supposed to put those when you clear them out? How do I stop my neighbour from putting the grass clippings (including dandelions etc) into my composter when he is being kind enough to mow the grass? Answers on a postcard please 😂. Speaking of compost, I am so terrified that there are 🐀 and 🐁 in my composter that I could do with a young man to come and empty all of my compost out. Where do you find a young man willing to do that? Is it something my gardener will do? I guess I will be making enquiries this year. Then I could start again and perhaps make better compost. I have never got right thé the bottom of the compost bin. As my friend Marlene was telling me something about rats in the composter I am worried that if they have them in their compost bin then I surely must have them in mine. Mind having said that I don’t put tomatoes, or anything with seeds into the compost, which I think they must have done, as she said they had tomatoes growing in there one time.

My potager, which I had covered with cardboard last winter, is full of violas (plus a few weeds). I was hoping to transplant the violas to the back garden, and feel sure I will, given some drier weather. The same applies to the iris I planted in the raised bed years ago, they are coming through well and keep multiplying but are becoming too crowded in there and I need to thin them out. All this talk of what I would like to do, is making me want to rush out and start doing something in the garden.

Let’s have a look at the music this week, back in the 80’s this first group would really have had no interest to me, however, all these years later as part of a car advert here in France, I find myself singing along (possibly my own words I hasten to add) and find the music quite “upbeat”. The song is “Oh l’amour” by the group Erasure dating back to 1986. The second song is one of my all time favourites, it’s a song that I feel as soon as you hear it you want to get up and dance. Of course the “old body” has done a good few miles since this was released in 1978 but somewhere inside my “mojo” is still working 😂. The song is “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) by Sylvester. This is another song which has been used in an advert recently.

My grandchildren FaceTimed me last Sunday, I wasn’t wearing my hat so my very short hair was on display. At first my granddaughter wouldn’t speak to me she just kept staring as I spoke then eventually she asked “where’s your hair?”. We explained I had had it cut off because I had been very very poorly, she accepted that and we continued the conversation as normal.

“The Photographer” had his car repaired on Tuesday, no really large expense and I guess it is still running okay as he has been out and about in it. Yesterday was his last day working in a branch office and from tomorrow will be doing his training for home working. I am hoping that it all works out well for him as it saves on his long commute, fuel, wear and tear on the car and means that he will hopefully get to see more daylight.

“The Trainee Solicitor” has been busy at work. Not too sure how his ankle is now, it had still been swelling but he thought that was due to the heat in the office and having his foot down all day. He is currently doing housework while “The Ex-Graduate” has a well deserved rest. She is still waiting to hear about a start date for her new job but at least she has a job until the new one starts.

The books I had ordered arrived on Thursday and I was just so excited! I opened the bag but didn’t remove all of the books until yesterday. Oh did I want to cry! I had only ordered two the same. Instead of five books to read I now only have four but that’s fine and I will make sure I check my order before I press “Send” next time.

Yesterday, I did not a lot at all, I had my bloods taken and for the first time in a long time the results didn’t arrive by the afternoon. I need them by Monday afternoon for the oncologist so fingers crossed they arrive. After the visit from the nurse, I decided to have half an hour reading my book unfortunately that half hour turned into the rest of the day with only breaks to make food and to go to the shops for a few things. I must get myself moving today.

Knitting is on the back burner at the moment but I am crocheting. Next week sees the first knitting group of the year but more about that later.

I have posted the photos of my beautiful planter, which doesn’t look like that at the moment, and of one of the hellebores. The hellebores this year are obviously going to flower later as they are just producing green leaves at present and I need to get the planter cleared of weeds and put some new compost in it to encourage the lovely flowers. I would like to get a primula to put into it as well as a few more violas. The planter that Monique made for me about November last year is flowering so well it really is beautiful.

Jusqu’à la semaine prochaine.

[xlilly229]

- quackitys assistant -

This is a fem reader so the pronouns are she/her :)

Warnings - this will contain swearing.

This is also based in las nevadas 🤘

Just warning yous that any Spanish in this is from Google Translate so if it’s wrong that’s why 🫶

Key-

Y/n - your name

Y/e/c - your eye colour

Y/h/c - your hair colour

Y/h/l - your hair length

Backstory- your originally from l’manburg but moved to las nevadas to work as quackitys assistant. After your brother Wilbur blew up the country, you stayed for a while but didn’t want to stay there anymore and wanted a fresh start, so you went to las nevadas where you now work for quackity.

K enough of this shite let’s get started 😝

ENJOY 🫶🫶🫶

————————————————

- your POV -

I woke up earlier than usual today, I usually wake up Charlie telling me that the boss wants me or my doorbell, but today I woke up myself without anyone shouting at me or anything.

I rolled out of bed and went to my window, I looked out to see the sunrising. I’ve always love sunrises, they remind me of when I lived with my three brothers and dad and I’d always be the first up bc my older brothers where lazy and never got up early. So I’d eat breakfast with dad before getting ready for the day.

After I watched the sun fully rise I decided I better get ready for the day. I hopped into the shower and got dressed. I put on my white shirt, mini skirt, knee high socks and clipped my suspenders over the shirt, as that was my “uniform” that my boss quackity had me wear. I curled my eyelashes and put on some mascara and dark red lipstick. I brushed out my y/h/l , y/h/c hair and tied it into a bun and I left two strands of hair either side if my head. And went down to make breakfast

I made some toast and a cup of coffee and sat at my small table in the kitchen and looked out my window as I ate. I saw Charlie wandering around as usual, nothing out of the ordinary. When I finished my breakfast I cleaned my dishes, grabbed my bag with my purse and keys, put on my black heels and set off. I locked the house behind me and headed for the coffee shop where I bought my boss a coffee, as I set off towards his office.

As I walked but to the doors of his office I heard a voice behind me. I turn around to see my boss. “Oh hello sir” , I say as I hand him is morning coffee. “Thank you cariño (sweetheart)”, he said taking the coffee and taking a sit while signaling me into his office. I never understood Spanish but I assumed he’s been calling me assistant or something. I followed him into his office and sat in the seat in-front of his desk. He placed his cup of coffee on the desk and started flicking through some papers clearly looking for something. He pulled a page out from the middle of the pile and handed it to me. It had a list of things for me to do today. It had stuff like, 1:30 get lunch for me, 2:00 greet guest at the casino and bring him to my office. 2:30-4:00 sort papers on my desk while I’m having my meeting, ect. Once again nothing out of the ordinary. It was currently 12:30, so I just waited in his office until 12:45 and then went to get his coffee.

-quackitys pov-

As I entered my office with y/n, I noticed how well she did her makeup and i thought she look really cute ( naw that’s so goofy but anyway) I usually wouldn’t pay attention to this but today it’s all I could think about. When she left to get my lunch I couldn’t focus on my paperwork, she was the only thing in my mind today. This has happened before but it’s never effected me this much, I usually forget about it after she left the room. I gave her lots to do today so I’ll hopefully forget before my meeting with purpled.

- your pov -

As I walked out if the office building I was greeted by Charlie and he walked with me to the coffee shop I had been in earlier that day. He asked me things like “Hi y/n, how’ve you been?” Or “what’s on the agenda for today?”, small things like that. I’ve always liked talking to Charlie especially when I have lots of work to do, he keeps my mind off the thought that I had a lot of work and sometimes he helps me a bit. I entered the coffee shop with Charlie and we ordered quackitys lunch to go. We sat at an empty table while we waited. After a few minutes the food was ready and we collected it, thanked them and started for the office.

As we approached the building Charlie went of to do god knows what and I made my way to the elevator. I pressed the button and I went up to the floor with quackitys office. I knocked on his door and waited for him to tell me to come in. As I entered I couldn’t help but notice him looking at my a lot. And more than usual. He usually looked at me when I was talking and then looked back and his papers but today he was basically staring at me, I mean I’m not complaining, because I’ve always thought he was kinda cute. I placed his lunch on his desk and started for the door.

I made my way towards the casino to wait for the guest to take them to quackity.

2:30 rolled around and I was waiting for the guest at the casino entrance. A few mins pass and I see a figure walking towards me. As it gets closer I see it’s purpled. Yep that’s definitely quackitys guest today, I thought as I approach him. I greet him with a simple hello and he asks me if I’m here to take him to quackity. “ don’t I always”, I say in response as we make our way to the office.

- quackitys pov -

After y/n left my office I was still thinking about earlier that day, but to my relief it left my mind as I waited for her to bring purpled to my office for our meeting.

Just as I put the packaging from my lunch in the bin I hear I knock on my door. “Come in”, I say knowing it’s y/n and purpled. They walk in and purpled takes a seat in front of my desk and we start talking. Y/n on the other hand is at the smaller desk beside a bookshelf beside the door sorting paper work for me.

Lol I gave up 😭🫶

[tbhimnoteasyonmyself]

4 Minutes Theory:

The 4th Dimension & the 6th

Hello. My name is Dante and I am officially overwhelmed.

This series is a lot.

I need to wake up at 7AM tomorrow.

Let's fucking do this.

What the Fuck is Happening Here????

I could start many ways bc, frankly, there is so much that could potentially be said about this series BUT, for lack of a better start, I will start from the begining: Great and Tyme are both dying.

This is the beginning and end of everything we see in this series. It's the beginning bc it's the very 1st thing we see; the end bc this is, possibly, the end of their stories, of their lives; and the beginning again bc it is through death (or possible death) that Great gets a

(thank you Viperion) Second Chance!

"But how?", you ask. "Didn't Lukwa explain that the human brain can't go more than 4 minutes without oxygen and that's why people that lose oxygen in their brain experience weird shit while without it sometimes?

Yes and she is absolutely correct. But I also bring you a different fact that you should consider: Life Review. Life Review is nothing more than what people in near-death experiences (and, therefore, assumed to also happen with people that do, in fact, die) report happening sometimes: that they see their whole life flash before their eyes.

"Okay, Dante, but why does this matter?" Because, in fact, Life Review is not a review, my dears. Or rather, it is, if you can't alter the circumstances that led to your death but, for those who succeed, Life Review is in fact: a Second Chance!

And that, my fellow Bas' titty enjoyers and associates, is exactly why, as @tamtuliko pointed out in this post, the time that Great keeps seeing on the clock advances slowly as the episodes go by: in the present timeline (I could call it the future, I know, but I won't because it's not a hypothetical and I feel like, if what we're seeing was triggered by it than it has to be the current state of affairs and not the next state of affairs) time is going by normally and, if the rule of the 4 minutes is correct, then past Great has exactly 2 minutes of the present timeline (which I'm not sure how much time is for him in the past in Life Review mode, tbh, but maybe a few weeks or a whole month) to fix the things that went wrong and correct the situation.

So What Are We Watching?

3 different things, actually: 2 pasts and 1 present, all belonging to DIFFERENT timelines.

Which? I'll explain.

Present

Let's start with the present, shall we? That's the easiest one and also the beginning so it's better.

The present is simply the timeline where things already took several turns south and Great is in the ER, going into cardiac arrest and Tyme is being shot to death in what appears to be somewhere near the casino warehouses.

This is the timeline we see before the opening AND BEFORE THE OPENING ONLY.

And that's why we see Tonkla kill someone and a body show up (he found out it was Title or he thought it was someone else and got revenge. no, I don't think he killed his brother. I believe the stone Win found is the 2nd stone, not the 1st and so the victim's blood is the second victim's, as they state there is, not the first, and the reason why Win looks so upset at the news is bc now, just like Tonkla had told him, justice has not worked out and Tonkla took justice into his own hands and became a murderer).

But also why Win is still on the case there and not in Past 1 (I'll explain this better down there when I get into Past 1, I promise).

So, basically, his timeline is, let's say, the OG. This is where everything comes from. This is not to say that there couldn't naturally be other timelines that exist without the time-travel but we're not seeing any of those so far so idc. What I care for is that this timeline is the reason why the other 2 pasts exist.

Past 1 (The Seemingly Bad Past)

Now, this timeline had us all fooled thinking it was the OG timeline's past but just going on at the same time as the other timeline's past so we could compare them live.

But, lo and behold, this is not that timeline. No. Why? Easy. Tonkla.

See, Tonkla, whatever he's got going on his fucked up little brain (besides the need to use barebacking sex as a coping mechanism), is seeing things. Things he was not supposed to be seeing.

We couldn't possibly know that in episode 1 but, matter of fact, he's already doing that then. When? When he sees his very dead cat. (shout-out to @themundanedumpling for spotting that here bc I didn't make the connection but upon seeing their post, it clicked)

Which we know is dead because this is the same timeline where we see him have a flashback to how he and Korn met so this adorable little fella over there (PLS LET ME PET IT) is positively 6ft under. Ain't no way he's alive and kicking.

Which does beg the question, what timeline is it where this cat is still alive, since we have to reason to believe any of the timelines we're watching have him there chilling, still but hey. It's not important for now.

What's important is that: Great's time-traveling is causing the timelines (and not just the ones we know!) to bleed into each other and certain people (apparently only Tonkla so far but it could extend to other people in the future, idk) are becoming aware of that. The biggest evidence being now Tonkla hearing his brother in a timeline where he's dead (which again is Tonkla seeing creatures that should be dead. idk what that means yet but we should note that).

And THIS is why this is not the OG timeline's past but rather that past under the influence of Great's Life Review abilities. Which means, while Great is actively altering the OG timeline and creating a different one, the OG timeline has already branched on its own as a side effect of his actions (as seen by Win being put off the case, for example), which might cause him issues bc, if the OG timeline is no longer the OG timeline, then... Do the events that even led him to Life Review even happen like they did? Can Great even be altering the timeline right now? Idk tbh but we should look out for this possible paradox, I believe.

Past 2.0 (The Seemingly Good Past)

This is, again, pretty obvious. This is the past but with Great's active changes of the timeline (and possibly the timeline where Tyme also retain some of the memories of his present self from the OG timeline who's dying in the middle of nowhere, Thailand. but that I'll leave to a different post where maybe I'll analyse why he is so fucking odd and seems to be taking time travel and fucking the son of the guy who killed your parents in a light-hearted fashion).

(I love this scene is so FUCKING CUTE, fight me)

And What Does This All Mean??

Well, though the concept itself might be complex, here for us it's actually very simple bc other ppl have already explained the concept: instead of just being a series where the 4th dimension (time) is played with like we might've initially thought, the series is going further by tackling and toying with the concept of the 6th dimension:

the hypothetical space dimension through which all other dimensions can be seen and accessed and it would, theoredically, be possible to make them collide. Or, in this series, this place:

Which is not exactly a physical place but also isn't not a physical place (?) and that can only be accessed by people that are experiencing the 4th dimension (time) in an extremely weird way.

"Okay, Dante, but this doesn't change much, does it?" Of course it does!

When it is possible for different timelines to glitch into each other, it's not hard to imagine they could, if given the right (or wrong, whichever way you wanna see it, you choose) push, merge.

And, when people have access to interacting direclty with an entirely different, seemingly unstable dimension of reality, who's to say what kind of damage it does to people? Or whether or not anyone can be stuck viewing it forever?

What I'm saying is: we know there is weirdness unfolding with time but let's not forget there's a medical aspect to this story, let's not forget what the actual consequences of interacting with the 6 dimension directly might be to the people doing it.

So What Did We Learn?

That our actions have consequences!

No, but literally, actually. This series is about the consequences of people's actions and butterfly effects and not just in the obvious way but also in the way that our actions also change things we don't even know about (the timelines we don't even know exist) and, quite frankly, can't really control.

But really, more into the lore, I think what we have to think about is what we think will result of this and, frankly, I don't know. I have no idea. Great could change the present and save everyone, Great could fail. The timelines could collide, they could merge, they could change each other... I honestly can't tell what it's gonna be but I'm pretty sure it's not gonna be a happy one. I expect this to be a Greek tragidy, in all honest. And a classic one at that: one where even though the characters have access to the future, the nature of people cannot be changed and date cannot be defeated.

BUT HEY THAT'S JUST A THEORY, A GAY THEORY! sdksjdkdjksdj

Final Thoughts

So yeah, idk... It's not a very complex theory or anything but Ig I needed to organize my thoughts and I decided to do that in public for everyone to watch sjdsjdhsjdhs.

Feel free to add and comment and discuss this here in the comments or in the reblogs, I really wanna know more what the fandom is thinking and interact with more people!

I had a great time (pun intended) back when DFF was airing and it's actually the reason why my discord gc was created and I met the lovely people in it... I really want this to be an amazing experience for everyone again!

Anyways... I'll see you on a next theory, maybe.

All the love 💜💜💜

[snoopdoodle]

Hello, Snoop :] Can I have a M! reader that is like the "Main Creative Big Builder" of the SMP. Like helped build the "Pandora's Vault" [ + redstone], "Las Nevadas", and ect. But only Wilbur, Dream (+ Sam), and Big Q know about reader because reader usually builds when no one is on other people [Bench trio, Phil, ect.] Mid-Lore stream, when C! Philza, Bench Trio, & Sam go to visit Dream and the redstone for the vault is mess up so they have to get Reader on the SMP to fix it. Anarchy :]

i think its concerning how I listened to "true crime in America" while writing this wholesome write :,)

======

[Name] to the rescue!

platonic!benchtrio x male!reader, platonic!philza x male!reader, platonic!awesamdude x male!reader

pronouns: he/him

summary: pandoras vault? broken? not for long, call for [name]!

======

You were known as one of the “gods'' on the server. It was due to you rarely being mentioned, but also having so many landmarks, like in the prison, the main builds of L’manburg, and a few helpful builds in Las Nevadas, like the casino. You also did a bit of redstone early on in Eret’s castle as a surprise. It was funny to see his reaction, as he was shocked to find a secret room in one of the main rooms in the castle. Your “godly-ness” was just operator powers and somehow, not being seen by anyone on the SMP so far….. Besides Sam and Dream.

The main people who mentioned you lore wise were dream and Wilbur. Dream had mentioned you after he used his revival book. It was strange for everyone else, but the rest of the viewers and the people on the SMP thought that it was just lore that they hadn’t read. Maybe, it could have been some surprise improv that he had thought of a couple minutes before. But anyway, the one time you had been seen by anyone, was a bit funny, to dream at least. You had tried so hard to stay as this “god” that was just a myth to the SMP, but of course, nothing can stay the same.

Phil, Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo were walking to the prison. Tommy was taking shallow breaths, trying to stay in character. Sam had messaged the lot earlier, saying how some of the restone had been broken for some reason, and he had struggled to fix it, but he tried his best. Tubbo’s character turned to Tommy and gave him a little punch, causing Tommy to give a shriek. “What was that for, man?!” he yelled, his voice booming with annoyance and hints of fear to stay in character. Tubbo and Phil gave a laugh as Ranboo stayed silent to be in character. 

“Hey, don’t be sweaty about this man. It… It’s just a small visit to a “homeless man” as Technoblade would say. We got this!” Tubbo spoke, shakily, but cheerful. Ranboo gave a sigh and looked over to Phil. “Hey Phil,” He started, causing Phil to look over to him. “D-Do you think everything will be ok? Like after this..? We know what happened with Tommy before…” He spoke, staying in character as best he could. But really, he was more concerned with the fact that the Prison was down. The question and reasoning cause Tommy, Tubbo, and Phil to stop and stare at him. 

“Wow mam, way to stay positive.” Tommy huffed in annoyance. Phil stifled a laugh and Tubbo gave a “pft” to the comment. They all continued walking, getting closer to the Prison block by block. They stared into the nether portal at the front gate as soon as they got there. The men froze. Phil took charge and walked into the portal, leading Ranboo, Tommy, and Tubbo to do the same. Tubbo and Ranboo ogled at the prison, having never seen it before. Tommy scoffed at their awe, and Phil gave a huff trying to be content with their bullshit.

“Welcome to the prison. I’ll need you to sign these books,” Sam spoke as a greeting, not caring about the rudeness and tiredness in his voice. Tubbo and Ranboo were taken back in surprise at how well he was in character. Philza was the first to walk up to Sam and grab a book. Tommy was next, due to being closer, then Ranboo, the Tubbo. They all grabbed the books and signed their names, walking back to Sam. He walked off, causing the others to follow. Sam pulled a lever on the wall, hoping it would work. His hands were sweaty as he didn’t know how much redstone was broken.

“Wait a second…” He mumbled to the group, walking over to another lever. He flicked it, and this time it worked. “Damnit,” He spoke, realizing he’d have to call someone, that someone being you, on your off day. “Everything ok, Sam?” Ranboo spoke in a hushed voice. In reality, he was trying not to laugh, but he had to stay in character. He was determined not to break. Sam sighed, “Well, now I have to call him,” Phil gave a confused face to his camera, not processing the situation. “Who?” He spoke, asking the question everyone was asking, whether they were viewers or the others in the call.

“You know the.. ‘God’ of the server? Yeah, It’s him,” Sam spoke, and you could hear the dialing of a phone. The ringing of the phone started and then stopped, prompting everyone to be quiet and listen in. “Hello? You need something, I was sleeping,” You spoke, your tired morning voice shocking everyone. “For someone who's asleep, you answered pretty fast,” Sam retorted, and you could hear the giggle of others in the call. You gave a scoff. “Har, Har… anyway, you need something?” You spoke, viewers swooning for you even more.

“Yeah, some of the redstone in the prison broke and I need you to fix it. I tried earlier, but it didn’t work,” Same spoke, sort of revealing that you worked on the prison, you had the ability to be on the server, and that Sam knew how to contact you. The other men in the call just had shocked faces for the fact that they didn’t know about you, and had been given no hints about who you were. Tommy jumped to the DreamSMP discord server and scrolled through the list of people. He was shocked to find a name that he had never seen before with the “admin” and the “builder” roll.

“Wait-wait-wait!” Tommy started after hearing the call end. He assumed you would be opening your computer and hopping on to help with the server. “Was this the guy who helped build L’manburg while everyone was offline? W-Who even is this guy?” He said the last part with a laugh. At this time, you had joined the voice call, and you decided to put in your 2 cents of lore. “Well… I guess you could say that I’m god,” You spoke, your voice still sounding drowsy as one thing came up in the server’s chat.

[Your Username] has joined the game

Others didn’t know who you were and thought you were  a hacker, immediately going to the other’s streams to find out. Some even went to Dream himself to tell him that there was a hacker on the server. Dream ended up sending a server-wide ping out to say that no, you weren’t a hacker, and no, he wouldn’t kick or ban you. You ended up becoming a part of pure lore. The main part was that you were a god, the God of Redstone and creation, and you were known to be summoned by certain people. Your lore became so used that you ended up being in even more lore streams and creating friendships with other people outside of streaming. You're really glad that the redstone broke that day.

[astaroth1357]

request: an MC thats very good w playing games or like,,, is proficiently skilled in all game categories or smrhn

alsp hi xander i love ur writing

and can i giv u a kith? if so: mwah 😚

Well I hate to tell ya, sweetie, but I’m not Xander. I’m Jazzy. Hello! I can see why you’d want something written by Xander, though. He’s mad talented (better at this than I am quite frankly) and he’s on the list of people I wish I could write as well as. I guess we can both take a moment to be sad that I’m not Xander… *sigh*... to be Xander… 😔

Oh well, I am who I am and I don’t begrudge that fact. Meanwhile, I’ve wanted to do more shout-outs so everybody go read @sevendeadlymorons! If you’re not… I mean… why not? He’s more than worth your time. In the meantime, I hope I can entertain you despite my not-Xanderness.

Brothers React to an MC Who’s Good at Games and Stuff 

Lucifer

Honestly couldn’t care less about the MC’s game proficiency in most cases. So they’re good at games? Good for them, he’s sure they’re happy.

But when they’re playing against him on the other hand…

Well, Lucifer may or may not be skilled at whatever game you set him on (he’s a very quick learner so never underestimate him), but he’s whole new levels of competitive when he wants to be. ESPECIALLY if he already thinks he’s hot shit at something.

Video games? Not his forte. Table top games? One word for you: Chess.

