#oc drift

[wanderinginksplot]

Gar Cyare Chapter One

Continued adventures of Alpha-17 and fem!reader

Word Count: 4,000

Warnings: minor angst, nervous overthinking, frank conversations, discussions of Kaminoans being awful.

Next | Masterlist

---

Ranov'la (Secret)

You had always held a secret, deep-seated love for holofilms, particularly of the sappily romantic variety. In your more introspective moments, you reflected that it was probably part of your need for stories to be wrapped up with a happy ending. There was enough sadness and suffering to be found in real life - you weren’t overly fond of your entertainment having more of the same.

But, despite your love of them, you were able to recognize that holofilms had very little resemblance to real life, especially where relationships were concerned.

Holofilms would have you convinced that the galaxy was full of tests and challenges that would batter a forming relationship until it was official, but then everything would be smooth and easy. Life didn’t work that way, and you were fully aware of that fact.

Even now that you and Alpha were dating, you knew there was no guarantee that things were going to work perfectly. Well, you were dating in not so many words, since you hadn’t felt brave enough to ask him directly. Also, calling Alpha something as seemingly insignificant as your ‘boyfriend’ had felt like a gross minimization of the feelings you had for him. You were together, and that seemed like the most valid way to describe your current state.

So, no, there was no guarantee that things were going to go smoothly for you from the start. That being said, given how intensely challenging your relationship had been up to this point, you had been hoping to stave off your first fight for longer than two days. That didn’t turn out to be the case.

It had started over, of all things, being affectionate in public.

You had been eating lunch in the cafeteria, having reclaimed your table together - though it was a lot more common for ARCs or even cadets to join you now. Alpha pretended to be irritated, but you noted every time someone said something that made him give his almost smile.

When Alpha had finished eating, you were only halfway through your meal. Since he was sitting comfortably on the side of your non-dominant hand, he reached down and took it, lacing his fingers through yours.

You were thrilled by the contact - especially contact that he had initiated. Your past relationships had been fairly one-sided where most casual touching was concerned. The fact that Alpha wanted to be in contact with you made you want to melt. You adored it, even if it was just his hand clasping yours.

Except you were in the middle of the cafeteria and your hands were on the table’s surface.

You pulled your hand away by reflex, hated yourself for a moment at the hurt look on Alpha’s face, but then rallied. You had a reason for pulling away - you hadn’t just done it on a whim or in some twisted bid to get the upper hand in your relationship with Alpha. 

“Sorry, just…” you trailed ineffectually, acutely aware of the way the ARCs were watching you and Alpha. “Can we talk about this later?”

He nodded, but didn’t say anything. And for the rest of the time it took him to eat - carefully sitting away from you so that no part of him would brush up against any part of you - he stayed silent. That was the worst part, watching him pull away just when you had been making progress in your new relationship.

You honestly thought he would have left when he had finished rather than come back to your office with you, but you were still using one crutch and your movements were slower than he deemed safe. So he came with you to your office, making the slow trek and scaring away the occasional cadet. He didn’t say anything outrageous, which was probably best - the odd atmosphere meant that you wouldn’t feel comfortable berating him the way you usually did, and Alpha could get a little out of control if someone wasn’t around to remind him there were limits.

You made it to your office without a word spoken between you, which wasn’t unusual in itself. Alpha wasn’t an overly chatty person, and you were often lost in your own thoughts. The only concerning thing had been that the quiet was tense instead of comfortable.

When your door had closed behind you and Alpha had ushered you into the chair behind your desk, you stared at each other, both waiting for the other to speak first.

You decided to cut the tension. “I think we need to keep our relationship a secret.”

“Sure.”

Your eyebrows lifted in surprise, both at how easily he had agreed and that he didn’t ask any more questions. “I’ve given this a lot of thought and I-”

“You don’t need to explain it,” Alpha interrupted. “If you want us to be a secret, we’ll be a secret.”

That certainly wasn’t what you wanted to hear. Did Alpha feel that he had no choice, no autonomy in your relationship? That was a bad thing, wildly so. “Alpha, that’s not what I meant. I mean, yes, we need to keep things under wraps, but not… I just want to tell you my reasons.”