Lucifer believes that he can and will whip pretty much anyone’s ass in chess. That includes Satan, Solomon, Levi, and even Diavolo. He is at grandmaster level.

So imagine his shock, no, his disdain to have lost a game of chess to the MC… The moment they said "Checkmate" he stared at the board in front of them for a solid five minutes trying to work out where he went wrong…

And he wasn’t having that.

He and the MC now have regular chess matches in which he wins some and loses some so the tally stays pretty evenly tied. Really it’s all good fun... (but if they think he’s going to let them go home when he’s on a losing count, they’re Dead. Wrong. He’ll drag them back to down just to play chess with him until the score is right again. He DOES NOT lose, you hear? 🤨).

Mammon

Guess who’s found his gambling buddy?? 

No, really. He and the MC can make a KILLING at a Poker or Blackjack table! He’s never seen anyone better at poker than they are!! They have nerves of steel and give nothing away, so he’s lost more than a few hands to them before...

Even past the casinos, they’re perfect for making bets on! He once arranged a Devil Cart competition between the MC and Levi and took bets around RAD for who’d win...

Naturally, everybody assumed the Devildom’s resident Super-Otaku would win hands down, but the MC had this insane last minute save with a blue shell and pulled ahead in the last lap!!

He was like, the only person that bet on the MC and he got soooo much money that MC found HIM crying and hugging a bag of Grimm after the match…

Any time they win a game that gets him money, he’ll treat them like royalty for the next week. Man knows not to bite the hand that feeds him!... and creditors at bay... 😬

It may get slightly annoying that Mammon won't stop telling them about gaming competitions where they can get him more prize money, but hey, at least he's supportive, I guess.

Leviathan

Oh they are either his best friend or mortal enemy… Sometimes both in the same day.

Our boy hates losing, can't stand it any better than Lucifer, you KNOW the second he knows there's someone out there who even has a chance of beating him, he gets serious. This is not a "friendly rivalry," MC.

When they’re playing any game against each other, he'll call them by their gamertag/online persona to keep himself focused (yes, even if they’re playing Monopoly). They can't be his MC right now, they gotta be the person he's going to beat...

He's NOT opposed to dirty tactics to win, either. Saying things that will get them mad or flustered mid-match? Check. Using his tail to distract or tease them? Check. Just being a general nuisance/annoyance in game for the hell of it? Guilty as charged!

He's both a sore winner AND a sore loser, so unfortunately MC, you really can't win here... He'll be obnoxious regardless of the outcome.

However… when they’re on the same team, it's really something special. They don't just destroy the competition, they bulldoze over them like an armored tank barreling through rush hour traffic!

These two are legends in the online gaming community and have even started a streaming channel on the side. Sometimes your worst enemies also make the best allies... Who knew? 🤷‍♀️

Satan

Is surprisingly impressed by their gaming prowess. Are they just supremely skilled or incredibly lucky, you think…?

That being said, he's not the biggest gaming man on the planet so he's not too competitive with them one way or the other.

When Satan plays a video game, he usually goes for story-based, single-person experiences anyway so it's not like he could compete with them even if he wanted to.

That being said, they do share an informal challenge of sorts when it comes to puzzle/detective games (a not so guilty pleasure of his). He likes to try and beat the levels first, so when they start playing a new one they'll both compare time spent and scores.

He even enjoys playing those Devildom-style AR murder mystery games with them! It’s pretty cute to watch Satan get into it, he dips into his inner Levi and cosplays as some of his favorite TV drama detectives for the occasion and insists they dress as his co-star (best just go along with him. It’s not a bad time, even if they have to carry around an old tobacco pipe for a few hours).

Asmodeus

Good at games? That sounds dangerously like they're another Levi… 🙄 What about party games? Oh oh, or drinking games??

Actually scratch that. How about ANY game while drunk? That sounds pretty fun doesn’t it??

Like Drunk Truth or Dare!! Oh that's a favorite of his… 🤭

To be fair to the MC, the booze does diminish their skills somewhat (because that's kind of what it does in general) but not by all that much… It's pretty impressive.

He once challenged them to a game of Drunk Twister figuring that they'd be too unsteady to actually win for once, but no. If anything, the alcohol must have numbed the stretching pains because they bent over him like a pretzel!

Not that he was complaining or anything… 😏

He likes to take the MC to parties where he knows a game or two will be played just to show off to the crowd and brag that they’re HIS lovely, talented human! You go, MC, beat that competition to a pulp! 😌

Beelzebub

Sports count as games too, right? Well, they aren't half bad at those either.

Beel found it surprising that he found a human who could actually keep up with him. His brothers rarely want to play practice games with him anyway so it’s pretty exciting to have a sports partner at home!

He likes to ask the MC to help him train with practice matches or to go over certain moves or maneuvers he’s having trouble with. It’s not uncommon for the brothers to come home and find the two of them tossing a ball around in the front yard or something.

And the both of them on the same team? Forget it. It takes the dream team of Lucifer and Mammon (who aren’t just arguing with each other for once) to even come close to a challenge for them.

He also enjoys playing the occasional video game with them, though he treats it a lot like playing with Levi and just assumes he’ll never win unless he gets lucky - which does happen from time to time.

He doesn’t mind losing that much as long as he’s having fun, and if nothing else he can always win against them in an eating contest… He’s got those on lockdown. Come at’em MC, he’ll pack away an entire fridge before you’re done with your first plate. Try him.

Belphegor

So Belphie enjoys a good game or two - video-based or otherwise - it comes with the lazy-bastard territory. He may not be as skilled as Levi, but he can hold his own in some genres.

But he’s given up on beating the MC looong ago.

Do you know how much practice it would take? How many hours that he would have to use?? The hours where he could be napping instead???  Yeah, no thanks. They can continue to be the reigning Super Smash Devils champion for all he cares.

Buuuut even he has to admit, it’s pretty relaxing to watch the MC play something in the background... There’s a certain sort of satisfaction to watching someone who’s good at a game just play it straight through.

If they’re set up in Levi’s room or the Common area then Belphie may come over, set his pillow up on the floor, and watch them play. He may even throw in a comment or two like, “You missed a health pack,” or “Better save now,” but other than that he likes to just let them do their thing.

The MC has had many an all-nighter with Belphie spectating until about 4am or so. Then he’s dead to the world and they have to work out how to get his not-exactly-light demon ass onto a couch…

Or they can just leave him faceplanted and snoring on the floor. Up to them, really cause he did it to himself. 🤷‍♀️

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Dream SMP Recap (May 31/2021) - Deck of Cards With a Green Smile on Them

Wilbur and Tommy visit Las Nevadas to have some words with Quackity. 

---

VOD LINKS:

Punz

Ponk

Foolish

Tommyinnit

Wilbur Soot

Captain Puffy

---

- Punz mines out an entire chunk of the server

- Wilbur and Tommy meet at L’manhole. Tommy brings Wilbur to the quarry and shows him the Tommyboxes full of stone

- Tommy and Wilbur walk down the Prime Path and Wilbur notices all the new changes in the builds, including that Purpled’s UFO has been destroyed. Wilbur claims that someone’s being “a copycat” with TNT, figuring out exactly how it was destroyed

(Wilbur is also repeatedly puzzled by the appearance of Oogway throughout the server)

- Wilbur tells Tommy that he received a book: “PROJECT NEVADAS.” It rings a bell, and Tommy says it’s Quackity’s new place that he’s been staying out of

- Wilbur tells Tommy that the book says to come to Nevadas (not saying what it actually reads), and Tommy leads Wilbur there

- The last time Wilbur saw Quackity, they were fighting together for L’manburg -- but he gets the impression, judging by everyone else aside from Jack Manifold, Tommy and Phil, that everyone probably dislikes him. He assumes Quackity won’t have the best impression of him

- Tommy’s never been to Las Nevadas, but the person who told him about it said it was just a little town. They’re awestruck by it as they arrive

- Quackity comes up to meet them, surprised to see Wilbur alive. Tommy asks what happened to his face, but also notices that his piss neck is gone

- Wilbur says he’s glad to see Quackity out of the presidential outfit, and he never thought Quackity was fit for the Vice President role anyway. Quackity tells them that he owns this entire place

Wilbur: “Oh, so you’re -- you’re like a -- a President, then!”

Quackity: “I’m the President, man!”

Wilbur: “...You’re the President.”

- He shows Quackity the book and accepts Quackity’s “invitation” to work alongside him. Tommy asks to move in as well

Quackity: “Wilbur...That was not an invitation, I’m sorry Wilbur...That’s not an invitation. Wilbur, my nation will not be subject to your unpredictability.”

- Wilbur tells Quackity that while he may have been unpredictable in the past, he’s turned over a new leaf and doesn’t lie anymore, he’s forgotten everything he knew about TNT

Wilbur: “Quackity, look me in the eyes...I am your servant. I am at your service, I have run countries, I’ve won elections, I’ve done everything you would need in a leadership role, Quackity! Even not in leadership -- I can be, you know, assistant to the President! Just, I...Quackity, this is everything I’ve dreamt of in a solid marble and quartz...Quackity, you’re making a mistake, man, you need to let me in--”

Tommy: “Wil, this is so cool!”

Wilbur: “TOMMY, SHUT UP! I mean -- Tommy, come over here.”

- Quackity tells him he’s not going to let the same thing that happened to L’manburg happen to Las Nevadas. Tommy points out that it looks like they’re kissing. 

- Wilbur walks around the sandy area asking what Quackity owns, and Quackity owns all of it. Quackity still means to discuss things with Tommy. Wilbur makes his way to the forest next to Las Nevadas

Wilbur: “What’s the point in capitalism without healthy competition?”

- Quackity asks what Wilbur’s about to do. Wilbur leads them over to a nearby spot and welcomes Tommy to their new “headquarters” as they “break ground” there.

- Tommy doesn’t want to start a new country, preferring Las Nevadas. He also repeats that Wilbur and Quackity looked like they were kissing and he feels like he’s getting third-wheeled

- Quackity and Tommy talk one-on-one and Quackity reminds Tommy about how they spoke about the hotel and possibly working together. Tommy brings up Quackity’s eye again, remembering how Quackity has had many “conditions” for a long time

Quackity: “You ever hear about the Butcher Army, Tommy? One day, we were going to execute Technoblade, and we got in a...we got a fight. And this is how this thing showed up on my face.”

- Tommy is surprised that he went to kill Technoblade and asks when this was, if this was during his exile

Tommy: “You’re meaning to tell me that you put in all of the effort to kill Techno instead of helping me?”

- Quackity says he’d be happy to sit down and discuss it, that he’s not Tommy’s enemy. He gives Tommy the choice: Tommy is welcome to join him, even if Wilbur isn’t. He can offer Tommy a management position, a job

- Tommy goes to speak with Wilbur and leaves Quackity, noticing what Wilbur’s built

Wilbur: “It’s a penis of safety!”

- Wilbur asks Tommy to work with him. He won’t stop Tommy, but Tommy is all Wilbur’s got. Jack Manifold’s busy and Phil has ideas about authoritarianism Wilbur disagrees with

Wilbur: “Tommy, I don’t want to make a country. I’m past that, man. I want to make an HQ. I want to make a place where we can be safe for once. Tommy, it’s been so long since we’ve been safe. And man, you deserve it. You’ve been through so much, done so much. Tommy, you’ve changed the world, and all you have to show for it is some scars and some trauma. Tommy, you deserve this safety and this sanctuary, and that’s what I want to make with you, and you won’t get it over there. You know what they say about casinos? It’s all lights and it’s all plastic, it’s all glitter, that there’s nothing of substance. Do you know what has substance, Tommy? Family. Blood. Please stay with me, Tommy.”

- He tells Tommy he needs to make a choice now. 

Wilbur: “I’m not gonna hold you back. If you pick Las Nevadas, what am I gonna do, man? What am I gonna do? I’d never hurt you. I’d never want anything bad for you, Tommy. You can go with whatever you want, but...Just know what you’ll be doing to me. That’s all I wanna say, man.”

Tommy: “There was a time when you weren’t here on this server, this SMP, when I went against...put a lot of things to the side that I shouldn’t have. I prioritized a lot of things -- I put revenge over humanity, humaneness. I guess all I’m seeking now is just someone that’s gonna be honest with me and a place that I can feel safe. I...I betrayed Technoblade, and I just couldn’t admit it. And I did the wrong thing with Tubbo, but...”

Wilbur: “This can be a safe place for them.”

- Tommy agrees to stay here, but dislikes that Wilbur has built the penis into a wall. The two start building a penis in the lake and Quackity comes over. 

Quackity: “History repeats itself, Tommy. You’re just letting this guy use you. You’re letting him emotionally manipulate you.”

- He and Wilbur start talking over each other, bickering

Quackity: “WHO DESTROYED L’MANBURG, TOMMY? THINK ABOUT THAT. THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A SECOND.”

Wilbur: “WHO RAN AGAINST YOU? WHO LAUGHED AS WE WERE EXILED? WHO CHEERED AS WE WERE THROWN OUT OF OUR NATION THAT WE BUILT? THAT WE BUILT?”

Quackity: “Who wanted a better outcome for L’manburg, Tommy? Who did? Who wanted to run a ‘democratic election’ with just one party? He’s right up there, Tommy! He’s right up there above you--”

Wilbur: “Remember the pit, Tommy. Remember what happened in the pit. Don’t. Trust. People. Who would’ve fought you in the pit.”

- They continue arguing. 

- Tommy gets a chance to speak and says none of that made him feel safe. Quackity apologizes and offers them a tour of Las Nevadas. They head over and Wilbur apologizes as well

- Quackity shows them around, including the restaurant that they’ll need to hire people for (the villager is no longer there). Wilbur tells Tommy he’d be fine with Tommy working here as long as he’d still hang out with Wilbur too

- They start going to the casino (Wilbur and Quackity both hurry to block off the strip club) and Quackity brings them into the gambling hall, giving them diamonds to try out the machine with

- After using the diamonds, Tommy puts Linda the shovel into the machine and loses the shovel in the machine. Quackity takes them out of the building and to the top of the Needle. Tommy remarks that it would be a good place to jump off of

- Quackity turns to Wilbur and asks how he’s alive. Wilbur explains that he was swapped with Ghostbur

- Quackity remembers the last conversation he and Wilbur had together, just after the elections. The conversation they had after the debates. (Wilbur looks at the “PROJECT NEVADAS” book again) 

Quackity wants to “pick Wilbur’s brain” again

- Wilbur’s lost everything. He’s lost decades, he’s lost most of the people who cared about him and many don’t even know he’s back yet

Wilbur: “Life is paved with the mistakes you make, and it’s not about when you made the mistakes or what you did, it’s about how you can improve from them, and...I guess that’s what I’m trying to do.”

- Wilbur’s seen Jack Manifold, Phil, Ranboo, Tommy and now Quackity so far, but there are a lot of other people who he’d like to talk to and apologize to and thank them

- Tommy tells Quackity he doesn’t want to sit back and run a food stand. Wilbur gets things done. Quackity respects his decision, but this is something else, not another L’manburg

- Quackity asks Wilbur about the revival again, and Wilbur admits that it was Dream who brought him back. Wilbur has many people he wants to thank and say sorry to, and Dream is one of them, as he saved Wilbur’s life. Dream is his hero.

- Quackity asks when this happened, and Wilbur says it’s been a while since, that hopefully Ghostbur isn’t too lonely in Limbo

Quackity: [About Dream] “He’s not been lonely. Wilbur, Wilbur, I think his loneliness is the last of his concerns. I’ve been keeping him company, uh...as he’s been there. I’ve been visiting him quite frequently.”

Wilbur: “What, Dream or Ghostbur? I’m talking about Ghostbur.”

Quackity: “I’m talking about Dream.”

Wilbur: “Oh, gosh! You’ve been visiting him? Oh, he must love that!”

Quackity: “Yeah, no, he likes the company. He likes the company for sure. Uh...it’s a cool little thing, uh...Tommy, you know about this, right?”

Tommy: “Yeah, yeah, Wilbur -- that’s how I got to go and see Dream."

- Tommy tells Wilbur that Dream killed him, to which Quackity says Sam’s bettered the security system (Wilbur’s surprised to hear the prison has a warden and a system to visit) 

Tommy: “Why would anyone want to go to the prison? You’ve been going, Big Q, to torture the shit out of him, I’ve heard...”

Quackity: “Tommy, what? Tommy...Tommy, where did you -- where did you get that from? What are you talking about?”

Tommy: “Well that’s how -- I assumed, ‘cause of the scar, you’ve been going to beat the shit out of him?”

Quackity: “Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, don’t say that -- not even as a joke, Tommy, come on.”

- Wilbur says goodbye to Quackity (he has “work to do”) and leaves with Tommy. He’s overjoyed that he can meet Dream through the visitation system, while Tommy protests

- Wilbur throws Tommy the “PROJECT NEVADAS” book, saying that Quackity was writing about the old Wilbur, that Tommy made the right choice in not joining him. 

- Wilbur promises Tommy that going to visit Dream to thank him isn’t a bad decision. He wants to tie up loose ends. Dying is a big deal. This is like a funeral, saying goodbye

Wilbur: “Tommy, all I’m saying is, you know...what could go wrong in a prison?”

- Wilbur leaves. 

- Tommy asks Quackity for an Ender Chest

- He listens to “Cat,” alone in the rain, on a small wooden bench by the lake.

---

Upcoming Events:

- The final Egg lore stream

- Puffy’s lore

- Tales From the SMP: “Space Race”

- Ponk’s lore stream

- Dream’s lore video

- Sapnap’s possible lore stream

- Awesamdude lore stream

[bookishofalder]

Night Changes [Seven]

Summary: An unexpected attack cuts the final tethers of restraint for Poe and the reader.

Warnings: Language, violence, blood, mentions of attempted assault, choking, injury description (note RED cuts to skip past uncomfortable parts if preferred), Smut—PiV, fingering, squirting, oral. W— +14K.

A/N: If there was ever a chapter I would beg for feedback/thoughts, this is it. Please tell me you like it. Oh god, soothe my worried mind.

It was tempting, the urge to roll your eyes as the man before you moved to stand too close. You smirked, waiting to see if he was serious in his attempt to corner you or if he would scamper off the moment you pulled your knife from your thigh holster where it was hidden beneath your dress.

There was a darkness in his gaze that made your hand twitch at your side, and here you had thought Canto Bight would be relatively uneventful. But it appeared you caught his eye and your disguise as just another casino patron worked because he had followed you unexpectedly into the foyer off of the main ballroom, where you had gone to wait for Poe and Temmin to return.

The three of you were here for intel promised by a very wealthy ally, so dressing the part was important for blending in with the privileged crowds. You were sure the man before you thought you weak enough to bully, a rich girl he could take advantage of.

You were annoyed, wishing you’d gone with Poe instead of Temmin, that you hadn’t offered to keep watch for any signs of your enemies because you felt you were the least suspicious of the three of you. BB8 stayed with you, but when you’d seen the man following you over your shoulder you told the droid to hide and it had zipped behind a potted plant in the corner of the foyer, beeping coyly.

You had first assumed he was a guard, perhaps about to tell you that you were in the wrong place if you were looking for a fresher, but when he stepped around you and blocked your path you quickly realized he was something else entirely. His suit, you could tell now from close up, was immensely expensive and he reeked of cologne.

There were two hallways over his shoulder, one which Poe and Temmin had gone down to meet with the contact, and the other which branched off to various parts of the greater building. Both were quiet, and so you knew not to expect any sudden interruptions that might save you the trouble of having to incapacitate the man.

But, you could easily handle one lone wolf who bit off more than he could chew.

Which was why it came as a very great surprise to you when you felt another presence behind you, but before you could do more than stiffen you felt pressure against your spine; a second man had snuck in and was pressing a knife to you. Now you understood that the first man wasn’t blocking your path; he was distracting you.

So less of a lone wolf, more of a predator with a partner. Bile rose in your throat and you glared at the man in front of you. He smirked now, taking another step toward you so that both men were almost pressed up against you, sandwiching you between them. “You’re a pretty little number.” He hissed, one hand shooting out to grab your throat.

You wanted to fight, but the knife at your back was a heavy warning of what could happen and you knew you needed to play your cards right. No pun intended. You’d been cornered before, of course, but always by First Order officers. Rich men who wanted what they couldn’t have were not on your list of experiences before this, and you wondered how best to deal with them.

“Fuck you,” You seethed, and the hand at your neck tightened fractionally. More of a threat than anything else.

His words though were a clear threat. “No, we’ll fuck you, doll.”

The way they got you onto the floor, the ease and swiftness of it, told you they’d done this together before. It sickened you, made fury rise inside of you and you wanted nothing more than to pull the knife from your holster and drive it into the hand at your throat. You made a noise, a growl, and the man with the knife finally spoke up.

“She’s a wild one, probably best to knock her out.”

You were going to kill them. Whatever happened, their blood would be soaking into this plush carpet before the end of the night. The first man moved so that he was straddling your chest, his weight on his hunches, and grinned down at you.

“Don’t worry, we’ll have our fun and be on our way. We aren’t going to hurt you so long as you don’t struggle.” He immediately contradicted himself when the hand at your throat tightened, pressing at the sides in a way that cut off airflow without completely crushing your throat. They wanted you to pass out.

You went limp, conserving your energy as you scowled up at the man. The reality of your situation was now enough to cause panic to bubble up; Poe and Temmin hadn’t been gone long. The contact would invite them for a drink, chat with them briefly before passing along the intel. They would find you here, after.

No, that couldn’t happen. It would kill Poe, and he wouldn’t be able to leave until he found the men. You whimpered, black spots started to dance in your vision and you saw, from the corner of your eye, a blur of orange and white zoom down the hallway your squadmates had ventured not long ago.

The second man was already getting excited, his free hand brushing over your face, touching your lips. Even without any air coming in, you tried to bite him. He jerked his finger back, cursing, and the man holding your throat threw his head back to laugh loudly, the pressure releasing in his distraction. You think he started to tease the other man, but everything was confusing now and instincts overtook your body, pulling in air-too much air, too quickly.

Scream.

Yes, you needed to scream. One good, long one that someone would hear, or at least loud enough to scare them off of you in case someone did come looking for the source. You kept pulling in air and it was painful your vision blurring, and you think you were about to pass out. Faces appeared in your mind. Two very distinct, very familiar faces; Charlie and Poe. Your protectors, your family, your love.

Just like that, you had what you needed to find the strength to scream.

It came out in one long, very loud wail, the sound of it echoing off of the walls and back to you before you passed out.

“POOOOOEEEEEE!”

+

The Martell family moved off, having given their words of sorrow and sympathy, and Charlie tightened the arm he had secured around his mother’s shoulders. She was the strong, silent type like him; whereas you always took after dad. He was keeping close to mom today, providing her with the support she needed and knowing that you were being well taken care of by the one person who could provide the tender love you required.

Charlie glanced around the room as mom took a sip of water, seeking you in the crowd. His eyes landed on Dad's green armchair in the corner, where you were curled up in Poe’s lap, face pressed into his neck as you shook with sobs. He could see his best friend whispering to you, his hand rubbing up at down your back, no doubt repeating words of comfort. He must have felt Charlie’s gaze, his eyes flicking up suddenly before he smiled sadly.

In many ways, it was a beautiful thing to behold the love which you and Poe had for one another. Even as young as you all were, no one could doubt or question that you were both made for one another-except, of course, for yourselves.

Charlie could almost be jealous if he hadn’t spent years around you and seen how natural it seemed to come to you both. He couldn’t be angry that his best friend loved you so deeply, that he knew what to do to comfort you, to care for you, knew when it was needed without Charlie even needing to ask. Hell, even dad had noticed, mentioned it to Charlie during that last visit...

Dad was smiling at Charlie, who sat in the chair next to his bed in the medical facility. It was a nice private room, the kind that the staff made a little homier because it was where the terminal patients came to live out their last days. Mom had taken you and Poe with her to get tea in the nearby lounge, leaving Charlie alone with dad one last time. He sighed, admitting to dad now that they were alone that it didn’t feel fair to lose his father at sixteen. And you were barely fourteen!