“And I trust you,” Alpha countered. That would have warmed you, but he was avoiding your eyes. “I have to get back to the ARCs. We’re finishing up their training on battle tactics today and it’s going to be a long afternoon.”

“O- okay…” you agreed slowly. How could you really argue that? If he wanted to leave, you couldn’t keep him there. Even if you did feel like this needed a lot more conversation. “I’ll see you tonight?”

“Yeah. I’ll meet you in the mess hall.”

You frowned. Even when you were just friends, Alpha almost always met you at your office. He liked to tease that he couldn’t be sure you would show up unless he was there to force you to put away your work. Something really was wrong. You couldn’t let him leave with this hanging over both of you. 

Before you could stop him, though, he was gone.

You would have followed after him, weak leg be damned, but you caught sight of the chrono on your desk. You had a contract finalization meeting with Jaiss in ten minutes, and you couldn’t miss it unless you wanted to draw out negotiations even longer than they had been. 

With a deep sigh, you put your head down on your desk. No, nothing was easy all of the time, but it would have been nice if this relationship was the exception to that rule.

---

“Did she break up with him again?” Monnk asked, breathing slightly too quickly as he briefly came up beside Drift. 

Drift could sympathize. Like all of the troopers, the ARCs were in the best possible physical condition they could possibly be. The fancy armor they were issued would protect them, but it couldn’t help them if they couldn’t lift it. The ability to run long distances and lift large amounts of weight could easily be the difference between life and death for a trooper in the field, especially when that trooper was an ARC. 

Still, Alpha had pushed them to the ends of their abilities and further. They had been doing high-level interval training for hours… and he had told them this was just their warm-up. Monnk and Drift just happened to have caught up with each other during their sprints.

Doing his best to speak without looking like he was speaking, Drift muttered, “I don’t think so? I think he would be worse than this.”

Monnk grimaced. “Maybe, but he’s definitely pissed about something.”

“We need to find him a different outlet,” Drift said, only half joking. 

“Drift!” the captain snapped. “If you have enough air to chat, I apparently need to push things a little further.”

“Sorry, sir!” Drift called the apology, pushing his pace even faster. “I was just asking Monnk if he thought I could sneak a drink of water before my next set of push-ups.” 

Alpha didn’t immediately reply, but Drift wasn’t stupid enough to look at him. Let him think about it… think a little more… 

When Alpha gave a small sigh, keeping the triumphant grin from his face was Drift’s greatest challenge, but he managed. “Fine. Men, take a short break and hydrate. But keep it in check. Don’t think you’ll be excused if you throw up when we get started again.”

With a low, untraceable murmur of gratitude, the ARCs cut off their current exercises and went to the pile of their belongings to retrieve their canteens. Drift took a large mouthful of water from his canteen, mentally congratulating himself for thinking to attach his comlink to it before the exercises started. He sent a short written message to you. He would have called you directly, but he knew you were busy. He didn’t want to risk missing you. This way, the message would be there when you had the time to read it.

“That’s enough,” Alpha commanded. “Sprints, then sit-ups, then another set of sprints. When you’re done with that, pair off for sparring. Last one without a partner gets to spar with me.”

Drift considered himself to be a good vod. Back with the Rancor Battalion, he had taken more than one fall to set up one of his brothers for success. He was willing to go through a punishment if it meant someone else didn’t have to.

But today? Drift put his full abilities toward finishing fast enough to partner with anyone other than the captain. Someone else could take this particular fall.

---

You cut the holocall with Jaiss, internally thankful once again that Nora Czajak had contacted you… and that Alpha had forced you to respond to that comm call.

Nora had taken every complaint you had about the proposed contract and followed up on it, editing and resending the contract until you could live with all of the terms. She had even been willing to negotiate some of the things you considered whims rather than necessities.

Since you had already seen and approved of the final version of the contract, there wasn't anything more you needed to discuss with Nora or Jaiss. This meeting had been little more than a formality, but a necessary one. With those details smoothed out, you were free to start working on the report again.

You tossed the datapad onto your desk with a clatter that mirrored your frustration rather than alleviating it. You had finally received permission to keep writing the report, but all you could do was worry about Alpha. Over and over, your mind played the sight of his hurt face at your rejection. 