Dad chuckled sadly, “I want to stay more than you know, son. I have to tell you, Charlie, that I’m already more than proud of who you are and I know you’ll continue to be a remarkable person. I told your sister the same, but she’s still young, she’ll need more reminders,” Dad paused to take a breath and Charlie waited patiently, taking hold of one of his hands. “I know you’ll always take care of her, put her before anything else. Even the fight, it comes second to her. Though I expect you’ll have help. Wish I could have been around to see those two get married one day.”

Charlie grinned, “You noticed them too?” His father nodded, eyes bright despite the sickness. “How could anyone not, I suppose. Except them.” Charlie added, rolling his eyes fondly.

Dad laughed again, “They’ll realize it when they’re ready. You’re all too young for love anyway,” He joked, giving Charlie a mock stern look. “Just make sure that whatever they do, you focus on your own happiness too, son.”

He squeezed Charlie’s hand weakly, he smiled at his father, “I promise I’ll take care of her, dad. And mom, she’ll need me more.” Dad nodded, his eyes a little wet but so filled with love that Charlie could only stare at him for a few minutes before continuing. “You want me to beat him up when they do finally kiss, though?”

Another weak laugh, followed by a wink, and then Charlie spent a few more minutes talking with his dad for the last time, before eventually mom, you and Poe filtered back in.

He felt a lot of love and joy despite the fucking misery of it, until Dad's eyes slipped shut the final time and you all kissed him before stepping out to leave mom alone with the nurse. You were wrapped around Charlie, who had carried you out of the room, and he passed you over to Poe, asking his friend to take you home while he took care of mom. Poe pressed his forehead to Charlie’s before doing just that, his own eyes leaking tears.

Now, Charlie wondered if Poe had stopped touching you since that day. Perhaps he simply switched between carrying you and keeping his arm around your shoulders, anchoring you down in safety and love, letting you grieve while keeping you from falling too far into the darkness.

Poe met his eyes across the room, wordlessly asking ‘do you need me?’ And Charlie smiled back, shaking his head. Because Poe was already doing exactly what he needed him to, cooing softly in your ear as you trembled and cried quietly, protecting you while Charlie held up his mother and in turn, she held him up, thanking him for being strong, for loving so hard.

Charlie thought he could love as much as he wanted, it would still never compare to the love between Poe and you. It made him smile.

+

Poe was walking with Temmin at his side, the contact leading them through the extravagant hallways to the room where their source would pass over the intel promised to the Resistance. Intel that could help track down a man that had something the General needed. He was an ally to the Resistance, not a neutral or ‘for profit’ type but a true ally who pushed through funds for them as much as intel. Coming in person to the casino he owned, dressed to the nines in finery that felt foreign, sitting over a glass of champagne-it was the least they could do.

And Poe had to admit, the moment you’d stepped out of the fresher on the small ship Black squad had taken to come to Canto Bight, he’d become gleeful over the necessity to dress up. Because you were gorgeous, dazzlingly so in a golden, glittering dress, your legs bare, hair styled loose, a touch of make-up on your face. He thought you were so beautiful, and he wanted to tell you but didn’t trust himself to say it right, so he’d grinned before turning away and letting out a low whistle. Calling ‘looking good, sweetheart’ over his shoulder.

They were approaching a large, ornate door that the man leading them gestured toward, indicating their contact was on the other side. Poe thanked him for his help, but before he could move the final steps to the door a familiar sound suddenly entered the hall; BB8 was zooming towards him, beeping frantically.

Exchanging a curious look with Temmin, Poe dropped down to one knee as the droid rolled to a stop before him. Despite Poe’s fluency in binary, he was only catching words due to the panicked, too-fast rate at which the droid communicated. He gathered ‘attack’ and ‘knife’ and wondered if BB8 was telling him you had stabbed someone.

It wouldn’t have been the first time on a mission you’d done so.

“Buddy, slow down, I can’t understand you,” Poe hushed the droid, “Say it again, slower.”

The droid repeated itself, slowly.

Poe was moving before he finished. “Captain, go in without me. BB8, stay with him.” He ordered over his shoulder. He heard Temmin’s worried affirmative reply. And then he was running, faster than he had in his entire existence, blood roaring in his ears. Poe ran because the message was clear.

You were being attacked.

And he didn’t like how BB8 had phrased it, saying you ‘couldn’t breathe'. He didn’t know if he was about to find you with Storm Troopers or undercover First Order fighters, but regardless being unable to breathe didn’t sound like their usual treatment of suspected Rebels. It only drove him to run faster through the twisting hallway, forgetting his expensive clothing or even the importance of remaining undercover, his focus solely on you now.

You had offered to stay behind. Because it was the best option, and Canto Bight was an easy enough place to blend in. So who had made you?

Poe half expected to round the final corner up ahead and find you waiting for him with your enemy incapacitated, or otherwise in a standoff he would have to join in on the fight with.

He never expected anything like what was about to happen.

Before he reached the end of the hall, an ear-splitting shriek filled the air and Poe’s veins turned to ice, his breath catching.

“POOOOOEEEEEE!”

You had never made a sound like that before in your life, and blind, all-consuming rage overtook every facet of Poe’s being-whoever, whatever, made you scream like that was about to fucking die. He came tearing around the corner and his eyes fell on the most gut-wrenching, heart-stopping sight-you, laying still on the floor as a man straddled your chest, one hand wrapped around your throat. A second man stood next to you; both men had their backs to Poe and appeared to be watching you...

Were you dying? Dead?

They didn’t hear Poe coming, neither of them even turned around when he pulled the knife from the inner pocket of his jacket and leapt at the standing man. He slit his throat without thought, already looking toward the man still straddling you, who had released his hold on your neck to peer around curiously. He looked just in time to see his friend collapse to the floor, had enough time to jump back in fear, mouth opening in horror.

It didn’t matter, though. His futile attempt to block Poe only served to aid his aim, so that the knife he slashed out could be thrust down and into the soft flesh between his collarbone and throat. Poe snarled, slamming him back into the wall to ensure he didn’t fall onto you, before yanking the knife out and finishing him off with a firm swipe of the blade over his throat, cutting through the tendons and blinking when a spray of blood landed on him.

Stashing the knife back into his pocket and glancing up at the closed door, Poe stumbled forward and dropped to his knees next to you, adrenaline coursing through his body and keeping his hand steady as he sought out your pulse point. He could already see bruising bleeding over the soft skin of your throat, darkening it, and he felt his rage ebb away into a panic so severe that he almost missed the steady beat of your heart.

“Oh fuck,” He gasped out, a modicum of relief seeping through the panic. He scooped you up quickly, spinning around and making his way toward the hallway opposite the one he’d just come from. He groaned when he realized he wasn’t sure where to go, which door led to an exit-you had the entire place memorized. But you were breathing steadily in his arms, still passed out, and Poe needed to follow his gut on this because you’re life depended on him getting you to the safety of the ship.

He couldn’t cut through the casino, so he opted to simply try each door in the hall ahead until one of them lead to a room with a window he could climb out of. Kare was waiting on the ship, he could send her in as backup once he was out. It was the second door that he shouldered through that lead to him gasp in relief-it led onto a patio, on the ground floor. He glanced around, confirming no one was in sight before tearing off at a run, holding you tight in his arms. Everything was happening in such a blur.

He tapped on his comm, “Kare! Please tell me we have bacta shots on the ship.”

Her voice crackled through in alarm, “What’s happened? We only have spray-“

“Shit!” He growled, “I’m coming back with the Major-she was attacked, get out the medkit and prepare to head to the casino and wait outside for Temmin, he needs to have a backup-“

“You got it, Commander!” She replied swiftly before the line went dead and he knew she’d have switched over to Temmin’s channel to give him the update.

When Poe boarded the ship a few minutes later, Kare was waiting at the top of the ramp and gasped at the sight of you in his arm, passed out. She paused, eyes on Poe “Whose blood is that, Commander?”

“It’s not hers,” Poe replied, setting you down on the only bed the tiny ship had and picking up the medical kit Kare had left out for him, “I killed two men. Make sure Temmin and BB8 get back here with the intel, I’ll have the ship ready to depart.” She confirmed she heard him before running down the ramp and out of sight.

Poe set to work quickly, first tugging a rolled blanket from the end of the bed and covering you with it, then seeking out your pulse to confirm it was still beating steadily. He then uncapped the bacta spray and gently tilted your head back; exposing your heavily bruised throat, and carefully opening your mouth.

“Oh my sweet girl,” He sobbed out, first spraying into your open mouth so that the spray would drip down into your throat and reduce the swelling, then again to the outside skin. It would help, he comforted himself, “My sweet, sweet girl, I’m here. I’ve got you, please, please be okay.” He pleaded, his voice a strained whisper as he stroked your hair gently off of your face, waiting for the spray to do its work. He thinks he kept talking, while his eyes watched your face, every second torture until he saw movement behind your eyelids.

“Mmm,” You moaned out a strangled sound, your face tightening as you registered the pain. Your eyes suddenly snapped open and he saw panic flash there, a fear he’d never seen on your face before that shattered his heart right in his chest.

“Baby,” He whispered, bringing his face over yours so you could see him clearly, “It’s me, I’ve got you, sweet girl. We’re on the ship, we’re safe.” He promised you, dropping his hand to hold yours under the blanket. You gazed at him for a second, then dropped your eyes to search over him and he glanced down, realizing he was...still covered in blood.

“Ah-okay?” You wheezed, your voice was scratchy, but your brows pinched together in an expression that cleared up your meaning.

“I’m fine,” He assured you, leaning down at pressing a kiss to your forehead, “Don’t try to speak until we get you looked at, okay? Does anything else hurt?”

He drew back to watch your face, but you shook your head slightly to indicate you were okay. He cupped your cheeks then, needing to touch you, to feel you alive and warm under his now trembling fingers. You noticed his shaky hands, one of your own coming out from beneath the blanket to reach up and stroke his jaw.

A shuddering, retched sob tore out of him as you did this familiar comforting gesture, attempting to ease his pain when you were the one that had been harmed. Tears no longer threatened, but spilled from his eyes as he leaned over you, his face inches from yours, “My sweet girl, y-you scared me, there, thought I-I-“ He broke off, unable to even say the words. You kept caressing his jaw, the motion soothing to you as well, he gathered from the expression on your face. “I killed them. Both.” He admitted. You responded by merely widening your eyes slightly, then shutting them in understanding.

He watched you for a few moments, then let his own eyes shut as he lowered his head and pressed his forehead to yours, trying to reign in his emotions so that he could get the ship ready to go home. He pulled back when you attempted to speak again, your voice a little clearer thanks to the spray.

“L-love you.”

Poe ran his thumbs under your eyes to wipe away the tears that spilled, “I love you,” He replied, turning his head and pressing his lips to your hand, “So, so much, my lovely girl.”

+

When Tahla had first walked onto the ship after Temmin and Kare had successfully landed back on base at D’Qar, his expression was so fraught with concern you’d squeaked a little from your spot on the bed, wanting to tell him you were fine despite your voice box rejecting the attempt. Poe had disappeared into the cockpit with Temmin and Kare when they finally boarded the ship on Canto Bight, BB8 in tow, and you think he must have overstated your injury when he’d called into base.

“Well, that sounded extraordinarily wretched, let me take a look,” Tahla joked, his features relaxing, and he sat at your side on the bed. Poe was behind you now, his body acting as your pillow, a comforting position he’d taken up the moment the ship landed and the rest of Black team had departed to get the intel to the General. “This is going to be uncomfortable, but try not to make noise, okay?” His eyes were on Poe when he spoke at first, dropping to you when he posed the question. You nodded your understanding and decided to lose yourself in thought as he gently started feeling along your throat.

When you first came to, the only thing you had been aware of was the pain in your throat. You’d felt movement at your side and panicked, thinking you were still under attack, only when you opened your eyes you instead met the most heart-wrenching sight of your life; Poe covered in blood, looking down at you pale and panicked, his eyes wide with fear. Seeing him like that hurt worse than the pain in your throat, though that was certainly in a strong second place.

When he admitted he killed the men, you regretted only that you hadn’t been able to fight them off yourself, or at least been able to help him take them down. You didn’t want all of that to sit on his shoulders. You comforted yourself at the moment by telling him you loved him, testing the words on your tongue, despite knowing he would take them at their usual meaning and not how you truly meant them now.

But you could wait a little longer to tell him properly.

“Alright, Major. The good news is that you’re going to be okay and the spray will combat any long-term damage to your vocal cords,” Tahla was looking into your mouth now, a light shining in his hand as he inspected your throat. “Bad news is that I can’t administer a Bacta shot this far into the injury, so you’ll have to allow it to heal on its own over the next couple of days.”

“F-fuck.” You stammered, and Poe’s hands, which were clasping your shoulders, tightened fractionally in response. A silent, loving, admonishment. Tahla laughed, stowing away his light before giving you a final once over.

His eyes moved up, meeting Poe’s instead, “That’s not your blood, right?”

“No,” Poe replied, his voice quiet, “No. I killed them. BB8 found me, told me (y/n) was being attacked. They were...I didn’t hesitate.”

Fuck, he sounded so dark and haunted, you wanted to take away his worry, take away whatever memories he had now from the attack. You were tired though, your eyes beginning to droop now that you were home and safe and in the clear of any permanent damage. Tahla gave Poe a nod that suggested his approval over Poe’s handling of the men who attacked you, his eyes darkening for a moment, and then your eyes closed completely.

Poe’s hands immediately moved, adjusting you in his arms. How he was able to tell you were ready to sleep you’d never know. He was lifting you before you could even consider offering to just walk since your legs worked just fine. But you let yourself curl into his hold instead, your face pressing into his neck. He began to walk and you let the gentle motions soothe you further, lulling you towards sleep.

Tahla spoke from somewhere behind your head, where he walked next to Poe, “I’m going to give her a few days off, pull her from the field for a week minimum-I’ll check on her in five days, see if her voice is good enough for the field.”

“Listen, man, thank you for coming. I know it’s overstepping to demand a specific Healer-“

“Don’t worry about it,” Tahla interrupted, “I’m glad you did ask for me. Scared the hell out of me though, Poe.”

Poe sighed, “Sorry about that.” He didn’t elaborate even though you wanted him to explain why he’d caused Tahla to panic, what he’d said to have your friend run into the ship like he thought your head was about to fall off.

You also wanted to thank Tahla for coming, but you were too sleepy. Instead, you let the way Poe carried you to ease you closer and closer to the blissful release of sleep, not realizing until you heard a door whoosh open that the Healer was gone. Poe lowered you onto something soft and you peeked out beneath your eyelashes to find you were in his room.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you,” He murmured, pulling his blanket from where it was folded at the base of his bed to cover you, his hands still shaky. You reached for him then, grabbing hold of his hand, and Poe stilled, gazing down at you. “What is it, sweetheart?”

You cleared your throat carefully and kept your voice as low as possible when you spoke. “Sta-y with me.” You saw the words hit him, his tension releasing so quickly that you think he nearly collapsed as he joined you on the bed, laying cautiously next to you. The only part of him that touched you was where your hand had grabbed him; now, you tugged him closer and shuffled, burrowing into his side and tucking your head into his neck.

You didn’t care that he was bloody or you were both still dressed in the fancy clothing-you just wanted him close. Needed him, not only for yourself but also for him, so that he knew you weren’t upset with him in any way, so that he couldn’t lick his wounds alone and convince himself that he messed up.

You needed him to know that you still trusted him. Always would.

He shifted so that he could circle his arms around you, holding you tight against him and breathing steadily, hard enough that you knew he was fighting off tears again. Your poor, kind-hearted Poe. He took things so hard, loved so fiercely. You didn’t understand how you deserved him when you were young or now. You just felt so fucking safe now, he was all-encompassing safety and love and you wondered again how you could have thought badly of him, to ever have run away.

“Sweet girl,” He started murmuring again, whispers as he stroked one hand over your hair soothingly. You weren’t sure if he knew you were still awake, it had been so long. You remained still, hoping he would never stop speaking so sweetly to you, letting his words lull you. “My brave, beautiful girl. So strong. I’ll never let anyone hurt you ever again. I love you, maker I love you...”

You wanted to say it back, but you fell asleep to the soothing rumble of his chest as he caressed you in the night, rocking away your nightmares and keeping you every bit as safe as he promised.

+

Poe woke early, light only just filtering in his thin window because he was too warm. At first, he was confused as to why he felt so restricted, so heavy until he looked down.

Stars.

You were tangled around him as he lay on his back, your arm hugged around his waist, head resting just below his sternum, legs entwined with his own. And he was still wearing his suit, the fabric not as breathable as his flight suit, and tighter too. As he gazed down at you, still peacefully asleep, further warmth pooled in his chest and belly.

‘Stay with me.’

Maker, three words and you knocked him clean over and he was ready right then to tell you he would never leave your side again if you asked him not to. But he’d managed to reign himself in slightly before curling around you protectively, unable to keep himself from touching you in gentle, soothing motions. He’d fallen asleep faster than he’d thought he would.

Now, he realized that if you woke up you would find him still covered in the blood of the men he’d killed. He needed to get himself into his fresher and clean up. With slow movements, he was able to extract himself from your grip and climb from the bed. He covered you in the blanket so the temperature change wouldn’t go as noticed and wake you up. He watched you for a minute as you slept, then quietly grabbed a pen and piece of paper, jotting a note down in case you woke up.

‘In the shower. Don’t leave, please.’

He set it next to you on his bed, then grabbed some clean clothing and stepped into his fresher, the door closing behind him silently. He bypassed his mirror, not interested in seeing how he looked, and went straight into the shower, turning on the water and flinching at the brief burst of cold before the temperature evened out. He scrubbed himself clean and avoided looking at the floor, at the swirling blood and grime disappearing into the drain. He had enough images in his head. It wasn’t that he hadn’t killed before, because he most certainly had-both from his x-wing and in ground combat. But he had never taken a life so viciously, so intimately. And it wasn’t how quickly he’d done it that scared him, it was how okay with it all he was.

They were hurting you, at the time he’d thought they’d killed you, he had no choice. No option but to end them.

He considered working in the field with you now, what that would look like. Would he start throwing himself in front of you and breaking protocol as he had in the woods of Takodana? Like he’d gotten angry at you for doing all that time ago when you’d first come back to D’Qar and had taken out that Stormtrooper with his gun levelled at Poe’s head? Was the fight...

Maker.

Was it worth losing you for?

The answer came fast; no, no it wasn’t. And that scared him because he’d always been ready to die for the cause, for the Resistance, to abolish the tyranny of the First Order. You and Charlie and he had all grown up with that single mindset, to get old enough to join and then fight until the war ended or you died.

And now all he could think was that he would rather lose the war a thousand times over than lose you.

When he stepped out of his shower and dried off, Poe was reeling. He was going through the motions-pulling on his socks, his shorts, his favourite tee. But internally he was reminding himself of everything he’d accomplished as a Resistance fighter. Of everything you had. Even after losing Charlie, you both kept fighting without question, for him, for yourselves, for the cause.

But...wasn’t the saying in your family that family came first, then the fight, and then everything else? When had he lost sight of that and forgotten that with great love came the equally great threat of losing it? But he couldn’t just leave, would never even consider it, no and he knew you wouldn’t, not for him or anything. There was nothing in the entire galaxy that would make you stop fighting. Which left Poe with the greatest question of all-what the hell was he going to do?

He didn’t have an answer, not even a vague idea, so he tabled the internal battle he was waging and stepped out of his fresher to check on you. His heart stuttered in his chest when he found you splayed across his bed, head hidden under his pillow, one leg kicked out from under the covers. You had always looked so peaceful when you slept, and memories surface of the countless times growing up, waking in your bed and watching you sleep. He’d usually wake up before you, sometimes he’d sneak out to hang out with Charlie, other times he’d enjoy the quiet and calm of your room.

The last thing he wanted to do right now was to wake you up, and so Poe made his way to his dresser to search through options for you to wear. Even the idea of you going alone into your room to shower and change made his heart drop, his need to keep you safe and close was so great. He picked out one of his shirts, a pair of athletic shorts you could tighten the waist of, and after much debate with himself, a pair of his briefs. He’d let you decide if you were going to wear them-he just wanted you to have the option.

He went into his fresher and set the clothing on the vanity, starting a little when he emerged and found you watching him with bleary eyes. He smiled tentatively, suddenly nervous under your gaze, but after a small pause your face lit up, eyes brightening and smile wide, melting his heart in his chest.

“Good morning,” Poe sat down on the bed next to you, brushing a hand over your face to wipe away stray hairs, “Try not to speak too much, sweetheart.” He gently reminded you, his eyes dropping to your darkened throat.

You made a face, scrunching your nose, and Poe chuckled softly. He watched you yawn before pushing yourself up, moving to sit next to him and raising your hand to tentatively touch your throat. You winced before flicking your gaze up to meet his, offering a small smile, “Hi,” It was raspy and quiet, dry enough that he realized you needed some water. He leaned over and grabbed a glass bottle from his mini-fridge, handing it over to your waiting hand.

He watched you gulp the water down in small bursts, happy to see swallowing didn’t appear to cause you too much discomfort. “How do you feel?”

“M’fine,”

“You up for a shower?” Poe asked, and your eyes widened slightly in response and he started sputtering immediately, heat flushing his cheeks, “I mean-you can shower, I uh, that is, I put some clothes in there for you-and I will wait here. I showered already.”

Stars, he felt about fifteen all of the sudden, embarrassment flooding him over his unintentionally suggestive phrasing. He scrubbed a hand over the stubble on his jaw, glancing at you to find you holding in your laughter, amusement evident in your expression.

Poe rolled his eyes, recovering himself, “Very funny,” But he laughed, cheered by the smile on your face as you climbed out of his bed and made your way into his fresher. Your dress was crumpled and flat from sleeping in it, and your hair a tousled mess.

Even still, you were truly beautiful.

You looked over your shoulder at Poe before closing the door to the fresher, and he patted the bed, “I’ll be right here if you need anything.” He assured you, and a wave of relief flashed over your face as you shut the door.

Poe got out of bed, taking the time you were showering to tidy his room, including making the bed. He thought about everything that had happened and realized he wasn’t even remotely aware of whether the intel had proven as useful as the ally had claimed, having passed it off to Temmin and Kare to get into Leia’s hands. The fact that his droid hadn’t returned however told Poe that BB8 must be helping to decipher the intel, and Poe reasoned he could find out once he’d taken care of you.

When he heard the water shut off in the fresher, he started to fret over how to best do just that. He supposed it would be ideal for you to remain in the quiet space of his room, where you could avoid speaking too often or loudly. He wanted to keep you close...but then the doubt crept in and he began to question whether you would even want to stay with him, or if he was already being too overbearing. Maybe you were right now looking at the clothing he left out for you and shaking your head.

The fresher door opened a few minutes later, as Poe was tying on his boots, eager to get food from the dining hall and bring it back to the room for you both. “Anything you want from-uh...” He froze, eyes landing on you dressed in his clothing, his shirt much too large and-and you’d decided to only put on the briefs, the tighter fabric only just peeking out below the hem of his shirt.

Poe hadn’t thought of a chest band, not until this very moment when he could see your full breasts outlined against the light grey fabric. He swallowed, dropping his eyes to the floor as heat crawled up his neck.

If you noticed his reaction, you didn’t comment. You crawled back onto his bed, pulling a throw blanket over your legs before settling into the cushions happily, “Pancakes. Definitely pancakes, please.” You whispered, voice slightly improved now that you had some water.

It was entirely without thought that Poe leaned across his bed and placed a gentle kiss to your temple, before jumping up and promising to return with all the pancakes he could carry.

+

Poe sat with his drink held firm in his hand, his eyes flicking around the crowd before he sighed and settled back into his seat. The usual table, though this was the first time he’d been back to the Cantina since the funeral. Tommy and Rico had asked him a few times, of course, but he’d refused, never feeling quite ready to return.