You had to make things right and you didn't want to wait for dinner… but would you make things better or worse if you just showed up at the ARC training area? The Kaminoans had made a big deal the first time you had gone to find Alpha while he was training, but that had been a long time ago. You were a much more common sight around there now. Maybe that would help you slip part without any suspicion? 

Before you knew it, you had passed most of the afternoon like that, worrying whether it was worse to go or stay, to push your explanation or wait for Alpha to ask questions. You were frozen in a huddle of horrified confusion, a state that only grew more intense when you received a text comm from Drift.

What's up with you and the captain? He's being a pain in everyone's shebs today. We can handle it for now, but it would make life a lot more pleasant if you'd give him a little sugar tonight. Di'kut needs it worse than anyone.

You shook your head any time you thought about the message. You had received it hours after it had been sent, but well within the time the ARCs would be exercising. Perhaps it made you a coward, but that message did play into your struggle about whether to go or stay. Did Alpha need space or was he frustrated by your silence?

You were frustrated by your silence, when it came down to it. You had thought you knew Alpha, knew him better than almost anyone. But now, when you needed that knowledge the most, you felt like there was far more you didn't know about him than what you did.

The minute your chronometer displayed the time Alpha usually finished with the ARCs for the day, you sent him a message of your own:

Hey, could we meet up before dinner? 

Your stomach was twisted in knots as soon as you sent it. To your mixed relief and concern, Alpha replied almost immediately. 

I’m coming to your office now.

You nodded once, as if affirming to yourself that it was going to be fine. You and Alpha needed to talk all of this over. It was the only way this relationship stood a chance of surviving. As things stood right now, it could end before it really had a chance to begin.

Alpha must have been well on his way from the ARC training area when he answered your message, because a heavy knock sounded on the door an incredibly short amount of time after you had known to expect him. You had been nervously pacing the space in front of the door, so you answered quickly as well, and then Alpha was in your office, eying you expectantly. 

“What did you need to tell me?” he asked, not quite making eye contact with you.

“What did you need to tell me?” you countered, watching in satisfaction when Alpha’s eyes flew to meet yours. That satisfaction faded slightly when he still didn’t speak. “Alpha, if this is going to work, we have to work together. A big part of that is communication. When something is bothering you, I need you to tell me what it is or I’ll just be trying to guess what you’re thinking, and we both know how bad I am at that.”

Alpha gave a reluctant, crooked smirk at that, clearly remembering all of the times you had misunderstood his thought process or motivations about something. The smirk disappeared entirely when he began to speak. “I… don’t like that you want to hide the fact that we’re together. You’re embarrassed of me, and- I thought I would do anything to be with you, but… I guess I have conditions. Ones I didn’t know about.”

“Good!” you insisted firmly when you could speak. Alpha’s brows shot up at that, but you weren’t done. “You should have conditions like that. A lot bigger than that, actually. You get to decide the kind of relationship you want. But I would like it if you let me explain my reasons.”

You could list on one hand the times you had seen Alpha looking uncomfortable, but this was one of them. “I don’t know if I want to listen to why you don’t want anyone knowing. It’s hard enough without hearing exactly-”

“Hearing that it’s for my job?” you interrupted, not liking the train of thought he was going down. “Alpha, it has literally nothing to do with me being ashamed of you or anything like that. Stars, of course I’m not! You’re amazing and I still don’t know how I’m lucky enough to be in a relationship with you.”

You bit your lip slightly at that last part. You were pretty sure you and Alpha were in a relationship - that was what this entire conversation was about, after all - but putting it into words was a frightening experience. What if you had misunderstood something along the line and Alpha was under the impression this was more casual than that?

“Neverd’ika,” Alpha rumbled, the name partnered with the low fondness in his voice soothing you immediately. “No matter how amazing you think I am, I know you’re more than that. I’m the lucky one. Now, tell me these reasons of yours. Though I won’t promise I won’t try to talk you out of them, especially if it’s the difference between being able to do things like this in front of my di’kutla vode.”

To be honest, you were expecting a kiss with that emphatic declaration, but you almost melted when Alpha reached out to take a gentle hold of your hand, wrapping it fully in his own. If he wanted to show his affection for you in such an innocent way, how could you say no?