Today though...he’d come because it was your birthday.

He’d have a drink for you. Even though he had no idea where in the fucking galaxy you’d gone.

And it wasn’t for lack of trying, but no matter who he went to, no one could or would give him your new assignment. You’d been clever and covered your tracks enough that you made sure anyone who would have helped Poe couldn’t see your assignment.

He’d never been more miserable in his life, never more angry with himself. He’d said awful shit to you and then disappeared for a few days to collect his head, thinking of how he’d apologize.

He’d wanted to tell you he loved you.

Instead, he broke your heart.

And you up and left before he could even begin to start making amends.

He was on his last possible source at this point, a person he hadn’t even wanted to go to. But Vanya had been kind to Poe, said she could try and see if anyone she was close with had the access needed. He told her he’d be here tonight, having a drink in your honour, if she wanted to stop by and let him know how she’d got along.

He just needed to find you, and then he would say everything he should have before, apologize to you and promise to make it up to you for the rest of his fucking life. He missed you so much it hurt, it hurt more than losing Charlie. You had disappeared in a way that almost made it feel like you had died as well.

He was starting to feel dead inside.

He glanced up, seeking Vanya out, and met the eyes of a woman at a nearby table, who shot him a friendly smile. He gave her what was probably more of a grimace in return, dropping his eyes to his drink. He wasn’t sure he was ready for...anything like that.

After a moment, he looked back up and saw Vanya walk in. She spotted him and waved, beginning to make her way over. As she grew closer, Poe could see the hard set to her jaw and felt his heart sink into his stomach-he could already tell she’d been unsuccessful.

When she sat down across from him, she heaved a great sigh, her eyes casting downward to look at her hands. “I’m sorry,” She looked up at him after a moment when he made no reply, “She’s smart, didn’t leave a lot to chance.”

Poe waved his hand, “It’s not your fault in the least, Vanya. I appreciate you trying.”

“I’m sure she’ll come back, once she’s grieved enough, had a chance to think things through.”

He wanted to laugh, but instead only grunted, “You didn’t get a chance to know her, but she’s more stubborn than...” He broke off and rubbed a hand over his face. Vanya’s face had fallen as the unspoken name sat between them, and he felt a surge of sadness for her-she had really loved Charlie. “I said...well, I don’t blame her for leaving. It’s already been a couple of months, she’s not coming back. I just wish one person in this fucking place could tell me more than ‘she’s alive.’.”

Vanya leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table as she bobbed her head in agreement, eyes kind, “Poe I saw you-both of you-that night when we first met here. I saw the way you looked at each other-“

Poe tried not to glare, frowning into his drink, “Yeah? And what do you think you know now?”

Vanya ignored his tone, unbothered, “I saw how in love you both were. That kind of love...it doesn’t go away. Not forever. She’ll come back.” And with that, Vanya dipped her head and let loose a wave of fresh tears as thoughts of how Charlie was never coming back sat in the air.

He reached across the table automatically and took her hand, squeezing. “I’m sorry, Vanya. Look, thank you for everything. If you ever need anything, you know where to find me, alright?”

She smiled then, her eyes misty, but remarkably already recovering from her emotional moment, just the kind of tough lady Charlie loved. With a farewell hug, Vanya departed and left Poe alone at the table again. He sat for a minute, his drink nearly finished, and thought of all the times he sat here and took for granted what he had. Silently, he wished you a happy birthday wherever you were in the universe and hoped you weren’t even half as lonely and miserable as he was.

When he finally looked up again, the pretty woman at the table not far from his caught his eye again, and this time he smiled more broadly at her, tilting his head in question. She gestured at the seat next to her and after only a brief pause, Poe decided it was time to give himself a break from the monotony of grief and pain and loneliness and just escape for a few hours.

He joined the woman, Smiling in a way that didn’t feel real at all.

+

“This is nice, me getting to talk and talk with absolutely no interruptions-“

Tahla flinched when you kicked him under the table, and you stifled a giggle. Stars, it wasn’t as painful as when you’d woken up last night, but your throat still hurt. It was stinging, scratchy sort of pain when you made too much noise, but you found you’d been able to hold a low conversation with your friend over the past hour with minimal issues. It was just the laughing that did you in.

Poe had reluctantly dropped you off to the dining hall for an early dinner after you’d spent a good ten minutes convincing him you could handle going to dinner. He’d then been called away by BB8 to see the General, and you’d watched him actually contemplate what to do. It had almost been funny, but it also made butterflies erupt in your stomach-not for the first time that day. You shooed him away with the promise that you’d seek out Tahla or Temmin so that you wouldn’t be alone.

He’d been so attentive since you woke up, setting out clothing, then by bringing you breakfast and lunch and confining you to lounge on his bed all day. Despite your injury, it had kind of been one of the best days you’d had in years. It had felt a lot like old times, curled up in bed with Poe. The silence was comfortable as you read and he typed up his mission report, though the emotions running through you were entirely new.

It was a lot, emotionally, the last twenty-four hours. As traumatizing as your attack was, you felt like you were being best-taken care of by Poe and felt a little overwhelmed at how good he made you feel. He sensed everything you needed, right down to catching you when you’d be stuck on a page for a little too long, your thoughts turning inward, and he’d press a soft kiss to your hair, run his hand over your jaw, whisper sweet words of comfort.

You wanted to comfort him, too, for having to do what he did. For having to suffer through the worry of how injured you were and if you would recover. You didn’t know how to make him feel better, exactly, but you sensed that the more he took care of you the better he felt in turn, so you allowed him to fret more than was necessary.

And every time he touched you? Well, that was the thing, now that you’d encountered darkness where, for just a few moments you thought you were going to die, you realized you needed to tell him how you felt, finally. You weren’t sure how to bring it up, though, and ended up going back and forth in your head all day trying to decide.

“Lost in your head again, kid.” Tahla’s hand came to rest over yours from across the table; you glanced up from staring into your soup to meet his gaze. He looked extraordinarily understanding considering this wasn’t the first time it had happened during this dinner.

“Sorry. I guess I-I’ve never been attacked like that before. I’ve had, you know, guys pinch my ass or whatever and had no problem kicking the shit out of them if Charlie or Poe didn’t get to them first, but this was...” You trailed off and ran a hand over your face, then sipped your water to help soothe your throat as you spoke. “This wasn’t enemy forces, this wasn’t some guy in a cantina too many drinks in with a shit moral compass. This was-“

“Attempted assault,” Tahla said bluntly, squeezing your hand again. You gulped, then nodded, unsure of what to say. “I’m sorry that you went through that, (y/n), I really am. I wish I could say something more insightful.”

You sighed heavily, waving off his concern, “The worst part is that I passed out before I could...and Poe didn’t say what he did, but I saw Temmin’s face when he was getting off the ship last night. I don’t care how he killed them, I just hate that I couldn’t help, that I couldn’t take away some of the responsibility from him.” You had another couple spoonfuls of your dinner, eyes on Tahla as he thought over your words.

“You know,” He began slowly, tapping his free hand on the table, “Poe basically said the same thing to me when he got me on comms last night. That he wished he’d prevented you from being hurt at all, that he failed in protecting you. He was so worked up, so upset, I thought you were close to death. He really loves you.”

Setting down your spoon with a clang, you sat up straighter before, quietly, replying. “Of course he does, and I love him. We’re a team, one of the best. We get the job done, always have. That’s why I’m freaking out, Tahla,” You flinched as your voice raised too high and your throat burned. You switched to a whisper, “He dropped everything mid-mission to save me, then brought me to the ship. He still...He sent in Kare, but it wasn’t exactly protocol.”

Tahla suddenly grinned at you in a bright, knowing sort of way that made you want to kick him again. Your scowl gave you away, “Don’t kick me, I’m just...I can’t believe you don’t see it. Don’t you realize-aren’t you in love with him?”

You blinked across the table; were you that obvious? If Tahla was calling you out, did that mean others, Poe, had figured you out? “Kriff, Tahla, why are you always so fucking blunt.”

“That’s not an answer.”

You glanced around wearily to ensure you wouldn’t be overheard, “I am, but I just got him back so I’m trying to time it-”

“Maker, I bet he tells himself the same thing and that’s why you’ve both been so fucking blind. You realize he cut down your attackers with his knife?” You stared at Tahla in surprise, “Then he carried you back to your ship and freaked the fuck out until he got you here, not to mention how he told the Healer on call to go to hell and only send me to look at you?”

“I-I, but-“ You gaped. You’d known some of the pieces, of course, but hadn’t realized the extent of Poe's panic.

Tahla laughed, not unkindly, “You want to know what we all used to say back home growing up?” He didn’t wait for your reply, seeming to understand from the expression on your face that words didn’t exist for you right now, “We said, ‘never mess with Poe’s girl’. Remember when Gus broke up with you, said some rude shit to you? Well, he ended up with a black eye for it. Poe’s always loved you. And since I’ve been here these past few weeks, it’s like you two are already a couple.”

You still didn’t know how to reply, so you were incredibly grateful when his pager went off and he glanced down before releasing your hand. With an apologetic smile, he began to stand, and you joined him-no longer hungry-and met him around the table. He pulled you in for a hug, his face schooled to a more neutral look when you pulled back slightly to peer up at him.

“Thanks for everything, Tahla. I’ll be sad when you leave next week.” You admitted softly, and his smile grew.

Leaning down, Tahla pressed a chaste kiss to your cheek and then turned his head slightly to whisper in your ear. “I’ll come back for the wedding, of course.”

And with that, he pulled back, winked at you, and then walked off toward the far doors of the dining hall. You had half a mind to follow him and kick him just for the hell of it, the cheeky bastard, but instead, you pushed your seat in and turned to head back to your room, hoping Poe would be done with the General and would give you an update.

When you walked into the hallway and spotted Poe coming along, a weirdly decisive sensation seemed to settle in your stomach, solidifying the moment his eyes found yours from several feet away. His face broke into a relieved, wide grin and that was it, that was the final cord snapped.

It was almost funny.

You saw a modicum of confusion knit his brows together when you suddenly marched towards him, jaw set because you were trying to reign in the intense emotions now bubbling up inside of you. “Sweetheart?” He said, frowning further when you grabbed his arm and started toward the direction of your rooms. You didn’t speak, afraid of opening your mouth and just word-vomiting every thought you’d ever had, and so you pulled him along silently.

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see him assessing you, trying to figure out what set you off, repeatedly opening and closing his mouth as he considered. When you got to the first empty hallway, you couldn’t contain yourself any longer. You halted, releasing his arm and spinning to face him straight on. Poe opened his mouth, but before he could ask you a question, it just...came out.

“I love you,” You sighed it, lower than you’d have liked to say it because of your damaged vocal cords, but he heard you. You knew because he stiffened like a board and his open mouth slackened almost comically. “I-I’m in love with you, Poe Dameron, and I always have been and I can’t hold it in any longer.”

You bit your lip to prevent yourself from babbling, holding his wide-eyed gaze steadily. Finally saying it aloud was about a million times better than it had felt to simply admit it to yourself. You felt like you could float away just for getting the truth out, though a level of anxiety began to grow the longer he stood silent before you. But you knew his eyes, every expression they’d ever held, and you could see that he was processing your words, that they grew brighter and brighter until movement caught your eye and you glanced down to see his fingers twitch, and then he was moving.

Poe reached up and caught your face gently in his hands, closing the distance between you both so that your bodies were pressed together. He gazed at you in wonder for a moment. “Oh my sweet girl,” He crooned softly, and you were melting into his touch, your heart was surely about to burst now, and then- “I have loved you in every eternity that has ever been, and will ever be. You are everything, sweetheart, everything to me. I should have...should have told you so many times before this.”

And then Poe Dameron slotted his lips over yours and kissed you deeply like he’d been waiting his whole life to do it. It was like coming home. You were rooted to the ground now, his kiss anchoring you, his gentle caress over your cheeks sending fire into your veins that conflicted with the euphoria in your mind.

Because Poe, your Poe, was kissing you. Handsome, tall, broad and strong Poe. Your best friend, your soulmate, was kissing you and you didn’t think you could ever stop now. Your lips parted for him the same moment he did for you, and then you were tasting him and Stars, did he ever taste good. Like home-warm, a smouldering fire on a rainy evening. You knew he liked what he found in kissing you when he groaned lightly, his hands settling at the back of your neck and pressing you closer against him, deepening the kiss as your tongues danced, and you whimpered in response.

With a gasp, Poe pulled back and you saw more than love and adoration on his face, now you saw desire too. Real, heated desire.

And fuck, that pollen had absolutely nothing going for it, you saw that now. Seeing just a sliver of what desire truly looked like on his face, you knew it had all been a huge illusion brought on by the poison, during that mission. You were burning under his gaze now, every cell of your body alight and happy to surrender, responding to him before he’d barely moved. His hands were still on you and you realized yours were in fists at your sides so you reached up and did something you’d always wanted to do-sinking them into his curls.

“Fuck,” He rumbled the moment you gave a slight tug, his eyes fluttering closed briefly, a twitch appearing in his jaw. When he looked at you again you swear you burst into flames. “We need to...talk. In my room.” Before you could reply, he stooped and clasped his hands to the back of your thighs, lifting, and you realized he wanted to carry you.

And you were going to fucking let him. You pressed yourself against Poe and allowed him to guide your legs to wrap around his waist, whimpering again when his hands gripped your hips tightly. You leaned forward, wanting to kiss him. You could see how determined he was to focus, to get to the privacy of his room. You nipped along his jaw as he hurried along, grateful the halls were quiet but truly you wouldn’t have cared if he bowled people over at this point. His hands flexed as you kissed him, pressed you even closer against him when you lightly sucked on a spot on his neck that tasted as delicious as it looked.

“Stars, Poe,” You whispered, playing with his hair still. “I love you so much.”

“Let m-me show you, how fucking much I love you, sweet girl.” He panted in response, stepping through the doorway to his room and laying you onto his bed. The door shut and locked at his command, sealing you into the privacy of his quarters. He pulled back to gaze down at you, eyes wide, then reached up with one hand to very lightly trace along your neck. “And no one is ever going to touch you again.”

He said it with such strength and conviction you could only nod, even though it was a tall promise to make given the lives you lived. Because you believed him; that he meant he would do anything in his power to keep you safe. When he lowered himself down over you and started to kiss you again, you relaxed entirely for probably the first time in your life.

Burning never felt so good.

+

Poe was kissing you. You were kissing Poe. It was, it had to be, a dream. But if it was a dream how could it feel so intense and real and right? How could kissing you possibly be as perfect as this? He felt like he was whole again-like his heart tripled in size the moment you told him you were in love with him and then every moment with his lips pressed to yours only continued to make it grow.

Yesterday he’d almost lost you, or at least thought he had, and now you were tangling your fingers in his hair and moaning underneath him as you kissed, your body trembling. He’d never been as hard as quickly in his fucking life, could feel himself pulsing where he was pressed against your leg. He wanted to be embarrassed but the look on your face when he’d dropped you onto the bed told him you were thinking the same thing as he was now, just as overwhelmed and needy to get as close as possible, skin to skin. To finally tear down every single barrier-mental and physical-between you and come together, be together.

Which was probably why it seemed to take no time to rip one another’s clothes off until Poe was only in his briefs and you were left in the briefs he’d given you that morning to wear.

“Oh sweetheart,” He murmured, his eyes running over your every dip and curve and swell, the smoothness of your skin calling to him. He was laving his tongue over your nipple the first time you cried out, the sound strangled and broken enough that he pulled back and looked at you closely. “You can’t be loud, sweet girl. I want you to, trust me, but you have to be a good girl. We don’t want to hurt your voice any more than it already is, okay?”

“O-okay, I’ll try.”

Poe hummed, “Tell me the moment you want to stop. We don’t have to do anything you aren’t comfortable-”

You slid one hand out of his hair and dropped it between your bodies as he was speaking, coming to grip his length over his underwear. Poe broke off with a hiss, automatically thrusting into your hold. “I’ve b-been waiting my whole life for you, Poe Dameron.” You sighed, releasing his erection and tracing your hand along the planes of his stomach and chest. “Never stop. I’m yours and I never want to stop.”

A possessive feeling, one that had always lingered in the background when Poe was with you, increased tenfold at your words, further driven by what had happened yesterday. He growled before capturing your mouth in another, more fierce kiss, his tongue exploring you as he ground his hips down a little.

When he finally pulled back, you were gasping and even more flushed, your chest heaving as you looked at him. “You’re mine,” He repeated, bracing one arm on the bed and trailing the other down to tease over your centre, dipping below the band of his briefs. “I’m yours, too, sweet girl.” And he locked eyes with you as he pushed two fingers inside of you, gasping out at the blissed-out, contained moan you allowed yourself and the feel of how tight and wet you were.

Your hips bucked when he pressed in deep and curled his fingers, playing with you until he found a spot within that made you just about shoot off of the bed. With a wicked grin, he started to tease that spot and watched your face as you came undone bit by bit for him.

It was the most vivid, raw experience of his entire life. Every single moment soaked into his mind and became a permanent, detailed memory-your little whines and pleas, the roll of your hips, the heat of your slick and how he could smell you, just the right amount of sweetness. It was all so much more than the sex you’d had during the pollen exposure. Every other sense had been cut down and pushed back during that, but now they were all operating on full levels and it felt so right. It enabled Poe to work you through to your orgasm with ease all the while just about ready to cum in his underwear as he did.

“Shit, you are fucking beautiful, sweet girl,” He moaned, adjusting the arm he was bracing himself with so that he could clamp that hand over your mouth. He sensed you were close, could feel your tight walls clenching, and wanted to protect you from harming yourself if you forgot you couldn’t scream. “Cum for me-I’ve imagined it so many times, need to see you cum for real, for me. I’ll keep you safe, go ahead, let go.”

He felt your lips part behind his hand, then your entire body went rigid and you came hard, back arching until a significant amount of wetness soaked his hand, and the bed, and you started to whine and shake from the intensity of it all. Poe growled as you came, glancing down in wonder to see more wetness pool and realizing you were squirting, and he hadn’t known you could do that.

“Fuck, baby, is that for me? You perfect little thing, you are the hottest fucking woman. Holy shit!”

You slumped into the mattress with a huge breath, the warm air hitting his hand and he moved it so that you could catch your breath. With care he slowly removed his fingers from you, looking from your blissed-out expression to your soaked underwear, to your essence all over his hand. He quickly removed your panties, then shuffled down the bed, even more turned on now.

“I just, fuck I need to taste you real quick, sweet girl.” And he dove into your folds before you could respond, taking care to avoid your sensitive nub, and licked you like it was his last meal. You tasted fucking delicious and he didn’t want to stop, pushing your legs apart he cleaned up every drop you’d leaked while you whimpered for him.

“Sh-shit,” You cried, voice low, writhing against his hold on your hips. “Poe, please. Please!”

Poe pulled back, licking his lips, and grinned up at you. “You okay, sweet girl?” You nodded and he rose, eager to get you over the edge again so that he could lick up everything you gave him. “Please what? What do you need?” He crawled back up your body, chuckling when he felt your hands pushing desperately at his briefs.

You cleared your throat, “You. Always needed you, Poe.” You whispered, your voice so filled with emotion you nearly knocked him over. He took over pushing his briefs off and then reached under you with both arms, securing your body before lifting you, changing positions so that you were sitting in his lap. His length pressed against your thigh as you settled.

Poe stroked some stray hair out of your face and kissed you softly, holding you against him and savouring the moment. He’d never been so filled with emotion and pleasure before, every woman he’d been with over the years simply could not compare to the power and love between you and Poe, and it was terrifying. Sensing his apprehension, you drew back from the kiss and stroked along his jaw soothingly and Poe took a moment to simply drink you in.

“I never knew anything could be like this,” He admitted, now running his hands all over your body, pausing to squeeze his favourite curves. You smiled at him, pupils blown wide with lust, your expression telling him you agreed. “I’ve wasted so many years, (y/n). I’m so sorry.”

“No,” You shook your head, dropping one hand to seek out his length and holding it gently in your hand, lining him up. “No, we aren’t apologizing for our mistakes anymore. It’s you and me now, Poe, you, and, m-me.” You lowered yourself, your scratchy voice breaking off into a sigh of content as you slowly sunk onto his length.

Poe had pictured being with you like this many times in his life, certainly more than he’d like the admit. But even combined, none of those fantasies could come close to how it felt to bring your bodies together, the fucking ecstasy, the sight of his cock splitting you open as you slowly took him inch by inch. Your hands tangled in his hair again as a low, continuous whine fell from your lips. Your face was slightly scrunched as you tried to relax and accommodate him, and Poe was enraptured, watching everything with his hands at your hips.

You were devastating. And you were his.

Poe hurled headfirst into oblivion as you settled fully on his lap, a groan escaping as your tight heat clenched around him, and it was all he could do to speak, to just tell you how perfect you were. “Baby, oh fuck, I love you,” He leaned back slightly, dropping one arm to brace on the bed and then gripping your hip with the other. Poe set a slow and deliberate pace with his feet pressing into the baseboard of his bed. He rolled up, then back, his cock dragging halfway out before sinking back into you as you gripped his shoulders and whimpered above him.

It was sensual, soft, each movement like a slow dance, your hips rolling down to meet his in perfect harmony with his thrusts. You were biting your lip, eyes locked on Poe’s, and he could feel you flutter around him every time he groaned; so he let himself make noise, let you hear how good you made him feel, grunting and cursing with every blissful motion.

Even though the pleasure kept mounting Poe didn't want to rush this, so he moved at the same pace for a long time. Occasionally stopping completely when he was fully inside of you and relishing the sensation until you whimpered and he would move again with a grunt. It was divine, perfection...you. It was all you.

“Poe,” You whimpered as you moved one hand from his shoulder to push into his curls, urging him toward you as you leaned down and pressed your lips to his. He kissed you slowly as well, licking into your mouth, over your lips, drinking up your moans, until eventually it wasn’t enough for you and you made a noise in your throat, a little frustrated sound that made him smirk. Made him even fucking harder.

Without warning he sat forward, brought both hands to your hips and slammed you down onto his cock, using his strength to lift and drop you. “Sweet girl,” Poe grunted as your head tilted back in a silent cry, “That’s it, cum for me, let me feel you, baby, please.” He was desperate to feel you cum on his cock, pulling out and then slamming you back down, meeting you halfway as you struggled to hold in your noises, and Poe let loose another round of groans that seemed to propel you straight over the edge.

Your body curved forward as you came, one of your hands shooting to cover your own mouth as you sobbed in pleasure. He kept moving, watching your face rapturously until a strong clench around his cock drew his gaze downward. He had a moment to recognize what was about to happen before roaring in delight as you squirted for him again, the hot wetness coating his lap. The room filled with the wet slapping sounds of your body meeting his and Poe had to actively work not to cum, setting his jaw and gripping your hips with almost bruising strength.

“Ahh,” You whimpered, your legs going limp. Before you could fully collapse into Poe, he flipped you onto your back and started to fuck you into his mattress while peppering you with soothing kisses, “Oh Poe, more!”

He was right there, nearing the edge and yet savouring every deep thrust into your tight cunt. His movements were getting sloppy now, and he wasn’t even trying to hold back his noises because you felt so fucking good and this was so perfect and he loved you so much.

“Oh baby, baby-” He slammed into you one last time, dropping most of his weight down onto you and filling you deeply as he began to cum, his hips stuttering. You were moaning for him, weakened legs hooking behind his ass to draw him closer as he filled you, “I love you, I love you, I love you-“ He couldn’t stop saying it now, his head dropping to your shoulder-careful to avoid your injured throat-he just kept repeating himself between grunts.

As he started to come down from the high, he realized you were speaking, your voice a whisper in his ear, hands stroking his hair. “I love you too, Poe, my Poe,” He was gasping now, everything that had transpired catching up to him in the clarity of post-orgasmic bliss and your words brought his emotions back to the forefront.