With effort, you forced yourself to think back over your reasons, cutting directly to the most important one: “I’d lose my position.”

Alpha clearly hadn’t been expecting that, if you were to judge by the surprised tilt of his head. He took a moment to process that, thinking it over before carefully asking, “What do you mean?”

You sighed. “You know as well as I do that the Kaminoans don’t like me. No matter what the Republic’s findings were and the whole thing about the Kaminoan senator, they still want me gone. They will do anything to send me away from here. They’re just looking for a reason. If any of them find out that we’re dating, they would report it to the Republic, force them to send me away from here.”

His hand tightening around yours, Alpha shook his head. “No, they couldn’t. No one else wants this position, remember? Czajak and Jaiss both told us that.”

“I already thought of that,” you admitted with a sad smile. “But me dating you… Even if the Republic couldn’t find anyone else to complete the report, they still would have to take me out of here. My writing would be seen as biased, influenced by knowing and being around you. I mean, it already is, but they would be more concerned about the fact that I’m with you in a romantic capacity.”

Alpha frowned again at your hasty self-edit. “I make you biased?”

“Of course you do,” you told him with a laugh, swinging your clasped hands just a bit. “How could I be around you and your brothers for this long and not be influenced by seeing you all grow, learn, and interact?”

“But bias would imply that you’re seeing us differently than you otherwise would have,” Alpha pointed out, his sharp mind turning over all of the meanings of your question, overt and subtle alike. “That makes no sense. What is the Republic seeing that I'm not?"

You shrugged. You had hoped he wouldn’t pick up on that part, but there was little avoiding it now that he had pinpointed it and asked the question. “The Republic wanted a report on you all like you were droids: specifications and abilities in a dry, thorough list. Neat, clean… soulless. Instead, they’re getting a report that shows that every trooper in this army is a person, with all of the messy things that includes. We’ve known they don’t like that.”

“You’re right,” Alpha admitted, voice heavy. “So what do you want to do? Should we stop- stop this?”

Laughing was the wrong response - you knew that even before Alpha shot a disbelieving look your way. But you couldn’t keep it in, not when he had asked something that seemed so counterintuitive to you. “I’m sorry, I just- no. No, we shouldn’t stop seeing each other. We just… We’ll have to keep it quiet. I know that hurts and I would change it if I could-”

“Would you?” Alpha asked, his dark eyes intent on your face.

“Of course,” you told him firmly, squeezing his hand to echo the decisiveness of your tone. “Alpha, I would like nothing more than to openly be together. It would mean everything to me. But it just isn’t possible. And if I have to choose between going back to Coruscant or seeing you every day and only being able to be ourselves when we’re alone, I know my choice. I’m too selfish to let you go based on that.”

Alpha didn’t reply, and a heavy pang hit your chest. For all of your determined ranting about troopers having rights and autonomy, you hadn’t given Alpha a chance to respond. There was a possibility that your offer wouldn’t be enough for him. He had set a hard limit, and it was up to him to decide if this was too close to that limit for his comfort.

With your heart rate increasing rapidly, you added, “But this choice isn’t mine alone. You have to decide whether you can live with those terms. If not, I won’t blame you.”

You were both relieved and terrified when Alpha didn’t answer immediately. He was taking the time to think over your offer - something you were glad to see even as you agonized over the possibility that his final decision would hurt.

“And you’re not embarrassed of me,” he repeated, raising an eyebrow at you. 

The shake of your head was so sudden and emphatic that something in your neck twinged unpleasantly. “Not in the slightest. I never could be.”

He nodded slowly. “Then I would still like to give this a try.”

“Yeah?” you breathed softly, unable to stop the slow grin spreading over your face.

Alpha nodded, an answering grin blooming across his face. “Yeah. But first-”

He cut himself off, but his body took up where his words had ended, slowly and gently reeling you in by the hand. He gave you time to fight against the pull toward him, but you didn’t. Instead, you went willingly enough into his arms, ending up cuddled beside his body. He was still wearing his armor, but the plastoid wasn’t piercingly cold, as it had been warmed from the inside-out. 