He made to move back, only you stopped him, keeping him close. He looked at you, “You okay, my sweet girl?” Stars, you looked fucked out in the best ways and he swore he could cum again just at the sight of you as drunk on him as he was on you.

You nodded, giving him a soft little smile, “Just stay inside me a little longer.”

Fuck, you were going to kill him, you were so hot.

As much as he liked the idea, he didn’t want to stay on top of you and crush you, so he considered carefully before rolling you both, settling himself into the bed as you lay atop him, whimpering at the movement before resting your head on his chest. He’d started to soften inside of you, but remaining in your warmth kept him semi-hard, not something he’d ever done before and yet he decided at that moment he wanted to do it all the time.

“That was...you are perfect, you know that? Dreamt of you my whole life and that was better than I ever could have imagined.” Poe beamed at you when you looked up at him, your eyes bright. He had never been so radiantly happy in his entire life.

You reached up and ran your hand along his jaw, “Says the man who made me squirt. Twice.” You gigged, and he gazed at you for a moment before responding.

“You’ve done that before, yeah?”

When you shook your head, Poe felt a mixture of both surprise and pride swell within him, and you read that in his expression. “Yes flyboy, that was all you.” Another throaty giggle, which then morphed into a full cough as you hit the limit on your poor vocal cords.

Poe was up in an instant, carefully slipping from you and hurrying to his fridge to get you water. He passed it to you and then went into his fresher to get a warm washcloth. You were gulping the water gratefully when he returned, your eyes raking over his body with a level of possessiveness that made his cock twitch. You wanted him to yourself as much as he wanted you to himself, that much was now abundantly clear.

“Alright, sweet girl, let me take care of you,” He whispered, running the washcloth gently through your folds and tidying you up. You cooed softly, relaxing into the bed. When he was satisfied, he lifted you into his arms and carried you into the fresher to set you on his toilet. “You pee, I’m going to change the sheets.” And he wiggled his brows at you, earning him another big smile that settled right down into his oversized heart.

A short while later Poe Dameron was laying in his bed with you held in his arms. This was not the first time in his life that he drifted off to sleep with you, but it was the first time you were both nude and satisfied and so wholly consumed with your love for one another.

It was the first time he would wake in the middle of the night, hard and aching, only to find you already awake and needy for him, moaning when he rocked his hips into you and fucked you slow.

It was the first time since Charlie’s funeral that Poe would sleep entirely at peace, wrapped around his soulmate.

+

If you thought making love with Poe Dameron was perfect beyond expectations, it almost made it unfair how fucking good he was at eating you out.

You’d both woken late the morning after coming together and felt ready for more-you wanted him inside of you again. Only he insisted he hadn’t gotten anywhere near his fill of tasting you last night. Now he was happily lapping between your folds with his skilled, hot tongue and absolutely wrecking you, one hand clamped over your mouth to keep you quiet because he knew how fucking good he was.

You saw it the first time he’d made you squirt and then watched it solidify when you admitted you’d never done so before. It was hot, seeing the mixture of passion and cockiness, skill and care. You fell more and more in love with him throughout the night, when you came together and fit so perfectly, and now you were about ready to beg him for his cock before he killed you with his mouth.

When you came again for him, you were spent and though you did get wetter, you didn’t squirt. He didn’t mind, eagerly drinking up what you did give him before moving to kiss your thighs, then eased your legs together and began to massage the aching muscles. “Such a good girl,” He praised, his muscular figure drawing your eyes. You hadn’t realized how talkative, how much noise he would make, and it was the hottest shit. His groans were downright sinful, were what sent you rocketing into your orgasms the night before. “I should keep you here all day, wet and ready for me.”

“Fuck,” You replied, the words shooting straight to your core even after all of the orgasms you’d had. You sat up, struggling slightly and Poe reached out and gripped your arms, lifting you in another show of his strength that made you kind of dizzy with lust. “You’re insatiable. But we’re having lunch with Tahla, remember?”

Realization flashed over his face and he glanced over at his wrist comm next to the bed, relaxing when he saw there was still time before lunch. “Shit, I forgot. He’s leaving soon though, right? So I don’t want to bail.”

“Next week,” Poe moved to sit next to you, both of your backs against the wall now. He pulled the blanket from where it had been kicked to the end of his bed to cover you both. “He said something...that sort of made me realize how stupid I was being, right before I saw you yesterday.”

Poe turned his head to face you, his arms circling your waist and tugging you close to his side, “Oh? What did our wise, filter-free friend say?”

You giggled, then cleared your achy throat, “I had said I was going to miss him when he left and he told me he’d come back for our wedding.” You thought Poe would laugh with you, or at least scoff, but instead, he’d gone quiet and his expression turned inward in a way you couldn’t read. You hesitated a moment before tilting your head into his line of sight, though his mind was clearly a million miles away, “Poe?”

He looked at you then, for what felt like the first time in your life because of how intense his expression was, filled with love and something you couldn’t get a read on.

“I’m sorry,” He began, shaking his head a little, “I just...you are the love of my life. I meant everything I said last night.”

Warmth filled you as he spoke; you weren’t sure you’d ever get used to him saying such perfect things to you. Saying he loved you. “I know, Poe, I meant everything too.” You assured him, brushing your hair over his forehead to push back some stray curls.

Poe nodded, his expression still intense, eyes bright, “We’ve lost a lot of time, sweet girl. But I don’t want to waste another minute. I-” He paused, and you were growing increasingly confused. When he suddenly pulled away standing up to cross his room, your curiosity spiked, confusion at an all-time high.

Until that is, you saw what he was doing.

He was pulling something out of the inner breast pocket of his flight suit, lifting a chain and then turning to you back at the bed. He glanced between his hand and you once, stealing himself before dropping down to one knee next to the bed.

“Maybe he won’t have to come back for our wedding,” Poe opened his palm to reveal exactly what you knew he kept in his flight suit, “Maybe he’s here just in time. Marry me, (y/n). I love you and I never want to spend another minute without you. You are my soulmate, so please marry me, sweet girl.”

Your eyes fell from the passionate look on Poe’s face to his mother’s wedding band that lay in his outstretched hand.

+

34 ABY - Aftermath of the Battle of Takodana - D’Qar

Climbing from his ship with his adrenaline running high thanks to the success on Takodana, Poe turned and gasped when saw his droid, the orange and white blur zooming over to him. “BB8 my buddy!” He cried, dropping to his knees, “It’s so good to see you!” He looked the droid over, happy to see it looked to be in good shape.

BB8 beeped, excitedly explaining what had happened to it, “What? Saved you? Where is he?” He asked, the droid responding quickly and Poe glanced up, eyes landing on the defected ex-Storm Trooper who had saved Poe. Holy shit!

Finn spotted Poe at the same time and began running forward, “Poe?” He called, and Poe rose to his feet and started towards him, still reeling in surprise that Finn was here, that he was okay.

Poe felt himself grin, “Oh no!”

“Poe Dameron, you’re alive?”

Rushing up to Finn, Poe gasped out, “Buddy!” He pulled his new friend in for a hug, “So are you!” And he looked well enough, thankfully, too. Poe had worried he’d been captured back by the First Order after he couldn’t find him on Jakku.

“What happened to you?

“What happened to me? I got thrown from the crash. Woke up at night-no you, no ship, nothing,” Poe released Finn, pointing to him and then to his droid, “Listen, BB8 says that you saved him.”

“No, no, it wasn’t just me-“

Poe stepped closer to Finn, needing the man to understand, “You completed my mission Finn, I-that’s my jacket.” His gaze dropped to the jacket-his jacket- that Finn was wearing.

Finn glanced down, “Oh,” And he started to take it off and suddenly, Poe realized he didn’t need the jacket back, that Finn needed it more.

“No, keep it,” He punched Finn’s arm affectionately, “It suits you.”

Finn stopped and straightened, his eyes roving over Poe once again, “I still can’t believe your alive, Poe.”

Poe laughed, grasping his friends' shoulders, “You’ve got no idea what I have to live for, Finn. Dying ain’t an option.”

Tags

@mermaidxatxheart @foxilayde @eleinemk @paintballkid711 @mylifeisactuallyamess @20th-centu-fairy-girl @deitysnips @cannedsoupsucks @ubri812 @poedameronloverx @hoeforthefictional @astrological-bitch @itsnottilly@itsdameron @alex-sulli @generousrunawaydonut @wildmoonflower @onlyferorder66 @deanandbobbymcgee @afootnoteinyourhappiness

[obeiii-mee]

Hi there! Im back, tysm for doing my HC ;;/ it was super cute, i really liked Mammons and Satans!! If you dont mind if i ask for another? Hdjsks Recently, i slipped while walking home with some pals and scrapped my knee. It wasnt too bad, but it sure looked bad lmao If you can could you do HCs for the boys reacting to MC slipping and scrapping there knee while walking w them? Im sure Mammon would have a heart attack hfjd Tysm!! Keep up the good work♡

Thank you so much! I hope your knee gets better and that it wasn’t too painful! The brothers would all be panicking in their own way but I agree, Mammon would faint or something lmao.

Hope this was OK.

————————————

The Brothers with an MC who fell and scraped their knee:

Lucifer:

-It was a miracle you managed to convince him to come out on a walk with you at all

-The man doesn’t know when to take a break from his work

-He’s more likely to accept if it’s you asking tho, he has an obvious soft spot for you

-The others call him a suck up behind his back because of it

-You were so happy that you managed to pry Lucifer away from his desk, you were basically skipping alongside him

-Long story short, you tripped over your own two feet and fell

-Luckily, your knees and palms were the only things that got a bit scruffy

-Well, actually your right knee looked as if someone tried removing your entire knee cap with a scalpel, skin and all but adrenaline was kicking in and you couldn’t feel much

-You’ve never seen Lucifer freeze the way he did then

-His mind just drew a blank

-You were about to shrug it off and call it a day, get up and continue your walk but daddy Lucifer can’t have that

-He has six younger brothers (and a younger sister at some point) he is pretty experienced when it comes to treating injuries

-You aren’t walking for the rest of the day, let me make this clear

-He will carry you back to the House of Lamentation no matter how much you protest

-In case it wasn’t obvious already, Lucifer gives off massive dad vibes and now he’s bandaging your leg while you’re laying down on his bed

-While the rest of the brothers watch the two of you from behind the door frame because they are all equally worried

-Get ready for the three hour lecture coming your way

-He’s pissed and amused at the same time tbh

-Silly human, falling over like that and hurting themselves

-Lord Diavolo forbid you try to get out of that bed, he will drag you back and make sure you stay there until your knee is better (kinky)

Mammon:

-He was on his merry way to the casino to blow off all of Lucifer’s money and you tagged along solely for the purpose of making sure he didn’t spend all of Lucifer’s money

-You’d both be done for if he did

-But I guess fate really had it out for you on that day since your foot slipped on....something and you tripped

-Both of your knees looked bloody and damaged as hell but you were more irritated than anything

-Mammon on the other hand did a fucking double take and almost passed out

-He screeched his lungs out

-One look at your injured knees and he was ready to drag you all the way to the human realm on foot to find you a doctor

-“MC ARE YOU OK WHY THE FUCK IS THERE SO MUCH BLOO-HOLY SHIT STAY STILL DON’T MOVE! THE GREAT MAMMON WILL FIX THIS...SOMEHOW.”

-It was very dramatic, he cried

-You stood up to prove that you were alright because you thought he was going to have a seizure soon enough

-OK, that helped him calm down a little

-At least now he knew your legs weren’t about to get torn off and you weren’t on the verge of death

-Fuck the casino, you were going home

-Like Lucifer, don’t expect you will walk home by yourself

-He will carry you, a bit embarrassed by his initial freak out but still eyeing your wound, concerned

-As soon as you get home and the other brothers help you out because he’s shit at bandaging, he just sits in his own pool of misery and guilt

-Your poor knees wouldn’t be so jacked up if you hadn’t come along with him today

-He was so determined to make it up to you, he stayed by your bedside like a loyal puppy with a wagging tail (flashback to the animal event)

-Overall, he almost went into cardiac arrest and was too panicked to realise you were fine

-You thought he was smothering and overprotective before? Good luck for the rest of the week

Levi:

-“See, this is why I don’t like going out. There’s always some normie laying on the groun- OH MY LORD DIAVOLO, MC IS THAT YOU?? ARE YOU OK?”

-HIS HENRY ALMOST DIED ON THE NEWLY POLISHED FLOOR OF AN ANIME CONVENTION, HE HAS VERY MIXED EMOTIONS

-You fell knees first and hurt them quiet badly but you could stand, even if the pain made you twitch a little

-This confused Levi because you looked fine even though your knees certainly didn’t

-You told him you felt alright and it wasn’t that big of a deal and he absolutely rolled with it

-But you guys still went home after that

-He said it was because you bled all over your cosplay but that’s just him being a tsundere

-Levi is usually very shy when it comes to physical contact but he firmly insisted that he help you walk home

-I mean, he knows you said you were feeling OK and maybe humans just have a lot of tolerance for injuries like that

-But he still felt it was necessary that he took you home and checked out your injuries

-He kept the mood light while disinfecting you’re wound with some help from Satan by talking about how the convention went

-High low-key relieved seeing you walk around like normal two minutes after that

-He started bitching to you about how you made him miss his the event but he didn’t mean any of it

-“Stupid normie, making me miss my favourite Ruri-chan event. You’re lucky I love you and think you’re cute....did I just say that out loud??”

Satan:

-Oh dear, why would you go out for a walk in the middle of a rainstorm? What were you thinking?

-Actually, it was Satan’s idea

-He may be a demon and the prince of Wrath no less, but he is such a sappy, cheesy bastard at times

-He definitely thinks that walking and kissing in the rain is very romantic (bet he read something like that in an erotica)

-You know what’s not romantic blondie? Slipping on a very small puddle and potentially fracturing your leg

-It was just a scraped knee but you were frustrated enough to be extra

-He’s helping you up before you even have the chance to realise you fell in the first place

-Your knee was looking pretty bad so you guys went home just to avoid any further casualties

-He’s actually chuckling all the way back while you playfully glare at him because how dare he laugh at your misery?

-Date night was ruined but at least he got to take care of you

-He knew your knee must have hurt and he felt bad but he couldn’t help but giggle a bit to himself because your fall was so comical

-Ah but he does enjoy fussing over you for the rest of the night a bit too much

Asmo:

-You thought Mammon was melodramatic?

-Take a look at this fucking guy

-He actually screeches even louder than his brother and probably falls to his knees too (but not really because those pants were expensive)

-His screams definitely got the attention of at least 10 random passerbyers

-He’s actually on the verge of crying

-I mean, can you blame him?? Look at your beautiful knees!! They were ruined

-He felt so bad for you, he actually babied the hell out of you that day

-“Asmo, it’s fine. It’s just a scrap.”

-“A SCRAP, MC IT LOOKS LIKE YOUR KNEE IS ABOUT TO FALL OFF YOUR POOR SKIN-“

-It was just a scrap but Asmo’s secret talent is being extra as fuck

-He totally spilled all the tea to the rest of the brothers when he got home

-And then he ushered you into his room

-Funnily enough, he’s pretty good with injuries. Not as much as Satan and Lucifer but still

-He pampered you for the next few hours but that image of your skin being all grazed like that will forever haunt him

-How can you not be so bothered by it?? He’d die if he was in your place

-I love Asmo just because of how dramatic he is

Beel:

-Your shoelaces were undone and of course that meant a fun little trip to the floor of Hell’s Kitchen

-Beel didn’t notice you fell at first, he was concentrating on his food and assumed you were next to him

-But then he realised that you weren’t and for a moment he thought you disappeared or something

-Before he turned to find you laying on the floor, curled up because life was pain and you were suffering

-“Are you OK? Or are you just tired? Belphie does that a lot when he’s tired.” Or depressed one might say

-But for real, he’s good at identifying serious wounds and less serious wounds since he’s an athlete

-He can tell your knees were bleeding way more than they should have from just a simple scrap

-He slinged you over his shoulder and carried you, calmly, back home, with a burger still in his hand

-He’s actually really collective and talked to you while cleaning up your injury to take your mind off the pain

-He knows humans are a little more fragile than demons so even though he knows it’s not a big deal, he can’t help but worry

-It’s kinda hard falling around him tho because chances are, he will actually catch you even if he happens to hold something

-He’s sad if you’re sad so please don’t cry he will bandage your scraped knee do you want the last bit of his burger to make you feel better?

-Comfort hugs afterwards!

-Which is awesome because Beel gives out best hugs :)

Belphie:

-Ah yes, another beautiful day at RAD

-Walking alongside with your grumpy and sleepy boyfriend when a random demon bumps into you

-Wel not bumps, more like shoves you so hard you fall down and tear the fabric of your pants

-While the dude shrugs it off and speeds away

-You were a bit pissed off because rude

-But Belphie was fucking fuming

-He felt so offended on your part

-I mean, the nerve of him

-He was tired as shit but he wanted to chase after him and throw hands, possibly fill his pillow with rocks and hit him over the head with it

-He forced himself to focus on you first before hunting the moron down

-He was a bit concerned when he didn’t see you come back up after you fell

-Turns out, you scraped your knee pretty horribly and now you were bleeding all over the floor

-He’s even more quiet than usual as he helps you up and half carries you to your next class

-He starts taking care of your knee in the middle of DevilDom history he doesn’t give a flying fuck

-He’s still furious by the time he gets home and most of his brothers know to leave him be when he makes that scary ass face

-No talk to him

-He angy

-“Does your knee still hurt?”

-“A bit but it’s not-“

-“Come nap with me.”

-“Why?”

-“Naps shall cure your pain.”

-“...”

-“Nah but for real come take a nap with me.”

-Next day at school, the dude from yesterday walks by him and Belphie smashes his head against the wall

-Before walking away as if nothing happened

-I stan protective Belphie

These HCs are really bad but I love them anyway

Al~

[omegatheunknown]

AEW ALL OUT 2021

In which, not to get ahead of myself here, AEW puts on one of the best major wrestling shows in several years*, following the simple yet effective principle of giving the people what they want and sending everyone home happy and hungry for more.

- The incredibly 'Nitro' ending of the go-home Dynamite, which ran a little long on the 'heels beat everyone up and strut around like assholes almost too in desperate need of comeuppance' bit, short of garbage raining into the ring, did actually increase the heat for both promoted matches. Again, not rocket science, but executed perfectly. Catharsis was on the card, and catharsis went over several times Sunday. - Again, it's time to move on from the Casino theme, shuffling the deck and drawing suits really only detracted from the Battle Royale and seemingly always throws the production crew a curve. If they haven't hammered it by now, it's not going to happen. - Bit unhappy about the PAC/Andrade situation, but still over the moon with Andrade's promo style and Chavito being unhelpful at best.

*Pre-Card

Best Friends and Jurassic Express v The Hardy Family Office and The Hybrid 2 (**) - Not usually much to say about a loaded-up multiteam boondoggle, particularly when the show has yet to begin, but there were some moments worth sitting up to take notice -- there's a lot of talent in the ring, even if Jack Evans/Angelico aren't going to be more than mid-level mooks, little matchups with guys like Luchasaurus and Chuck Taylor are opportunities for innovative/weird spots. - Really this match exists to show-off Jungle Boy, play his theme song twice, and work him in to the aforementioned spots. I don't rightly know what Jungle Jack's ceiling is, but it sort of feels like he's plateauing, at least this version of himself. - Dan Lambert thing is interesting in that it doesn't seem to easily lead to something obvious... I mean who are Scorp and Ethan Page feuding with by proxy here, the concept of contemporary professional wrestling? Orange Cassidy and Kenny Omega?

*Main Card

Miro (C) v Eddie Kingston for the TNT Championship (***1/2) - 'Redeem Deez Nuts' T-shirts now available -- and made immediately redundant now that Miro has graciously redeemed Eddie's nuts. - Imagine looking at Miro, listening to Miro talk, and not really being able to figure out this guy is money. Also imagine panicking when he took a little while to find his groove in AEW. 'The Redeemer' is both entertaining and terrifying, and this match delivered heavily on the promise of two big fellas smacking together repeatedly. - Not only does Eddie's arsenal of power moves target Miro's neck, he may also be quite difficult to put in the full reclined camel clutch. Or he'd quite literally snap in half. It didn't come to that. - Weird heel turn by Bryce's attention span and the overall weirdness of the finish is all that kept this from being an excellent match, otherwise this was a tremendous curtain jerker and started off a dangerously fun run of pure adrenaline.

Jon Moxley v Satoshi Kojima (****) - The stakes were nebulous, the build was abrupt, yet this was a fantastic match and tremendous showcase for an underappreciated great who has been more or less just toiling for a bunch of years as a NJPW Dad. Same deal for Nagata, and I assume Tenzan is the same, Taka Michinoku even -- let's see it. - I have to assume the Cozy Lariat might have put Mox down, but Kojima otherwise played the hits (Koji Cutter, Piledriver, Brainbustaaaa) in a big way and Moxley once again proved he's become a very well-rounded wrestler who can match the intensity of just about any former IWGP champion. - More to the point-- KAZE NI NARE -- out of nowhere, too. Or out of nowhere to those not paying attention to the whereabouts of Minoru Suzuki (Right, he's just over here to fight Daniel Garcia and not Mox?), which I guess is to my own peril. Wow, though. Surprise Number 1- a complete surprise, and a welcome one. Let's have it.

Dr Britt Baker, DMD (C) v Kris Statlander for the AEW Women's Championship (****) - I love Kris and her best friends but she didn't have a prayer of dethroning Britt. She got one promo, several weeks ago, and though she did make a meal of Hayter and Rebel, the chase has been abrupt and not given much discussion, other than Mark Henry and whomever else acknowledging what is extremely evident -- Statlander is stronger than she looks, and she looks really strong. They've got her doing Cesaro-level 'modify your grip while holding your opponent's entire weight' nonsense, and it's amazing and scary. - Even with the reign of the good doctor not being credibly threatened, this was an excellent match that demonstrated the continued growth of the competitors in the women's division, even as it underlined that their storylines remain undercooked and perfunctory: Orange Cassidy whipping off his shades to urge Stat to get up was a beautiful moment. Britt's Panama Sunrise, also, too sweet. Statlander eating shit on her 451 and her pendulum moonsault was properly brutal, as were Britt's curb stomps. Really great match between these two. - Again, if they had bothered to write anything into this story, such as Kris' alien physiology making her immune to the lockjaw or something... actually, maybe that's a terrible idea. it's an idea. Undefeated challenger is defeated, on to the next for Dr Britt. Statlander and OC should tag against some of the boys.

The Young Bucks (C) v The Lucha Bros for the AEW World Tag Team Championship(*****+) - Can't not mention the insane entrance lined up for Fenix and Penta. It was bewildering, it was enchanting, it was aggressive, it was hype. It also reminded everybody how very badly we all wanted the Lucha Bros to win. The crowd has been setting new peaks with their volume since Punk showed up, but things were absolutely thunderous and ecstatic at the end of this match. Absolutely valid response. I yelled on the couch. - Nick's facial hair was a bigger tell that it was time for the Bucks to lose than anything else about this build. There's literally nowhere to go from there -- they've done the hair, the bandanas, the kicks, the animal print, the dangly earrings -- peak visual heel for this time and place. - Sincerely thought this was going to be too much of a full sprint spot-fest (the PWG-esque circle of trading blows is not really 'my thing') but even so they kept finding gears, and ramping and ramping and adding blood and brutality along the way. Even a bit of levity, with the tacked up sneaker, followed by the sincerity of Penta throwing himself in harm's way to protect his brother. Immense match, I think you'd have to go back to the Bucks vs the Addiction and MCMGs Ladder War to find a more thrilling tag team gimmick match. - If there's a single flaw to be found it's in the production not really settling on wide angles for simultaneous action at the start of the match. They figured it out. - Rey Fenix is the best luchador in the world.

Women's Casino Battle Royale (**1/2) - If nothing else, this really shows off that they now have a surplus of women's wrestlers who deserve time to hang in the ring. Unsurprisingly, the match picked right up when Thunder Rosa and then Jamie Hayter got to the ring, with additional props to Tay Conti and Jade Cargill, who was dumped rather unceremoniously given her general booking... - Okay, there was something else. Welcome to the rechristened Ruby Soho, who I've not seen a lot of outside of her extremely limited showcase in WWE, but she has so many friends in the back and in the industry and that's never for nothing, not in wrestling, anyway. Intrigued to see where she fits, and if the women ever get more than a match per show. - Touched on this in the preamble but this was the roughest part of the night for the home viewer, just weird decisions on cutting away from various entrances to show... nothing in particular happening. Also while the commitment to not-kayfabing the countdown clock is... admirable? It makes the pacing hinky. - Almost everyone who got new gear for tonight was looking like the white ranger -- Nyla, Swole, Bunny, someone I'm missing. Except Anna Jay, whose stars and glitter gear looked great.

MJF v Chris Jericho for the fate of Jericho's in-ring career (***) - MJF's unauthorized homage to Y2J's entrance: good. Fozzy's guitarist going off tempo with the instrumental Judas: weak, and would've been sad if this were the end for Jericho. Especially as the build has felt... muted, somehow. - Props to the commentary for continuing to feed the red herring of 'in AEW,' as a caveat to stipulation, it did feel like... a remote possibility that MJF would win. - Credit to Aubrey for calling this one down the middle and not putting the fix in for her friend Jericho, and I guess the Dusty finish will give MJF plenty to gripe about. - MJF wrestles with a pure heel style, holds, chops, blocks, and Jericho is fifty years old, so the level of wrestling on exhibition in these matches is well beside the point. It was solid to good, and I was fighting burn out from the first half of the card's level of excitement.

CM Punk v Darby Allin (***1/2) - There are a couple benefits of Darby as a dance partner, and it's certainly better than having to watch Punk return against like, QT Marshall or Shawn Spears. Darby does make everyone look slow, but he can also be tossed around, and this raises his profile even in defeat, obviously. That said, the stakes here are... meta, at best, in that we want to see the man look good and justify the hype. It's a weird thing to root for. He certainly does look good. (Tights? Tights!) - It's fun to theorize about actually booking an angle where Punk is rusty and needs to regain his prowess, and maybe he'll stumble, but maybe the most we get out of that angle is hitting the GTS a little close to the ropes so Darby falls right out of the ring, in what was, for me, the spot that justified this whole match. - Sting's proud step-dad aura is still a hell of a thing, I really liked the end of the match kudos all around. - Match was good, hard to hang my emotions on. I wasn't watching WWE when Punk was in WWE. Definitely feeding off the excitement of others a bit here, and he sure can talk. I'd like to see him cultivate a stable, certainly.

Paul Wight v QT Marshall (n/r) - ...popcorn match? QT Marshall is like the anti-Daniel Garcia in that while his prominence and presence is just as inexplicable, I don't want it to continue, and he doesn't justify it in the process. - Match was two minutes longer than it needed to be.

Kenny Omega (c) v Christian Cage for the AEW World Championship (****1/2) - Crowd was both burnt out and more or less waiting for the post-match angle. Which I get. it's hard to cruise to the main event and having seen all the different things we've already seen on this card, even a singular performer like Kenny Omega and a legend with whom he (surprisingly? fittingly?) has superb chemistry with in Christian Cage were up against it to deliver something memorable. - Context dependent, I can definitely see rating this below their Rampage match, especially since... I mean Christian isn't winning the AEW title off Kenny at this or probably any other event. - But! It was really good! It was very good! They really do match-up well, and Kenny's v-trigger has rarely looked more devastating than when it knocks Christian flat. Christian got cut open in a novel and initially worrying way, and Kenny followed up a botched moonsault with a harder version of the same move off a rail, but it was a really great match and it deserved more energy than was available.

Post-Show - Calling back and inverting the end of Dynamite, The Elite strut about the ring, slightly less stoked than they were on Wednesday, but with the Bucks smiling through the pain, and Jungle Boy once again subjected to violence for his misguided heroism, Kenny 'not much a promo' Omega lays down a killer line about nobody being fit to challenge him who isn't unavailable, already tired or dead. - The Undertaker ADAM COLE, BAY BAY as Surprise #3 was a minor stroke of brilliance, and a fun swerve because while it's exciting to see him, his appearance at this point in the narrative does nothing to solve the problem of The Elite beating up Christian and Jungle Boy. Unless he's still sore about his unsolved murder, which he isn't. Storytime with Adam Cole is back and it's beautiful. Also Jungle Boy died for this. - Okay. But. Just. Okay. CM Punk and Bryan Danielson are All Elite. They will hopefully tag together. Bryan will head to NJPW, almost definitely. Minoru Suzuki just walked in and started slugging on Mox. The Forbidden Door is wide open. Will Kenny Omega one day return to Wrestle Kingdom? There are so many possibilities and they are all very exciting. This was a phenomenal show and it didn't have Hangman Page, Cody Rhodes, FTR, Santana and Ortiz, PAC, Andrade, Sammy Guevara, Team Taz, and the rest.

- Wrestling is good, actually. Imagine watching like five hours of wrestling and loving wrestling at the end of it.

*What competes- WK11, Dominion 2018, 2019, DoN 2019, 2021.. All-In, probably. Wrestlemania 30. A few Takeovers. Kris Wolf's retirement show...

[carveredlunds]

TW: SUICIDE MENTIONS I’m not the first person to point out that Chuck’s ending makes no sense. Chuck himself says he’s omniscient in 15.17. So, him needing a “heads up” from Michael about Team Free Will’s plan doesn’t make sense — he should have known what they were going to do, and he should have known what was happening when Jack absorbed his powers. He shouldn’t have lost the way he did. Unless he didn’t lose. When looked at another way, Chuck’s ending might have been what he wanted all along. Or rather, it would have been, if Sam and Dean had killed him.  According to Wikipedia, “suicide by cop or suicide by police is a suicide method in which a suicidal individual deliberately behaves in a threatening manner, with intent to provoke a lethal response from a public safety or law enforcement officer.” It is entirely possible that Chuck deliberately went full Big Bad in the hopes of eventually getting Team Free to kill him. He knows that Sam and Dean are the messengers of his destruction, after all. They’re the only ones who can finish him. And what better way to go than at the hands of your favourite humans? I’ve talked about this before, but here it is again: in 15.02, Chuck said “So, that Game of Thrones ending? Pretty great, right?” A lot of people assumed this was a sign that he didn’t know what constituted bad writing, that it was a nod from the showrunners to the audience, like they were saying to us, “Don’t worry! Supernatural’s ending won’t be that bad!” But what if he liked the ending of Game of Thrones for another reason? What if he saw himself in Dany’s final storyline — an evil tyrant, gone mad with power, being killed by the show’s protagonist for their own good? This theory still holds up if you also take into consideration season 11′s characterisation of Chuck. If you don’t just assume that everything Chuck did in season 11 was a trick or a lie (which I don’t), then he was absolutely willing to sacrifice himself to save the world from Amara. The suicidal intention was already there. But then he reunited with Amara, and figured he’d give living a shot for a while. But that didn’t work. By the time the season 14 finale rolls around, he and Amara have parted ways, and he is bitter and cynical and done with it all. He just wants out, even at the cost of everything he’s created. He’s alone without his sister, he hates himself (as he said to Becky) and he’s been alive for so long, creating whole worlds just for something to do. Speaking of Becky, I think Chuck’s visit to her in 15.04 was when his plan to commit “suicide by the Winchesters” really formed. He went to see her because he had nowhere else to go, and he starts out the episode lost and self-loathing. He writes an ending to the brother’s story which Becky doesn’t like (not featuring his own demise) so he snaps her out of existence, and rewrites the ending slightly (which is the ending we see in episode 19 — basically the same one Becky read, except now with Chuck’s death at the hands of Sam and Dean included. This is the scene where he says “This is gonna be good” to himself.) By the end of this episode, he is completely sold on the idea of being the ultimate Big Bad and letting Team Free Will kill him in the end. Before episode 4, he wanted to abandon this world with Amara, and go to create something new. This brings me nicely onto the subject of of his creations. If you look at Chuck’s systematic destruction of his other worlds as a suicidal person getting rid of all of their personal belongings and ties to life (on a cosmic scale) then it aligns with the theory that he was on a self-destructive mission. One of the common signs to watch out for in suicidal individuals is a cavalier attitude towards their belongings, with people who have made a plan to die often giving away possessions to loved ones. They may also appear cheerful, despite having a plan to die. But this is because they have a plan to die — they see an end in sight, and they’ve made a plan to get there. This too falls in line with Chuck’s behaviour. From 15.04 onwards, he is as happy-go-lucky as any other Big Bad of the show, cracking jokes, grinning jovially, and generally seeming happy. So, here is Chuck’s “Death by the Winchesters” Plan in its entirety: First, he set himself up as an antagonist in the eyes of Team Free Will in the season 14 finale. Then he destroyed all of his creations, except the world featuring the Winchesters who were the messengers of his destruction. Then, he absorbed Amara (the only other being who might want to talk him out of his plan). And finally, he went to face them in that final showdown in episode 19, in the hopes that they would kill him and finally put an end to his ancient, lonely, existence. Chuck shows lots of the hallmarks of a suicidal and depressed character, even in season 11, but definitely in seasons 14 and 15. He’s antagonistic, destructive, lonely, reckless, self-deprecating, and nihilistic. According to save.org, there are 11 warnings signs of suicide:

1. Talking about wanting to die or to kill oneself 2. Looking for a way to kill oneself 3. Talking about feeling hopeless or having no purpose 4. Talking about feeling trapped or being in unbearable pain 5. Talking about being a burden to others 6. Increasing the use of alcohol or drugs 7. Acting anxious, agitated, or reckless 8. Sleeping too little or too much 9. Withdrawing or feeling isolated 10. Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge 11. Displaying extreme mood swings Of these 11, we can remove “sleeping too little or too much”, on account of the fact that he’s God (though he does seem to sleep a lot as the Prophet Chuck, even in the middle of the day. This could be put down to his method acting, but still worth mentioning!) Anyway, really, it’s a 10 point list. And of those 10, Chuck displays the following signs: 1. Talking about wanting to die or to kill oneself (“To die at the hands of Sam Winchester. Of Dean Winchester, the ultimate killer... It's kind of glorious” in 15.19) 2. Looking for a way to kill oneself (His “Death by the Winchesters” Plan) 3. Talking about feeling hopeless or having no purpose (“Yeah, I just don’t know what I’m doing. I feel so lost” in 15.04) 4. Increasing the use of alcohol or drugs (drank excessively as the Prophet Chuck, hung out in a bar in 11.20, and went on a bender at the casino in 15.08 when he killed all the staff and hung around gambling) 5. Acting anxious, agitated, or reckless ( “You don’t need me. No one does […] I kind of hate me right now” in 15.04 shows his anxious/agitated side) 6. Withdrawing or feeling isolated (examples in this gifset I made) 7. Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge (“It’s time to start cancelling shows” in 15.12, and his many temper tantrums from 11.20 onwards) 8. Displaying extreme mood swings (see: every episode featuring Chuck from 11.20 onwards) That’s 8 out of 10. That’s 80%. And while he doesn’t actively talk about feeling trapped, being in unbearable pain or being a burden, he does say that no one needs him (in 15.04 with Becky), and talk about being unfulfilled and disappointed with the world (in 11.20 with Metatron, in 15.12 with the Radio Shed Clerk, and in 15.17 with Amara.) So perhaps his ending did make sense after all. He wanted the brothers to kill him, but instead, they refused, and left him alone to suffer.

[claptraprights]

I had my fair share to say on this blogue about Moxxi and Timothy and their dynamic in Jackpot and how it affects the timeline and the stakes of TPS and how I feel about it. But I also wanted to say something positive because actually...one of my favourite things is that Moxxi is mad at him.

Now, they could have just not done that:

having her be happy to see Timothy right away would obviously have been a bad choice without any indication that she’s invested in what happened to Timothy in the first place and it would immediately have ruined any chance at character or relationship development.

But they could also have portrayed her as absolutely indifferent to Timothy and what he did and who he is. She could have just gone in and accepted that he’s back, shrug, move on. This would effectively be saying nothing about Moxxi and her inner workings and thoughts and feelings. It would have been a boring but safe choice.

Except having her actually resent him for who he is and what he does is actually interesting. Because we learn something about Moxxi and her values and ideas:

She resents Timothy at first for being a lackey and helping Jack. Obviously she knows what going against Jack would have meant. So being angry that Timothy didn’t go against Jack and risk his life to do it tells us something about how Moxxi feels about the choice between being controlled and imprisoned vs. rebelling and being punished/killed for it. 

And considering what we know about her backstory with he Hodunks, this makes sense for her character. In this context, it is a very powerful sentiment. Not to mention it challenges a trope for sexually promiscuous women: Usually, they are portrayed as dishonest, always out for their own advantage, and (falsely) submissive when it suits their purposes. We have two central characters in this story who subvert such expectations: Ember and Moxxi, who are both very proud, helpful, and loyal.

Again, I already said something in the past about the whole timeline-mess of Jack apparently sending Timothy out to have dinner with Moxxi to win her back but if we accept that this happened at some sensible point, then Moxxi’s anger is even more interesting:

Because she did go to dinner with him back then. And Moxxi knew it was Timothy she was dining with. It might seem inconsistent that she would have dinner with him one time and then resent him as a ‘spineless lackey’ the next. But is it? Because regardless of when that dinner happened, a lot of horrible things happened to Moxxi since that point of time. And many of them directly correlate with who Timothy was ‘spinelessly lackeying’ for. New Haven, Roland (according to her one of the few people in Sanctuary who treated her decently), the resentment against her for her own personal history etc.)

Yes, Moxxi was already pissed in TPS but assuming that she had a peaceful dinner with Timothy at some point, then her anger at him now is a consequence of what she went through during Borderlands 2 and her trauma from that. And considering Moxxi’s highly artificial persona, this is a very rare insight into the way she thinks and feels and ticks.

And likewise, having her interactions with Timothy actually improve once she starts seeing him for his own person at the end of the game actually shows this as well: Remember, the reason Moxxi wanted the Jackpot was ‘an open tab’. For her, getting the casino would close the book once and for all on her dealings with Jack and from the way she talks about him it’s clear that this is not about their past relationship but also the ‘scars’ Jack left. Getting the casino is about dealing with her trauma and while it’s not a central plot-point that is really explored, having her attitude towards Timothy change once the casino is under control at least implies that she made that progress she was hoping for.

[calypsoff]

Ninety Three. Part 3

That talk with Mel is something I needed, I needed to speak to someone that knows Robyn as much as they do. Mel is relying on me to bring her back, I mean I feel I can do it but then again I feel like Robyn is very much adamant in telling me to fuck off, several times too. Mel said I need to be on her level, I can’t be trying to tell her she can’t do something when she is like this. I really wish Robyn told me this, told me how she is feeling so I could help her get through it. I think Robyn felt alone, like you can have a room full of people but still feel alone and I think she felt that because I was being an idiot. I wasn’t thinking straight, I never do but that video of Robyn. I need to look at it actually, I just had a shower and got some clothes on. I am praying and hoping she is where I think she will be, I am assuming she will be in the casino and if she is with other men, I need to not bite because she is going to do everything in her power to make me get annoyed. TMZ loaded up and the first thing I see is Robyn, they are are saying she attacked me, and I don’t like that because it was never that, my wife isn’t violent. Tapping on the article, this is very much defamation of name because that is not it. Tapping on the video and waited for it to load, I am not happy that this is happening. She doesn’t deserve this; she isn’t a bad person. Watching the video and seeing that she did hit my shoulder or whatever, but she was angry that I said her dad and it kind of works out, it’s bullshit. I don’t want to tell her that this was said. She doesn’t need it, but I need to stay by my wife, she means the world to me. I have let her down, I have always known she was vulnerable when it comes to men in general and her dad, it’s crazy how much it’s affected her.

Sitting atop of the pool table, I want to address the situation because it seems like in the article it states that she was with other men, looks like I was jealous of that and we argued, that didn’t happen. It’s crazy to see what they put but I want to shut down these rumours, it’s spreading thanks to that toxic ass page. Pressing record on my phone, fixing my Snapback “what’s up, I don’t like to get involved in these kind of scenarios or politics to do with things that go on, my life or whatever but I don’t. It’s come up on that wack ass blog TMZ a video of me and my wife, lies are being told. We were talking and she did hit my arm or whatever, but it was playful, she was a little tipsy whatever. But it’s all lies, we are good in our marriage. My daughter is just better, and we don’t need to see that kind of shit, or those rumours being said, we come to Vegas to have fun. Our marriage is fine, we are good. God bless that my daughter is good so yeah, I just want to address that we are fine and that my wife isn’t the vicious person y’all making her out to be, I was fully aware she was speaking to men so there was no issues or arguments about that” shaking my head “we good over here” stopping the recording and adding it onto Instagram, adding a caption ‘y’all need to leave me and mines, I don’t fuck with the shit y’all be saying’ pressing send on the post, I will protect my wife on god, I will fuck up anyone for her, that’s my girl. Now I need to find that wife of mine, I want to call her but then I don’t think she will pick up because of my name being shown, if I don’t find her I’m gonna be panicking. I am worried for her, she is drinking and smoking so much too, like smoking excessively. I need to do this, I need to control my mouth and be there for her, she needs me, and I wasn’t even seeing it.

I put on a shirt and made my way down to reception, I need to know where my wife is and they will know, obviously they will. They see everything and they knew she was here earlier, I huffed out making my way to the reception. The lady looked at me and she was going to say hi, but I just cut her off “my wife, Rihanna? Where is she?” I sound abrupt but I am not the mood for all the nice talk, I just need to see my wife and see how she is “I can show you” why is it everyone knows where she is, is my wife making that much of an issue, this is concerning to know actually “right this way sir” walking behind her, she seems so kind about it but I am wondering if Robyn is causing a scene “is everything ok?” I have to ask; I am nervous. Robyn is so sly and is running off constantly, she isn’t just nobody either “not at all, just she was getting harassed by a barrage of people and we had to bring in extra security but please, it’s not bother” oh god, I am nervous now. Walking into the casino I can see where she is, the group is gathered and it’s not a show. I just need to not kick off either, I get very protective of my wife too “that way sir” she gestured, nodding my head walking off towards the crowd. She is on the slots machine and is being stared at by people, I dislike that because she doesn’t need all eyes on her either. Looking around and seeing phones out “watch out!” I spat, people started to move to the side and then recording me “don’t push sir” I will knock this nigga out, he better let me through right now before I cause a scene in this place, I do not care for anyone “let him though, that’s Chris” another security guy came forward, he let an oh “sorry” he let me through, nodding my head walking by him. Robyn clapped her hands together “I won again” Robyn looked at me, she is wearing my snapback “I can see” moving the snapback back a little, kissing her forehead “I can see you are winning, as you do” pulling the snapback down, looking around us, there is so many cameras around us, they have literally blocked off the whole section because of Robyn, she really doesn’t care, she is staying here and having fun “what you doing” Robyn is searching my pockets, then she dug her hand in my pocket “these” she grabbed my cigarettes ���ok” I mumbled, my phone started ringing in my pocket “you good yeah?” I asked, Robyn nodded her head smiling at me. Looking down at my phone, Robyn wrapped her arm around my torso “what’s up?” I asked, it’s Mel “she is in the casino, they are tagging her on Insta” Mel is spying from afar “yeah I am here with her now, thanks. I will update soon” I don’t know what to do, there is so many people here. So many prying eyes too.

Robyn is playing Crabs, I say play she is trying her best and the whole crowd is cheering but I am so protective of her, I am just thinking on what to do. She hasn’t said much to me at all “I done good?” Robyn asked, nodding my head “always” nuzzling the top of her head, licking my lips looking around. I just hate this, it’s so compact like everyone is just here and I feel judged. I feel our marriage is being judged; I hate this. I want this to just stop but I can’t make it stop, I need to take action. I am so protective of Robyn, I feel like she is vulnerable, and I didn’t see it at first but I do now, she is so vulnerable “Rihanna, you good at playing Crabs” someone shouted, I smiled looking over at the person “I am good at a lot” Robyn said, her voice is husky as hell, all that smoking is getting to her “what that mouth do?” my eyebrows knitted together, looking at whoever said that “ask my husband, I just sucked him off in the penthouse suite” I had to do a doubletake at Robyn, the whole crowd just busted out laughing “don’t be speaking on my mouth nigga, go ask ya father” Robyn added “don’t come for me nigga, don’t do it!” everyone cheered, Robyn is being called volatile and she is being recorded shouting this, I just feel stuck on what to do “shall we go to the suite?” I said in her ear “you can get me a blunt, make me one” she turned to me, taking in a deep breath and then sighed out.

Robyn turned away from the Crabs table with the blunt in hand and her cocktail “I want to go now” when she moved the whole crowd moved with her “where you going?” moving back from the Crabs table “let’s go to the club” licking my top lip “erm” I paused, I don’t even know what to say. Nodding my head and leaning down to Robyn hugging her “how about we go to the suite, you can do your hair and stuff. Look all cute for the club” pressing a kiss to her cheek moving back, Robyn nodded her head too “you right, ok let’s go then” following behind Robyn, we can finally go to the bedroom and just talk, I don’t know how to even bring the questions up about everything. I caught some arm that reached forward trying to grab Robyn’ shoulder “the hell” pushing it away, the security is rushing us out and I just moved to the side of Robyn. She is so calm about everything; she doesn’t even care that we are getting mobbed. She doesn’t even know what is being said about her, I am here trying to save her. I just want to protect my girl, she is going through a lot and I want her to be happy, I think I haven’t helped with her at all. I am so bad, I am a bad husband to her, but she needs me to be there for her, I can only love her.

We got to the bedroom and Robyn went straight to the room, she wants to get dressed for the club. The club I don’t really want to go too, I don’t even know where to start at all. Answering the call from Mel, she has been so supportive right now. She has been ringing to check “hey” I answered “just thought I would ask how you are? You seem very nervous about this; you seem a little scared. Robyn is just closed off Chris, don’t mind her. She will break that mask; I just know her” she is so confident “can you come?” I don’t know “no, you need to be the one to do it. She do what you need to do, anyways. I got Rylee actually, she is doing so well. I am so glad to see her in high spirits” I miss her so much “thanks for checking on me, I just feel so stuck. Robyn hasn’t really let go of Rihanna; I can tell. I will go upstairs and see to her, thanks” disconnecting the call, I appreciate Mel for this. I understand what she means by she wants me to do it but I just feel like she would do a better job, I do feel bad because I know that Robyn be there for me to build me up so can’t I do this for her, how useless am I to even think someone else should do this. I don’t mean it in a bad way but it’s hard, I don’t know how to approach the situation.