Alpha’s arms wrapped around you in a hug while your own reached ineffectively around his waist, stymied by his broad back. He held you for a moment before his grip tightened. He had dipped his head, murmuring into your hair. It was quiet in your office, but you struggled to hear what he was saying. Maybe the words were meant for himself rather than you.

At the end, he ducked his head even lower as he took a shaky breath, hands stroking over your back. “Don’t do that to me again, neverd’ika. I thought I had finally gotten everything I wanted, but it was… different. Wrong. I can’t- Don’t make me do that again.”

“Never, Alpha,” you reassured him, squeezing him with everything you had so he could feel your grip through the armor. “I want this just as badly as you do. Probably even more.”

“Impossible,” Alpha told you with a rumbling laugh. He pulled away just enough to slide his fingertips below the corners of your jaw, tilting your face up toward him. 

For the second time in your conversation, you expected him to kiss you, but for the second time, you had been wrong. Instead, Alpha closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to yours. You were startled, both by the unexpected gesture and by the sight of him so close, but your eyes drifted shut a moment later.

Kissing was synonymous with intimacy for you, a by-product of your upbringing in the galaxy at large. Most species kissed as a fulfillment of intimacy, attraction, love, or a thousand other feelings. No one was sure who had started the practice of kissing, especially since some species lacked lips or had other impediments that made kissing impractical. You had always vaguely felt sorry for those species, unable to imagine life without something as profound as sharing a kiss with someone you loved.

But standing there, your forehead pressed against Alpha’s as your breathing synchronized with his and his scent surrounded you, you started to alter your opinion.

---

A/N - We're back! Welcome to Gar Cyare! As I've been saying, this story is going to explore the relationship between Alpha and the reader. There will be plot eventually, but not until a little further in the story itself. Thanks for reading and please feel free to let me know what you thought!

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[muzzleroars]

Lucifer, at his Fall

Having been consumed by his own flames of adoration, Lucifer has been left a hollowed husk of ash and cinder. Until the end he maintained to his angels that God would rejoice in their rebellion against Hell, that this test was meant to purify them in fire to come out as flawless gold in the strength of their convictions. Only once he plummeted from Heaven, agonizingly devoured by his own fire, did he realize how deeply, irrevocably wrong he had been. He never believed God could hate, and now he was the subject of his unmitigated wrath with the angels he had dragged down with him. Here, in a last plea for mercy, he reaches out not to God in his perfect hatred, but to his fellow angels, that they might deliver him from such evil. Soon after, however, he would be cast down to Hell with all his followers, with only Michael coming to bind him.

[shadow0-1]

Missed me?

Commission by SiMoon

[dimorphodon-x]

Small scene from a chapter in Birds of a Flame

They’re all going to take a nap💤

[akitanerufan]

DRATCHET!!!! GIJINKA BEAM GO i really like the first one in particular... HeeHee!

NEXT WE HAVE reanimator redraws bc! (Tfp) ratchet and herbert west share the same actor and both had something to do with evil green juice. Crazy fucking coincidence that makes me crazy

A MTMTE PANEL REDRAW ANDD a something that i think shoulda happened in empire of stone tbh🙏🙏🙏

CYWHIRLGATE GIJINKAAA🔥🔥🔥

AND FINALLY UHH cywhirlgate for my gfs birthday anddd MY OC AT SWERVES!!! thats all BAII

[avoidghost]

I always forget to post doodles here 😔

[le-poofe]

Nothing says “Happy Valentine’s Day” quite like swimming lessons ❤️🩵 🫧

You guys also get the soft launch of Lir’s new design! I have a stronger grasp on her character now, so hopefully you’ll see more of her this year

[murkshade]

[rondoel]

Okay so since I finished the first chapter I can share these development sketches of my babies :D

As you can see that was a really long road to get them just right (I spent my whole summer on that) but I didn't give up at any point and kept trying and now I'm super happy with the final looks <3

(first chapter here for those who haven't had the chance to read yet :3)

[wanderinginksplot]

Captain Drift

Drift is an ARC trooper assigned to the 364th Battalion. He is in charge of the infamously brutal Krayt Company (designated with a rust-red paint pattern). While ARC troopers aren’t technically assigned to any specific group, Drift’s inquisitive and mischievous attitude means that most commanding officers are more than happy to keep him away from their men. 