Walking into the room and all I can hear is Robyn’ phone going off, like it’s been none stop but all she is doing is getting ready. She is really ignoring everything “you good?” I asked what I asked before, I can’t help but say the same thing “are you? I was the one that left you in bed” she sniggered, knowing full well what she did but I won’t make it an issue “erm yeah I am” the phone started ringing again, making my way to the phone, looking down and seeing Jay Brown name. Rejecting the call, picking the phone off to turn it off “I am fine, it’s been a while you know” the phone switched off, placing it down “you remember that time when my dad took us to go and watch Space Jam?” Robyn looked up at me “I do, why?” she is miserable “it just made me laugh because erm, that time I wanted to sit with you, and you ended up letting my dad sit in the middle? Like what, but the bonus of it all is that my dad paid but then you were sick after the hot dog” Robyn groaned out “oh yeah, that was bad” she nodded her head and froze “and your dad was holding my hair back, yeah. He is so sweet to me” she agreed “yeah he was, I’ve always wanted to be like him. Like my dad, just a good man. But I don’t think I actually am, I think I am not the person he bought up, you know. You said I am just like your dad, and at first I was so caught up on it thinking it was a bad thing but me and your dad have something in common. We both hurt you and let you do, and I apologise for that. I do a lot without thinking and what I did and how I have been acting was bad, I will forever be sorry for that” putting my head down “men are trash” I expected that “I don’t blame you for that Robyn” looking up at her “you say we should talk; I enjoy our talks. At night” stuffing my hands in my pockets “talking to me about me, asking me how I am, asking me what I am doing, telling me what I need to do. You have asked me how I am, how I am doing. I have my own issues and you have been there for me to console me but I haven’t thought of you, I can’t say I understand how that feels, to be abandoned by a parent” Robyn doesn’t like it “I don’t want to hear it” she got up from the seat “but I do, I am not Monica where I will say you know what your dad should be like, I want to hear you Robyn. What happened to Rylee was never your fault, I know these words won’t heal you, but it wasn’t” she stared at me “Rylee needs you” I said in a whisper “the same girl that sleeps only when you sing to her, I bet she is wondering where her mommy is, you know she is because her eyes light up seeing you, she needs you more then me Robyn, I know that. Rylee adores you” Robyn put her head down, she was quick to run to the bathroom, maybe I can keep pushing her to break and she will talk to me.

[particularemu]

King of Hearts | A Hwang Hyunjin Scenario

Request: “I love your works! And I wanted to ask you and my top two other writers (and more if you can rally that many) @and  @Maaaaaatryoshka0325 to maybe make a scenario with a member being in a gang and they protect the reader and get hurt? Lots of aftercare! But here’s the catch: you all write it separately, I’m curious to see how people handle the scenario differently! Maybe even do other members each?! Whatever you guys can decide if you’re up for it! Fighting! 😃” 

Warnings: Mentions violence, guns, someone getting shot, gambling.

Word Count: 5813 

Other Members: Bang Chan: @thecarat-top​ 

Lee Minho: @maaaaaatryoshka0325​ 

Seo Changbin: @backhugsforhyunjin​ 

Lee Felix: @honeyfelix​ 

Kim Seungmin: @backhugsforhyunjin​ 

Yang Jeongin: @lixiescheesestick​ 

Author’s Note: I don’t know how to play poker, but I tried to learn for this fic. Idk if I got the details wrong, but if I did whoops I apologize. 

Read my bby @jisungsjheekies‘s fic: Eerie Night

“Hey, you ready?” Hyunjin slowly opened the door, a bright smile taking over his features when he saw you in your dress. “Wow… You look amazing.” He closed the distance between you two, placing his hands on your waist as you glanced at yourself in the body-length mirror. 

It felt a bit awkward being in such a fancy gown, but you enjoyed getting all dressed up for tonight. 

Anyone off the streets would think you were going to a ball or a fancy business party. 

No… You weren’t going anywhere like that. You and Hyunjin were headed to The Black Spade — one of the biggest, baddest casinos in the upper west side of the city. The casino was run by the Young Bastards — an oddly successful group of 20-year-old somethings who’ve crossed the line with Stray Kids. 

Originally Hyunjin was the only one who was supposed to go, but an incident at The Black Spade last month put himself at risk.

See... a man who plays the game of Poker has a 40% chance of winning. A man who plays Poker and wins 100% of the time? That’ll alert every gang member watching the floor. Unfortunately, this happened to your boyfriend, so heading back to rob the owner of The Black Spade, was nearly impossible, unless he could provide a distraction. 

So here you were, a distraction indeed, dressed in a tight, sparkly dress, ready to help your boyfriend win several poker games. 

Hwang Hyunjin was quite the anomaly. The man was beautiful and charismatic, but he was also sensitive. People are quick to trust him. Little would they know that Hyunjin was the biggest high-stakes gambler the Stray Kids Gang had to offer. 

The man has won millions of dollars against casinos run by rival gangs. Not only does he play the game — he wins every single time. Hyunjin doesn’t win out of talent — no he’s gotten really good at sleight of hand throughout the years, so he has several tricks up his sleeve. 

Usually, Hyunjin can get away with playing a game and leaving the casino, but last week someone taunted him into staying for three games. To keep from losing any money, Hyunjin had to win all three. He left just before a bunch of gang members came to take him to the leader of the Young Bastards. 

The leader of Stray Kids, Bang Chan, wanted to get them back. The best and least violent way to destroy a gang? Rob them blind. The easiest way to do that would be sending Hyunjin to The Black Spade once more, but Chan couldn’t risk losing one of his best members. Besides… Hyunjin was practically family. 

Chan originally asked if you’d be interested in learning to cheat at Poker, so you could go in Hyunjin’s place, but your boyfriend wouldn’t allow you to go alone. So the three of you compromised. You’d go with Hyunjin and disguise his sleight of hand so the gang members wouldn’t be tipped off. 

It took weeks of learning crazy tricks for you to effectively cheat at a game of Poker. It took another week to get used to doing sleight of hand with Hyunjin handing you the cards down his sleeve. Eventually, the two of you were like clockwork. He’d slip a card down his sleeve and go hold your hand. You’d take the card as it slid into your hand, and tuck it in your garter. One tap meant swap the card. Two taps meant you needed to hand the hidden card back to Hyunjin. Codeword: Dinner. If shit went south, and people started to notice you cheating, you guys planned to bail with the simple phrase, “Babe, I’m getting hungry. We should go to dinner.” 

“Are you ready?” Hyunjin gently kissed your cheek. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” 

“I want to.” Your hand rested on his cheek as you guided his head to rest on yours. “I’m glad you’re going with me.” 

“There’s no way I’d let you go there by yourself.” Hyunjin kissed your forehead. “Do you have your knife?”

“Yeah.” You lifted your dress, showing off the holster strapped to your upper thigh, a knife securely strapped in. 

“Don’t be afraid to use that if someone gets close to you.” Hyunjin’s arm snaked around your waist. “Don’t question it, just point and stab.” 

You giggled at Hyunjin’s choice of words. “Alright. Let’s go.” 

Hyunjin led you outside to a fancy-looking Limousine.  He opened the door and gestured inside, allowing you to slide in. Your eyes widened at the amazing interior. The Limo was fully equipped with neon lights, velvet seats, bottles of champagne, crystal glasses, and even a television. 

“Okay, this is cool.” You beamed as Hyunjin slid next to you. 

“Well, I figured since I’m asking my girlfriend to risk her life for me, we’d travel in style.” He giggled when you lightly smacked his shoulder. 

“You’re so cheesy.” You slid closer to him and leaned your head against his chest, smiling when he slung his arm over your shoulders. “If we were here under different circumstances I’d say we should try fucking in here.” 

“Please don’t.” You could hear Felix’s voice from behind the partition. 

Lee Felix was the best getaway driver in the city. It was comforting to know you had someone so talented behind the wheel, but you couldn’t help but wonder if it’s possible to lose a tail in a limo.

“I said under different circumstances Lix.” You chuckled. “If you’re going to eavesdrop, you might as well listen.” 

“I couldn’t risk it.” Felix laughed. “We all know you guys go at it like rabbits.” 

Your face flushed as you sunk back in Hyunjin’s side, ego officially defeated at Felix’s words. “Who heard?”

“You guys are about as subtle as an air horn.” Felix giggled. “Like seriously? We all know you’re going to fuck when you ask Hyunjin to come open a jar of pickles.” 

Hyunjin’s cheeks flushed slightly as he laughed with Felix, fully enjoying how you pressed your face into his neck in embarrassment. “Come on Lix, that’s enough. You’re embarrassing her.”

“Well, we’re here, so you don’t have to deal with my shit anymore.” Felix parked the limo in front of the casino. 

Your heart dropped into your stomach, fear suddenly taking over as you stepped out into the night, flashing lights reminding you of the task at hand. Your hands darted to Hyunjin’s arm, squeezing tightly when he stepped out of the limo. 

“Hey,” Hyunjin whispered, lips brushing against the shell of your ear as he tried to comfort you. “I won’t think any less of you if you call this off now.” 

You turned to him, wrapping your arms around his neck to pull him closer. “How dangerous is this?”

Hyunjin sighed and pulled you flush against his body. “Very.” He paused, trying to find the right words. “There’s a small chance that I could get shot as soon as we walk in.” 

Your blood ran cold, hands tightening around him as panic bubbled in your chest. “Let’s go in before I can’t.” 

“Baby we don’t have to.” His hand rubbed your back, hoping to soothe you. 

“No, let’s go.” You let go of Hyunjin and walked straight into the casino, pausing when you reached the entryway. 

The Black Spade was enormous. The entire casino was filled with various slot machines, card tables, and many other games. A giant chandelier hung from the ceiling, each shard of glass glistening under the light. You weren’t expecting this to be such a big place. 

Hyunjin rushed to your side, grabbing your hand and pulling you close to him. “Don’t you dare do that again.” He sighed in relief. “You scared the hell out of me.” 

Sure enough, as soon as a man saw Hyunjin, he had his hand on his earpiece, talking to, who you assumed was, the leader of the Young Bastards. Not long after the man stopped talking, another man popped out. 

“If it isn’t the infamous Hwang Hyunjin.” He held his hand out to Hyunjin, smiling when your boyfriend shook his hand. “I heard about your three big wins last month, and I’m curious to see if it’ll happen again.” 

There was something about the man that made you nervous. He appeared nice, but you had a bad feeling that he was dangerous. 

“I doubt it.” Hyunjin chuckled. “I still can’t believe that happened! I got lucky.” 

“Luck you say?” The man smirked, an evil twinge in his eye. “I believe you mean skill. I must watch you play a poker game, Mr. Hwang.”

Hyunjin shook his head, pulling you closer to his body. “I actually came here with my girl to play the slot machines. I haven’t played Poker since last month. I’m afraid I’ll be rusty.”

The man shook his head. “That’s too bad. You must play a game with me before you leave. If you can’t find me on the floor, tell any of the workers you’re looking for Damien.”  

So Damien was his name. Damien gave you a curt nod and shook Hyunjin’s hand once more before departing. Once he was a safe distance away you squeezed Hyunjin’s hand. “I need to use the restroom. Can we please find one?”

Hyunjin nodded, a look of concern replacing his features as he led you to the ladies room. You ran into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. God, you needed to replace that look of pure panic or you were going to tip off the whole club. You smacked your cheek a couple times to get your shit together, before heading back out to your boyfriend. 

Hyunjin was leaning against the wall when you stepped out. “Did you do that thing you do when you’re scared shitless? You know… where you smack your face?”

Your eyes widened as you slipped your hand in his. “How the fuck did you know?” 

“I’ve always known. Your cheeks are super red dingus.” He giggled when you shoved his side. 

You and Hyunjin headed to the banker. “I need 16 million in chips please.” He paused. “Please leave out $100 in coins.” 

“Of course sir.” The banker handed Hyunjin a bag full of chips, then slid a small stack of quarters across the counter. 

“Thank you, sir.” Hyunjin nodded at the man, grabbing the chips and leading you over to the slot machines. 

“Aren’t we supposed to play poker?” You asked. 

“Yeah, but I told him I’d be playing the slot machines with you.” He kissed you on the cheek and gestured for you to sit down. “Here.” Hyunjin handed you a handful of coins. “Why don’t you play a few rounds.”   

“How do you play?” You frowned, staring at the money in your hands. 

Hyunjin couldn’t help but laugh. You were so innocent. “Baby, you just place the coin in the slot machine and pull the lever.” 

Hyunjin sat down in a chair next to you and threw a coin in the machine. He pulled the lever, only to see a bell, a seven, and cherries — a losing combination. 

“Why don’t you try?” He smiled at you as you slipped a coin into the machine and pulled the lever. 

Damn. You had two sevens and a bell. 

“Who was that?” You asked about the strange man from earlier. 

“Damien? He’s the leader of the Young Bastards.” Hyunjin chuckled. “He didn’t pick a very good name for his gang.” 

“Would he hurt us?” Your voice got small as you pulled the slot machine again. 

Hyunjin paused to look at you. “I won’t let him hurt us.” 

“Hyunjin,” You paused, frustration and fear getting the better of you. “You can’t promise shit like that.”

“Hey.” Hyunjin shoved your shoulder and giggled to try and lift your spirits. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course, but-” 

“Then trust me when I say that I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe.” Hyunjin’s eyes bore into yours, making you feel butterflies in your stomach.

“Now pull the lever and win us some big money.” He chuckled. 

You giggled and did what Hyunjin said, sighing when you got another losing combination. 

You and Hyunjin played the slot machines, chatting about this and that for a while before you started to see a crowd form at the Poker tables. You heard someone cry out in anguish and several people in the crowd cheer. 

“Hyunjin what’s going on?” You asked, suddenly feeling nervous. 

“People gather around when there’s a high-stakes Poker game going on.” He pursed his lips. “It might be time for us to make an entrance.”

You gulped, feeling a lump in your throat as you grabbed Hyunjin’s hand. 

“Do you think you can do this?” He pulled you closer. “If you look terrified, they’re going to know something’s up. So if you can’t do this—” 

“I can do it.” You cut him off. “Let’s go.” 

You took a deep breath as Hyunjin lead you to the poker table. 

“If it isn’t Hwang Hyunjin!” Damien greeted the two of you once more. “This poor bastard just lost 10 million dollars and his wife!” Damien pointed to a middle-aged man who was sobbing on the floor. “What do you say, Hwang? Do you want to try your hand at beating me?”

Hyunjin pursed his lips. 

This was clearly going to be a game of wits. It was obvious Damien was cheating. Hyunjin could tell by the cards sprawled on the table. One deck of cards doesn’t have two Queen of Spades. He had to be careful. It wasn’t just his life on the line, but yours as well. 

“You’re on.” He smirked, handing the chips to the dealer to check for authenticity. “Come here baby.” 

Oh my god it was happening! 

You took your place beside Hyunjin, the two of you sharing a look before the game started. Hyunjin turned his head, making it look like he was kissing your forehead, but he whispered, “Say the word and we’re gone.” 

Right the code word. 

“Everyone ready?” Once the dealer got the okay from everyone, he shuffled the cards and dealt out two cards to everyone at the table. Hyunjin was positioned in the big blind position, which means he had to put down double of what Damien decided to bet. 

“How much?” The dealer asked. 

“6 million,” Damien smirked as half the table picked up and left, opting to keep their chips in their pockets. 

You couldn’t help but gasp. You weren’t used to throwing that kind of money down on anything. To see Hyunjin put forth 12 million dollars in chips made your stomach turn. 

The rest of the table put forth their bets, leaving nearly 50 million dollars in the middle of the table. Your face paled at the massive pile of chips. 

If Hyunjin lost, not only would he lose a ton of money for Stray Kids, but there was a chance you’d lose your life. 

You tilted your head, looking to see what cards Hyunjin was holding in his hands. He’s got a 9 of spades and a 5 of clovers. 

Fuck… He didn’t have what he needed for a royal flush, but he could opt for a high full house. It depends on what cards appear in the flop rounds. The game was left to the cards at this point. 

The dealer revealed two more cards face-up to start the Flop betting round. There was a Queen of Clovers, a 9 of Hearts, and a Jack of Diamonds. 

“Bet.” Hyunjin called out confidently, pushing forward more chips. 

You weren’t exactly sure what was going on, but you trusted him. After all, Hyunjin has been playing poker for a long ass time. 

The dealer turned over the fourth card, starting the post turn betting round. A man paled and rested his head on the table. Either he’s bluffing or he’s truly holding a losing hand. You couldn’t help but feel bad for the poor bastard. 

“Check,” Hyunjin called, pursing his lips, despite the fact that he had a good hand.

“Bet.” Damien smirked at his hand, pushing more chips forward. 

“Fold.” The other man folded, opting to keep what little chips he had left. 

“Raise.” Hyunjin shoved another large stack of chips into the pile. 

What the fuck was happening?

Was he bluffing? 

Damien matched Hyunjin’s bet, sliding a large stack of chips into the center. The table was surrounded by people, watching to see what would happen in this high-stakes Poker game. You couldn’t help but wonder yourself. If Damien wins, does that mean you and Hyunjin can just leave? Were you expected to stay there until he won back the money?

Fuck what was going to happen?

The dealer turned over the 5th and final card. 

This was the final betting round. 

Hyunjin dipped his hand in yours, tapping his index finger on your palm twice. You quickly turned to kiss his cheek, sliding your hand up your dress to grab the card. 

“I know you can do it, baby.” 

“All in.” Hyunjin tucked one of the cards in his sleeve as he reached up to ruffle your hair. 

You grabbed his hand off your head, handing off the 9 of clovers in his hand. You lowered your hand, effectively slipping the 5 of clovers into your garter. It was a quick exchange and you were positive no one saw what happened. 

You exhaled, relief flooding your body until you saw Damien smirk from across the table. 

Did he see?

“Call.” Damien pushed forward some chips. 

Damien and Hyunjin pushed forward their cards, showing their hands. You paled as Damien flipped over a full house. Two queens and three aces. Hyunjin lost. 

He lost everything. 

Your heart dropped in your stomach as you reached for Hyunjin’s sleeve. Maybe you two could call it now? If you called it now, maybe you guys could leave with your lives. 

You looked at Hyunjin’s face to see him smirking at Damien. “You’ve got some tricks up your sleeve Damien.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” Damien shrugged. 

Hyunjin merely laughed — a dark laughter that you’ve never heard come out of his mouth. He’s usually such a high-pitched giggly man. You had to admit, this side of Hyunjin frightened you a little. 

“You play poker with one set of cards correct?” Hyunjin chuckled darkly. 

“That’s the only way to play.” Damien chuckled nervously. He blew his own cover. “Why do you ask?”

“I’m asking because I want to know why he has a Queen of Spades?” Hyunjin pointed to a man sitting across the table — his cards flipped up to show another Queen of Spades to match Damiens. 

“He must be cheating.” Damien glared at the man. “Security, take him away.” 

You gasped as a few armed men lurched forward, grabbing the man’s arms. Your fingers tightened around Hyunjin’s sleeve, alerting Hyunjin. He grabbed your hand in his and squeezed, hoping to calm you down. 

“Don’t do that.” Hyunjin chuckled as the guards paused. “He’s right next to the dealer. The dealer would have noticed if he was cheating.” 

Damien threw his head back and laughed maniacally. “I own this joint. Do you really think they’re going to do anything about me cheating?”

“Babe,” you started. It was time to go. You couldn’t stand being there any longer. “I’m getting hungry. Should we go to dinner?”

“No.” 

Your blood ran cold. That was your code. That was the word. You wanted to go and Hyunjin wouldn't let you. 

“We’re playing again, and this time I’m betting with 15 million.” Hyunjin smirked as the dealer handed him 15 million in chips. “If I lose, you get all of my money.” 

“If I lose?” Damien smirked. 

“You give me back what I lost during the last round, and you let us go.” Hyunjin thrust his hand forward. “Sound good?”

“You have a deal.” Damien shook Hyunjin’s hand and sat back at the table. 

The game was purely between Hyunjin and Damien. Everyone else had left. 

The dealer shuffled the cards and handed out two cards each. Hyunjin had two queens. 

So far it was looking good. You had a King stashed in your garter. All he needed was an Ace, a Jack, and a 10. 

Hyunjin and Damien put in their bets, throwing all their chips in the center. 

Wait… what? He didn’t even know what cards were there? Why is he going all-in?

You couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. You could feel it. Hyunjin was being ballsy and Damien was setting up a trap.  

The dealer flipped over two cards, revealing a 10 of Spades and a Jack of hearts. 

You could do it, you could win this. Hyunjin instantly put his hand down, tapping on your palm twice. You giggled and leaned your head against his shoulder, taking the card he stuffed down his sleeve and putting it in your garter. Then you grabbed the King of Spades and…

Oh no…

The card slipped from your hands. 

Hyunjin remained still. “Got a good hand there Damien?” 

He was trying to keep him distracted. 

You thought quick, snapping off one of your acrylic nails and throwing it to the ground. 

“Oh my god, my nail just fell off.” You sighed and bent down grabbing the card and hiding it under your shoe. “I paid big money to get these done. I can’t believe it just…” You lifted your head to see a revolver pointed at your head. 

Before you knew it, Hyunjin had swiped all the chips to the ground, sending various onlookers to the floor to pick up the millions of dollars in chips. The gunman was knocked over in the chaos, giving you an opportunity to crawl under the table to hide from the mess. 

Damien just watched the chaos with a huge smile. “Leaving so soon Hwang?” 

Hyunjin cursed and grabbed your arm harshly, the bruising grip causing you to cry out in pain. You’ve never seen him so violent before. 

You could hear Damien yell, “Tell Stray Kids to watch their backs.” as Hyunjin pulled you out of the Casino. 

Hyunjin burst through the doors and pulled you along the sidewalk. 

You frantically pushed at Hyunjin’s hand. “Hyunjin let go, you’re hurting me.” 

“Shut up.” Hyunjin turned to glare at you before pulling you along the sidewalk again. 

“Should we call Lix?”

“There’s no time,” Hyunjin growled. 

He was beyond pissed. 

Once you two got far enough away from the Casino, Hyunjin released his grip on your arm. He trudged along the sidewalk, refusing to say a word, while you trailed behind him. You looked at your feet as you walked, guilt taking over your emotions. 

You weren’t stupid. You realized how big of a mess you made. Now Stray Kids would be down 27 million dollars and Hyunjin’s cover was blown. 

“I fucked up.” Your small voice stopped Hyunjin in his tracks. 

He tried — oh he tried so hard to keep his temper in check, but your huge fuck up would reflect poorly on him. “You think?” Hyunjin looked over his shoulder, frowning at you. 

“Hyunjin I’m sorry I choked.” 

“No, you didn’t just choke.” Hyunjin scoffed. “You could have killed both of us. All you had to do was hand me the card. We’ve practiced that hundreds of times. How could you fuck that up?”

“I’m sorry.” Your eyes glassed over as you took the verbal lashing Hyunjin gave you. 

“Sorry doesn’t fix what you did in there.” He turned around and started to walk again. 

“Well whatever happened to ‘say the word baby and we’ll leave?’” You mocked. “This isn’t all my fault. I said the code word. You ignored me asshole.” 

“It’s not your fault?” Hyunjin scoffed. “This is one-hundred-percent your fault. We could have won!” His voice raised with each word. 

“Don’t you think I know that?” You sobbed. “I’m sorry. I fucked up. I lost all that money.” 

“You aren’t understanding me,” Hyunjin yelled. “You could have died.” He grabbed your shoulders and shook you with each word. “You. Could. Have. Died.” 

“I know.” You collapsed to the ground and sobbed. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” You were so scared in that moment. Hyunjin wasn’t acting like himself. You messed up everything for Stray Kids. You had a gun to your head 10 minutes ago. 

Tears fell down your cheeks. “I never asked for any of this.” 

“Oh hush.” Hyunjin turned away from you. “You asked for this when you accepted this mission. You knew what this was, and yet you agreed.” 

“Well maybe I don’t want this life anymore!” You blurted out. Were these your true feelings? “If that means I have to leave you then so be it.” You had to get out of there. You stood up and turned around, leaving Hyunjin to sort out his emotions.

A heavy dose of reality hit Hyunjin when you started to walk away. “Wait, you don’t mean that do you?” 

You had to take a minute. Of course, you loved him. You loved him so much, but this life was already taking its toll on the two of you. “I don’t know.” You answered. 

Hyunjin paled. “Baby I—” 

A gunshot forced you to turn around. You watched a bullet fly through the air, lodging into Hyunjin’s shoulder, knocking him back. His head hit a stone pillar behind him, knocking him unconscious. You screamed and ducked behind a trash can, eyes focused on the amount of blood pouring out of your boyfriend’s head and shoulder. 

You heard a loud laugh as a GMC drove off, turning the corner quickly so no one could identify the license plate. 