Gar Cabur - fem!reader - 94k words. You are a Republic administrator, assigned to write a report on the clone army. You didn’t expect to find a planet full of flirty cadets. Alpha decides to help you with the problem. (Drift’s introduction)

Alpha + “What have you done now?” - no reader character - 3.1k words. A pre-Attack of the Clones one-shot featuring Delta Squad, Sergeant Kal Skirata, and my ARC OC Drift (all appropriately younger).

Drift + “Is this how you flirt with everyone?” - gn!reader - 4.2k words. An overworked Armory employee dreads a few parts of the job, but dealing with Drift is a big one.

[robokisser2000]

switchblade<3 baby pics 2

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 21

PREVIOUS

“What made you think taking on a mafia hitman was a good idea?” Andrew asks as he and FF were positioning themselves the best the could for an ambush on Romero.

Since, they APPARENTLY had time to talk.

Romero had gotten the text Andrew had sent him and INSTEAD of coming out right away to progress the whole SCHEME to kidnap and murder Andrew’s Junkie like any sensible goon Romero went to the BAR. Romero went to the Bar to get him and Jackson a round of CELEBRATORY drinks. Romero is still there at the bar waiting to be served by an INCREDIBLY nervous Roland if the number of exclamation marks and puking emojis is to be believed.

What the FUCK is there to celebrate?

These two idiots want to kidnap NEIL and so far the only thing Romero knows (thinks) that they’ve caught are two people that Neil would come for but even in Andrew’s text he’d been clear that he needed help getting ‘The boyfriend and the new friend’ to talk let alone getting them to call ‘The Wesninski Brat’ out. Andrew had hated typing the name in reference to Neil but it was the only thing the two ever referred to him as in their chats.

Is it some insane mental game that Romero thought he and Jackson were going to play on Andrew and Smith? Toasting to their torture so they’d give up Neil? Who knows.

He realizes that FF hasn’t answered him, his eyes focused on the door when Andrew’s thoughts had drifted. A reliable guy, steady in a pinch, and focused like most the others weren’t.

(Andrew does not know that FF is thinking about how one would go about becoming a Mafia Hitman. What is that career path like? Do they show up at job fairs? Do you get a job as a short order cook at a business that acts as a front and see to much but you’re also the only one that knows the secret spaghetti recipe the boss likes so you have to sign yourself to the family? Are you out doing your own freelance crime and someone higher up sees your work one day and literally head hunts you? Is it like in Saw where you survive an ordeal and then-)

“Smith?” Andrew draws FF’s attention away from the door.

“I didn’t think it was a good idea at any point.” FF says and Andrew is surprised by the admission and is more surprised by the twist of FF’s lips into a frown, “I just did what I thought I needed to do.” He adds.

(Andrew does not know that the twist of FF’s lips has more to do with the fact that he is realizing that Romero likely STILL has not washed his hands. Romero hasn’t washed his hands and he is going to hand Jackson a DRINK with those hands. Ugh. Honestly a contract killer AND someone who doesn’t wash his hands? Who RAISED him? What does his grandma think of this? FF hopes she’s disappointed in him.)

“You thought you needed to lure a hitman into an alley?” Andrew asks because the plan is stupid even if so far it has worked out for FF. The fact that Romero hadn’t just come out when he sent Jackson the signal is only due to FF’s good luck and their stupidity.

“I didn’t have a lot of time to think up anything more than the first plan I thought of. I saw him looking at Nicky on the dance floor.” FF says with another twist of his lips as he self-consciously rubbed at his cheek. It’s never fun to have someone who has time to pick apart a plan that you barely had time to form. Andrew can understand the irritation and is glad that FF isn’t lashing out at him for it.

(Andrew does not know that FF is not irritated he is just remembering that he had held up his broken toilet bowl phone to his face to pretend call Captain Neil. He’s contemplating asking if Andrew maybe possibly has a wet wipe? Actually the murder van probably has bleach to clean up evidence, maybe he can just dip his face in there for like a minute.)

“Don’t use a plan where you martyr yourself. I already have to deal with Neil’s bullshit tendencies.” Andrew says instead of thanking him. “You should have just called me.” He says.