Despite being terrified and weak, you had to get him out of there. Leaving him in the street could get him killed. You ran over to Hyunjin and slipped your arms underneath his armpits. You dragged the poor boy into an alleyway, sobbing as you pulled out your phone and dialed Chan’s number. 

Chan answered on the first ring. “Y/N? What happened?” 

“Hyunjin was shot.” You sobbed into the speaker, pressing onto Hyunjin’s shoulder wound with your unoccupied hand. 

You could hear Chan gasp on the other end. “Where are you?” 

“On the corner of 75th. We’re in an alley behind a Chinese restaurant.” You sniffled. 

“I’ll be there in 5. Press on the wound and make sure he stays awake.” Chan hung up before you could say anything else. 

Well, you’ve already fucked up. Hyunjin was out cold. 

Seeing your boyfriend so… dead looking made you cry even harder. What are you going to do? You loved the boy, despite his flaws and his questionable life decisions. He was sweet and caring. He didn’t deserve to die this way.

A truck screeched as it turned the corner. Felix hopped out of the driver’s seat and opened the bed of the truck. 

“I brought Seungmin. Let’s hurry up and get him in the truck.” Lix gasped when he saw Hyunjin’s freakishly pale skin. “He doesn’t look good.” 

Chan hopped out of the passenger's seat, helping Felix and Seungmin lift Hyunjin in the bed of the truck. You tried to hop in the back, hoping to help Hyunjin however you can. 

Felix put his hand on your shoulder. “You should sit up front with Chan. Seungmin and I will make sure he comes back to you.” He smiled sadly. 

You quickly hopped into the passenger seat, looking forward to heading back to headquarters. 

“What happened in there?” Chan asked as he started to drive home. 

“I fucked up.” You sighed. “I lost you guys 27 million dollars.” 

Chan’s eyes widened. “Wow.” 

You sniffled and started to cry once again. “I’m so sorry.” You sobbed. 

“Hey don’t worry about it.” Chan squeezed your shoulder. “I’m just happy to see the two of you alive.” Chan cringed. “Well, mostly alive.” 

You couldn’t help but tear up as you remembered the argument. “Hyunjin hates me.” 

“Hyunjin doesn’t hate you.” Chan chuckled a bit. “That man loves you more than he loves his dog. That says a lot.” 

“You didn’t hear the way he spoke to me.” You turned in your seat, rubbing your arms to soothe yourself. 

Chan sighed. “Hyunjin gets emotional sometimes. He doesn’t mean what he says when he’s fired up.” Chan paused a moment, thinking of what to ask. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” You replied. “Hyunjin is the one who’s hurt.” 

“No.” Chan cut you off before you could say anything else. “I’m not talking about physically.” He rested his hand on your shoulder. “We’re used to seeing guns and having our lives threatened. You’re just a normal girl.” Chan sighed. “You shouldn’t have to watch your boyfriend get shot.”  

“I don’t want to be a normal girl anymore.” You mumbled. “I want to do what I can to protect him.” 

“Hyunjin can protect himself.” Chan replied. “Don’t get any ideas about becoming his savior. That mentality is what gets people killed.” Chan took a deep breath. “But if you want me to show you how to use a gun, and train you to come with us on missions, I can make it happen. You’re the one who’s going to have to tell Hyunjin that it’s what you want, otherwise I’ll have to deal with his wrath.” Chan shivered.

“Hyunjin has wrath?” You chuckled. 

“Do you have eyes?” Chan laughed. “Hyunjin only has wrath when it comes to you.” He smiled. “That boy loves you.” 

You sighed. “I feel like I fucked our relationship up.” 

“Y/N he has a ring.” 

Your heart skipped a beat. “What?”

“He has a ring,” Chan repeated himself. “If he proposes, please act surprised.” 

You felt even worse now. Your boyfriend was going to propose and here you were telling him that you didn’t want to be with him anymore. 

“We’re here.” Chan pulled into the garage and put the truck in park. You could see Felix and Seungmin hop out of the truck and quickly take Hyunjin inside. 

“Hey.” Chan stopped you before you could dart out.

“Hmm?” 

“You need to think about this. Marrying him is agreeing to an unstable life. Can you live with that?” Chan questioned. 

You nodded. 

Chan pursed his lips. “Just think about it okay?” 

“I will.” You smiled and darted inside, hoping to hear good news. 

----------

Hyunjin’s brows furrowed as he came to, wondering what happened. Where was he?

He could feel a light pressure on his shoulder. Hyunjin’s eyes fluttered open as he looked around the room, hoping to figure out what happened. 

He was in the infirmary in the house… 

Suddenly pieces of the night came back to him. 

A gun, someone pointed a gun at your head. Where were you? You weren’t shot, right? 

Hyunjin shot up in bed, alerting Seungmin and the boys. “Y/N.” He called for you. 

Seungmin popped into the room. “Hey, buddy. It’s nice to see you awake.” Seungmin grabbed one of Hyunjin’s hands, squeezing lightly. 

“Where is she? Tell me where is she?” Hyunjin teared up. You can’t be dead. You can’t be… Tears rolled down his cheeks as he repeatedly called your name, hoping you were okay. Why wasn’t anyone telling him if you were okay?

“Hyunjin?” You poked your head in the room, instantly calming the poor boy. He collapsed back in the bed, sobbing as he regained bits of his memory. You rushed over to his side, slipping into the bed and holding him close. “I’m here.” You kissed his forehead and ran your fingers through his hair to soothe him. “I’m okay.” 

“I thought you were dead.” Hyunjin sniffled. “There was a gun.” 

“You saved me.” You couldn’t help but tear up. “I thought I was never going to see you again.” 

Hyunjin chuckled and nuzzled into your embrace. “I don’t die that easy.” 

----------

Taking care of Hyunjin while he was healing was no easy task. He was such a finicky boy, always asking for you to come cuddle him for various reasons. 

“But baby I’m cold.” 

“But baby, I want to hold you, it makes my arm feel better.” 

“I might have a nightmare without you.” 

Even though he was a pain in the ass, you loved taking care of him. It took him a month to get back to full health, and you couldn’t help but worry for him when his next mission popped up. 

You were wandering around the house wondering where he ran off to. Hyunjin had been a bit more distant lately. Not that he wasn’t constantly attached to your hip, but he wouldn’t talk about his worries. 

“Hyunjin?” You poked your head into the bar, seeing him sitting at a poker table staring at a deck of cards. “You okay?”

Hyunjin chuckled and threw the cards on the table. “I’m scared.” Your heart broke when he turned around, eyes tired as though he didn’t sleep a wink last night. “I shouldn't be, but I am.” 

“What do you mean you shouldn’t be scared? Hyunjin you got shot last time.” You wrapped your arms around him. “You have every right to be afraid.” 

Hyunjin sighed, covering your hands with his. “Have you ever heard stories from people who have near-death experiences?”

You leaned your head against his chest and squeezed tighter. “Yeah, I’ve heard a couple.” 

“Most people see their lives flash before their eyes.” He paused. “All I saw was you.” 

You released your hold on him so he could look you in the eyes. He looked frightened.

“I saw our first kiss, our first date, our first time together…” Hyunjin trailed off. “Then I saw what could have been the end of us… and it was all my fault.” 

Hyunjin dropped down to one knee. “I love you and I want you by my side forever.” He paused, taking your hand in his. “I know you might not want to live this kind of life, but, will you—” 

“Yes!” You blurted out. 

Hyunjin chuckled. “I didn’t ask yet.” 

“Okay.” You giggled and waited. 

“Will you —” 

“Yes.” You replied making him laugh. 

“Will—”

“Yes.” You cut him off once again. 

“Y/N please.” He laughed and pulled out a small velvet box. “Will you marry me?”

“Fuck yes.” You leaped into his arms, giggling as he lifted you up and spun you around. He slid the ring onto your left ring finger and pressed a passionate kiss to your lips. 

You held him closer, rubbing your noses together as you said “Now I don’t want you to leave on this mission. I want you to stay home with me.” 

Hyunjin giggled. “I’m not afraid anymore.” 

“Oh yeah?” You pecked him on the nose. “And why’s that?”

“I have you to come home to.” 

[sweetiejunie]

Hiraeth

—.*•—

Genre: fluff, mystery <idk rly, mainly mystery and puzzles solving>

Pairing: n/a (for now)

A/n: Got inspired by a book (the inheritance game) im reading and decided to write a new series. I guess this post is kind of like a teaser to see if people would be interested in a series like this!

—.*•—

Summary: You were mentioned in a billionaires will. But why? Who knew you would need to solve riddles and puzzles to find your answer. And the Emmerson brothers? An interesting bunch, to say the least.

You know, growing up in an orphanage isn’t as bad as they put it out in the movies. Sure, you may not have had the most glamorous of upbringings and seeing other kids get adopted while you didn’t sucks. Oh, and seeing your classmates get picked up by their parents everyday after school kinda stung. But if anyone asked, you would always say your childhood wasn’t all that bad. Your days was always filled with laughter and games. And at the very least, you had Alex by your side. She was like an older sister to you. A sister from another mister.

You had fun playing with the other children and your guardians always tired to make everything fun. The quiet game, where you compete and see who could remain the calmest while your guardian went to look for a flashlight when the electricity went out. Who could make their sweets last the longest? Game. The pillow game where you build pillow forts and huddle together to save money on heat. The floor was constantly lava. Everywhere you went it was either a game of hopscotch or tag.

And as a result, you’ve always had a fascination with games. From board games to more physically demanding games. Riddles, puzzles and even games of chance, like the weekly casino games you and your classmates would host after school — not to the knowledge of your teachers, of course.

You sat, aimlessly staring out the window. Your fingers twirling and fidgeting with the necklace. A locket. You’ve never opened it; you never figured out how to. But it was always with you. The last and only thing you had from your birth mother. Your guardian didn’t know much about her either, they found you at the door, abandoned. All she knew was that necklace.

“Y/n, can we go play outside?” A chirpy little voice dragged me back to the present. It was valerie. She was one of the newer kids to join the orphanage and being one of the oldest, you felt a bit of responsibility to help care for them.

“Of course,” you smiled back. “It’s cold outside today, you should go wear that scarf i gave you last week.”

With a little nod and giggle, the small human happily ran back to her room. Only to reappear seconds later with the woollen cloth around her.

—*•—

You had barely made it to your class on time. That that was just how you lived your life. You had the horrible habit of pushing things to the limit. Even with your grades. If sacrificing your 95 for a 90 meant you could put more hours into your part time job, you would take it in a heartbeat.

You were in the middle of a math quiz when you were summoned to the principal’s office. You were trouble, you figured. Girls like you don’t get praised. You didn’t stand out from the other students. You didn’t participate much in school activities and you definitely didn’t waste your time on extracurriculars. While they were out winning medals and trophies, you were in the park playing chess with the neighbourhood indigent.

Walking past the secretary’s desk, you couldn’t help but notice a boy sitting on one of the benches. He seemed to do not much older than you. Pink, dyed hair. He was wearing a suit, obviously tailor made for him. Looked like someone that would need security guards with him 24/7. Much too privileged to be a student at a local highschool.

“Y/n, take a seat.” Principal Langston started. His welcome far from warm, but nonetheless you listened. “I pulled you out of class today cause this was a rather urgent matter i have to attend to.”

If this was about your weekly gambling you used to pay for valarie’s new scarf — and sometimes clothes for yourself as well— you hoped he would just get on with it. But other than that, you had no idea what else could you possibly have done to earn the administrative’s attention.

“It’s alright. But what’s the matter?”

Without another word, he picked up the phone that linked straight to his secretary’s. “Hilda, you can send him in now.”

Moments later, you hear the open and in walks the mysterious male from earlier.

“Mr Emerson!” Principal Langston’s greeted him with a handshake and a smile. A smile? Principal Langston never smiled. “Thank you for you patience.” Yet, here he was grinning as if he just met the queen herself.

Two-faced swine.

Letting go of the principal’s, much too eager, grip. “Mr Langston, if you would give us some privacy.” His voice was low. Smooth and precise.

Immediately turning to face you. His eyes, blue and icy, staring straight into yours.

“But it’s my office-“

“I believe we had a deal.” The boy cut him off, raising an eyebrow.

Without another word, principal left. Never have you seen someone talk to your principal that way. And you have definitely never seen anyone chase someone away with a simple raised eyebrow. You can’t say you weren’t happy to see it, it was about time someone put him in his place. But what the boy said was... off. It didn’t seem like a deal but more of a threat?

“Good morning ms y/l/n.” His eyes lingered on yours., far too long for comfort before walking around the desk and sitting at the opposite side.

You tried not to stare — but failed. Bright pink hair. Blue piercing eyes. Both of which contrasted his black suit. How could you not.

“How do you know my name?” You demanded.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I’m choi yeonjun. And-“

“Choi?” Didn’t principal langston just call him emerson? “And I asked how you knew my name.” You resumed openly staring at the mystery boy.

“Adopted.” He answered simply. “And for now, just assume that i know everything.”

His voice would have been a lullaby if it weren’t for the words it was used for. “A guy that thinks he knows everything.” You scoffed, still staring as if it was a competition to see who would look away first.

“A girl that’s sharp-tongued.” You couldn’t help but notice how the end of his lips twitched upwards. “As i was saying,” he continued. “I’m just here to deliver a message. You have proven to be a rather difficult person to contact, ms y/l/n.”

He placed his arms on the desk, his right hand playing with the cuff link on his left wrist. “My father, Mr Harold Emerson. He passed away recently.” He look a second to study your reaction — or rather, lack there of. “Does his name ring any bells?”

“No. Should it?”

“Well,” he was the first to break the staring contest. “It appears that along with our family, and people who have worked with him for years, you have been named in his will.”

He looked to you for a reaction. Once again, you gave none — other than the confusion that was going on in your mind. You were a decently intelligent person. But right now yeonjun might as well have been speaking german to you.

“My father was a wealthy man. No one knows what exactly he has left you. But my father had requested you be present for the reading. It has been postponed for weeks.”

“Why would i be in your father’s will?” The only question you could think of.

“That’s the elephant in the room.” Yeonjun stood. “I have taken the liberty to arrange the travel plans for you.” This wasn’t an invitation it was summons. “There will be a car to pick you up tomorrow evening.”

“Wait.” You turned in your chair to face him. “Can i bring someone with me?”

“If you must.” And without another word, he walked out the door.

Choi yeonjun. Arrogant, cold. He was here for one thing and one thing only. All that was made clear from the mere ten minutes with him.

.

.

.

Let me know if you would be interested/ enjoy in a series like this!! Cause this would take a lot of planning if i were to do it 🥴

[much-obliged-timothy]

Dad Tim & Uncle Rhys Part 11

I’m stressed again so here’s another entry for this. Gearbox where is Sasha???

“God, that guy's such a douchebag,” Tim said as Rhys ended the conference call they’d been on. He looked over his shoulder. “C’mere, pal. I’ve got a snack to hold you over until lunch time.”

Phoenix got up and went over to Tim, brightening as Tim handed him a packet of fruit snacks and a juice box. Phoenix looked up curiously and Tim nodded, holding his arm out so he could help Phoenix up onto his lap.

“What else do we have to suffer through today?” Tim asked as Phoenix tore open the packet and popped a fruit snack into his mouth.

Rhys checked his schedule. “Another conference call in an hour. After that, I made sure you had time to take a lunch break and rest a bit before your next meeting.”

“Great,” Tim said with a sigh. 

“Just stay in here until the conference call. We can go over the outline of what we need,” Rhys said, pulling it up on his computer.

There was a knock on the door. Rhys glanced over.

“Come in,” he called.

A woman pushed the door open, giving them a sheepish smile as she held up a file. She was incredibly pregnant, waddling over to hand the file to Rhys.

“Here you go, sir. That should be everything, but I’ll be checking my email almost daily while I’m on maternity leave,” she said.

“Right, thank you,” Rhys said, taking the file. “Good luck, and congratulations. I’ll go through your team as much as I can. You should be enjoying time with the baby, not worrying about work. We’ll handle everything to make sure you have a smooth transition back.”

“Thank you, Mr. Strongfork,” she said gratefully. “I’m heading out now. I’ll be in touch. I left everything else with my assistant, if you need anything more.”

She left the office. Rhys set the file on his desk, then looked at Tim curiously.

“Would you ever have another kid?” he asked.

Tim’s eyes widened. “Hell no. I was with Ember from the moment she went into labor. She’s one of the toughest women I’ve ever met, and she was handling the contractions like a champ for a while. But, hell, the longer it went on, the more she screamed and told me how much she hated me and my ‘stupid, fucking non-sterilized sperm’.” He shuddered. “Thought she was going to break my hand when she was getting ready to push. Think she broke my eardrums when she did start pushing. Never again.”

He hesitated, then put a hand over Phoenix’s ear, pressing his other ear into Tim’s chest. Phoenix scowled, but popped another fruit snack and accepted that he was being taken out of this conversation.

“Plus, he would never handle it well. He wouldn’t be able to accept me giving my love to another kid. He’d feel abandoned,” Tim said. “I could never do that to Phoenix. That, and Ember made it quite clear we were never having another kid together. He would never forgive me if I had a kid with someone else.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad he’s fine and healthy. But I’m surprised she had a smooth pregnancy in the casino,” Rhys said.

“I did what I could to make sure she had proper meals. Saved up health kits for when she went into labor, just in case,” Tim said with a shrug. “One of her friends from the vice district had helped deliver her sister’s baby a few years earlier, so she acted as a midwife. I wouldn’t say it went smoothly, but it went well enough that we had a fairly healthy kid. We’re not sure exactly when Ember got pregnant, but if my guess is right, Phoenix came two weeks earlier than he should’ve. He was on the smaller side. But there were no real complications with him in his infancy.”

Phoenix was a smaller kid, but Rhys had always assumed that was due to growing up in harsh conditions. Still, he did seem healthy enough, so that was all that mattered in the end.

“No more kids for me,” Tim said, shaking his head. “I learned my lesson damn well. Always, always use a condom. I love my son, but I’m a one and done with kids.”

“I’m...surprised you and Ember stayed on good terms through that,” Rhys admitted.

“Takes two to make a baby,” Tim said with a shrug. “To be honest, she was the one who usually came onto me the times we had unprotected sex. It was on me a few times, but even she admits she started it more often. Still, both our mistake. We knew that. We stepped up to face the consequences. God, women are incredible, though. I’m such a bitch about pain. No way in hell I’d ever survive what Ember went through with childbirth.”

He uncovered Phoenix’s ears. Phoenix rubbed at them.

“Just talking about how incredible your mom is,” Tim said, ruffling his hair.

“Dad, where do babies even come from?” Phoenix said.

Rhys choked on air at the question. His eyes widened in alarm as he looked at Tim, not wanting anything to do with this conversation.

But Tim seemed calm enough about it. “Well, that’s a heavy question, pal. I don’t think you’d fully understand yet. But babies grow inside their mothers. You saw how big that lady’s stomach was? There was a baby in there, almost ready to be born. You grew inside your mom, just like I grew inside mine.”

Phoenix frowned. “But how does the baby get there? And how do they get out?”

Rhys wanted to bang his head on the desk. He regretted bringing this topic up at all.

Tim just shrugged. “That’s the tough part to explain to you. A dad helps the baby get there, but I don’t think you’d understand that part of it yet. And when the baby is ready to come into the world, the mom has to...well, push it out.”

Phoenix furrowed his brow. “I don’t get it. How?”

“Don’t worry about it right now,” Tim said, taking a fruit snack out of the packet to hold out to him. 

“Aren’t you just supposed to tell kids babies come from the stork, or something?” Rhys said.

“Why? There’s nothing wrong with him knowing,” Tim said. “Jeez, Rhys, didn’t your parents ever explain any of this to you growing up? Yea, it’s kinda awkward, but it’s not inappropriate or anything.” He leaned back and laughed a little. “Here I am talking about it. My mom would smack me upside the head if she knew I completely disregarded her safe sex talk and knocked a woman up.” But his laughter died down and he slowly looked at Phoenix.

“Tim?” Rhys said.

“I just...wish she could know about him, ya know? I think she’d really love him. We had this swing in the backyard she used to push me on when I was a kid. I think she’d like pushing him on it,” he said quietly.

“You could always tell her,” Rhys said, but he knew Tim’s family was a touchy subject.

Tim hugged Phoenix to himself. “No, I can’t. She’s better off not knowing what happened to me, even if it means she never knows about her grandson.”

“Ya mean your mom, dad?” Phoenix said. “I wanna meet her!”

Tim looked pained. “I know. I want you to meet her. But...we can’t, Phoenix. She doesn’t even know I’m alive. And I’m not...me. Not anymore. She wouldn’t recognize me. I wouldn’t want her to. It’s hard, pal. It’s really hard.”

“I could anonymously send her a picture of him?” Rhys offered.

Tim shook his head. “No. He’s so young. There’s no way he could’ve been born before I supposedly died. And even if you convinced her it’s an old picture, she’d go looking for him.” He kissed Phoenix. “I think...I think she’d go looking for him. She would think he’s all that’s left of her son now.” He sighed. “No, it’s better if she just goes on thinking I died all those years ago. Besides, I was a shitty son. No need for her to know I’m a shitty father too.”

Phoenix hit Tim in the shoulder. “Stop it, dad. You’re not shitty. I love you.”

“Language,” Tim said, but he cracked a smile. “Yea, pal, I love you too.”

“Hey boss guy, are you gonna have any kids?” Phoenix said.

Rhys rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh...someday. Maybe. I want kids.”

“Phoenix could babysit,” Tim said. At Rhys’ startled look, he laughed. “I’m kidding, Rhys, calm down. He’s not even old enough to be left by himself yet. Seriously, though. Have kids sometime soon so my kid can have a friend.”

“I was hoping…” He trailed off. Hoping what? To have kids with Sasha? They’d never even talked about it. 

And she wasn’t here now.

“Is it the girl you have a picture of on your desk?” Tim asked, nodding to it. “Waiting on her?”

“Something like that,” Rhys said, looking at the picture. “You would’ve liked her. She would’ve been incredible with Phoenix. A hell of a lot better than I am with him, at least.”

“Is she…” Tim waited.

“What? Oh, no! No, she’s just-” He tore his eyes from the photo. “I trust she’ll come back one day. Even if she doesn’t want to be with me, I don’t think she’d ever leave me wondering what happened to her forever.”

“Did you love a girl, boss guy?” Phoenix asked curiously.

“I did,” Rhys admitted. “I still do. She’s just, um, not here right now.”

“Oh. I hope she comes back soon if you like her,” Phoenix said. He frowned up at Tim. “I don’t get adults, dad. If you love your mom, why don’t you find her? And if boss guy loves this lady, why doesn’t he find her?”

“It’s not always that easy,” Tim said gently, hugging Phoenix close. “Love is hard, Phoenix. Worth it, but hard.”

“But I love you and it’s not hard!” he said.

“Well, good. I hope love is never hard for you,” Tim said, running a hand through Phoenix’s messy hair. “And I hope someday boss guy here has a kid or two of his own for you to play with. You get to have a friend, and I get to watch him try to explain where babies come from to his own kid.”

“I hate you. We were having a moment and you ruined it,” Rhys said, shooting him an exasperated look. 

“Socially stunted,” Tim reminded, grinning. “Alright, that’s enough deep talk for now. Phoenix, go read your book and finish your snack. Rhys, let’s get ready for that conference call.”

They did just that, but Rhys’ mind was too distracted to really focus. He couldn’t stop thinking about Sasha, and about the future they could have together. He saw Tim struggle through fatherhood, but he also saw the joy and love that it brought him. 

“Tim?” Rhys said, interrupting their work.

“I know, Rhys,” Tim said, glancing up at him and giving a weak smile. “I hope you get the future you dream of. I really do. Parenting is exhausting, but it’s worth it. And even if you don’t have kids someday, I hope you have your girl.”

“I...thanks,” Rhys said, looking back to the picture of Sasha. He hoped so too. He really hoped so. 

He was glad to be a part of Tim’s family. But it’d be nice to have one of his own, one day.