FF just holds up his phone, “Dropped into a club toilet. Completely unusable.” He says and yeah that makes sense. FF would have probably just texted Andrew but coming out and seeing a hitman going after Nicky probably made it impossible for the freshman to go get help without drawing all the attention to himself first if he wanted to make sure Nicky stayed safe.

Still.

“You dropped it into a toilet? You haven’t even had anything tonight.” He says because that clumsiness is not something he expects from FF.

“You try taking a pee next to someone on the FBI’s most wanted list and see how dry your palms remain when he’s talking about grabbing one of Captain Neil’s friends to lure him out.” He says with a brow raised.

That’s fair.

He figures that Romero hadn’t even noticed FF standing there. FF was incredibly good at just making himself unnoticeable (to Andrew’s occasional great annoyance and to Kevin’s great desire to study him for Exy related purposes).

“You recognized him?” He asks.

FF’s gaze slides to him, “I looked up a lot about the Foxes after I signed.” FF answers before his gaze slides back to the door. Roland had just texted Andrew that he’s getting Romero’s drinks ready (Two bud lites. Those are the celebratory drinks he waited for?? Embarrassing.) “I really looked up to Captain Neil. So, I read a lot more about him than anyone else.” FF admits but the fact that FF looked up to Neil was not in any way shape or form a secret.

FF was the only one who was ALWAYS paying attention to whatever Neil was saying and never argued with it. Even Andrew tended to just get lost in the sound of Neil’s voice when he’s going over Exy plays and not actually listen to the plan. FF’s eyes were always right on Neil and his actions on the court showed that he had been paying attention and knew what he was doing. Kevin also listened but he tended to fight Neil on the finer details of plays, strategy or anything else. FF was the one who would just nod and do his part in whatever possible play Neil had broken down for them.

FF was also categorically incapable of referring to Neil as anything other than Captain Neil.

Neil had bristled early on at it. He had thought it was a mocking title, something FF was saying to rile him up because that’s what Freshman Foxes did. That’s what Freshman Foxes always do. FF slid into the team without a whisper of rebellion and it hadn’t taken long to realize that FF was using the title with sincerity even if his monotone did not perfectly convey that.

It’d been that sincerity and that ease that had FF be the only option he’d considered when Bee said he should consider expanding his friend pool.

So if FF looked a little deeper into Neil’s past and sees Neil’s part in it as something to respect, something to admire?

Well, he personally thought he always had great taste in people. (He ignores the voice in his head that sounds like Nicky complaining about Kevin still not knowing German despite it being the family language.)

“You sure you don’t want one of my knives or the knife Jackson had?” It was pretty big and Andrew didn’t think it would work well with his general style but maybe FF could use it somehow. He was uneasy that FF was going into this fight unarmed. FF still hadn’t talked about how he’d taken out Jackson when the man had a knife like that.

“Do I look like Crocodile Dundee to you?” FF asks with a raised eyebrow and Andrew has to pause a moment for the movie to load into his brain before he offers an amused quirk of his own lips.

FF is a funny guy.

His phone dings. “He’s on his way.”

***

Aside from thinking about how nice the conversation he was having with his friend Andrew (his friend! His friend Andrew! God how is he going to admit to Gran that Andrew was never planning on stabbing him? She threatened to come over and square off with the ‘mean young man’ bullying him. He’s gotta go grab the makings for a secondary pie to even start to make up for this. Maybe Andrew would prefer a cobbler? He should ask his friend his preferences.) he was thinking about how he really wished they hadn’t had a cut away from Gracie Hart showing all the various forms of self defense she knows in the movie.

He had no idea if he could do a repeat performance of S.I.N.G. with Romero.

It’d be nice to have a few more things in his repertoire because all he has is striking Romero with the heel of his hand in the nose, getting grabbed from behind to throw him over his shoulder (which what if Romero is shorter than him? How will THAT work. Gracie Hart guide my steps!), and of course S.I.N.G.

If he survives this he might write a letter to the writer.

The door opens and honestly FF and Andrew agreed that surprise and speed were going to be their best weapons. The two of them go in for a full body tackle but Romero must just be a higher class goon than Jackson was since he manages to body them away. The door shuts which is mostly what they wanted anyways. Romero can’t go back in and grab someone to use as a shield.

He sees Andrew pull out his knives and now FF realizes that any level of threatening Andrew had done before must have mostly been in jest or just as intimidation. When Andrew wants to stab someone it’s obvious that he’s aiming to stab them.

Romero manages to parry Andrew’s first stab with a move that FF had seen on the ‘how to handle someone coming at you with a knife’ videos. FF sees Romero go in to bash one of the Bud Lite bottles over Andrew’s head so he launches his water bottle at Romero’s hand. The bottle falls and shatters harmlessly on the ground.

He kicks Romero’s other hand since the water bottle bought him time to get close. “You fucking brat!” Romero hisses.

He sees Romero reaching for something at the same time Andrew is going in for the second round of stabbing. Romero dodges out of the way but FF can see what might actually for real be an entire gun concealed in his jacket.

He can see Romero going for it. Sees the same smile on his face he’d seen inside as his hand wraps around the handle.

FF doesn’t think.

FF doesn’t think because if he does he’ll freeze.

So FF acts.

“Gun!” He yells and runs full force tackling Romero as hard as he can but unfortunately he tackles Romero into Andrew.

The three of them grapple on the ground. It’s hard to keep track of what limb is who’s and he’s pretty sure he’s accidentally hit Andrew a few times instead of Romero but he’s also pretty sure that Andrew punched him in the stomach so he thinks they’re equal. Finally FF gets a hand on the gun that Romero had been trying to get the safety off of and he knocks it out of Romero’s hand. “You kids will-“

Romero doesn’t get to say anything else because Andrew manages to land a punch right to his jaw that has Romero go limp under the two of them. They look at one another and Andrew manages to pull the handcuffs they’d purloined out of the Van while they were waiting off of the belt loop they were hooked onto and gets them around Romero’s wrists.

They stare down at the second unconscious man on the FBI’s most wanted list in the alley.

Then they roll off of him and onto their backs. Both of them wheezing from a combination of exertion, adrenaline, and (at least in FF’s case) a fair amount of pain (Christ Andrew packs a PUNCH his stomach is already sensitive. It’s a miracle that punch hadn’t made him puke.)

“That was…so stupid.” Andrew pants.

“Yeah probably.” FF admits.

They lay there for about a minute and FF thinks that maybe someone will need to carry him because his stomach is KILLING HIM with all this.

“Alright let’s-“

Andrew is sitting up and looking at him when he stops talking.

FF doesn’t really know what the issue is but starts to sit up, “Don’t you DARE.” Andrew hisses and FF finds himself being pushed back down to the ground to lay flat. “Don’t move Smith.” He demands and is pulling his phone out of his pocket as he keeps a hand on FF’s shoulder.

FF doesn’t really understand what’s got Andrew so upset all the sudden. “Andrew, what’s-“ he tries to sit up again. Is there a third person and Andrew wants him to keep down? There’s not really cover here they should move towards the dumpster maybe?

“Smith, I told you to not move.” Andrew hisses before whoever he’s calling seems to pick up. “I need police and an ambulance. We’re at Eden’s Twilight in the back alley.” He looks to FF, “What’s your blood type?” He asks.

FF has NO idea.

“I don’t know.” He answers and Andrew makes a disgusted sound. “Andrew, what’s-“

Then he sees it.

He doesn’t quite get how he missed it before now.

“Huh.” He hears himself say.

That’s Andrew’s knife handle sticking out of his stomach.

It appears that Andrew Minyard may have stabbed him in the stomach.

“Well, that’s about what I expected.” He says and lets his head rest against the pavement.

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

NEXT

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The requests to be added to the tag list keep being spread out across a few different areas. If I missed you please just ask again in the replies I promise I just missed you.

As stated before if you’re up here and I spelled it right but you didn’t get a notification there might be something switched around in your settings that won’t let me tag you properly?

[mossspond]

EQUINOX SS22 2021

[unfreeeee]

something abstract

[haverdoodles]

sleeping at last

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self portrait

[missusruin]

dressed up folks’ ocs for October’s patreon sketch request tiers, which never actually end up being sketches ( ͡• ͜ʖ ͡• )