#other thought: must suck to be in the cold with a giant metal arm

[shalpilot]

he can take it off if he wants to

[eddiesfaerie]

Pet

Summary: You accompany the Supreme Leader to one of his meetings. Unsurprisingly, you become desperate for attention. (2.2k words) ao3 link here

Warnings: NSFW, noncon/implied noncon, f!reader, exhibitionism, memories of sex lol, thigh riding, canon typical violence, violence against reader??, Kylo Ren is not nice, choking, slapping, mentions of blood, bondage i guess (let me know if i missed anything!)

@elmidol: Kylo + “Tell them to fuck off.” okay so maybe i went off with this request... i literally couldn't help myself so i hope you enjoy!!!

The transparisteel of the throne room is always cold beneath your knees, you flinch anytime your thighs come into contact with it if you shift your position too much. It often left you with purpling bruises on your kneecaps, ones that never seem to fade anymore.

You accompany the Supreme Leader in any and every meeting he wants you in, which as of late, has been to every single one. If he asks for you, you’re there. At this point, you assume it’s just some form of punishment; because as much as you’re expected not to speak, you’re expected to stay awake and attentive.

Half the time you let your mind wander off into some fantasy. Sometimes it involves the Supreme Leader, remembering how he fucked you the night before, wondering if he’d do that thing with the Force again.

Other times it was about escaping. You were punished by him for both sorts of daydreams. Now you just try to keep your mind as blank as possible. Sometimes you almost manage to reach a meditative state if the meetings are long enough.

The air of his throne room is cold. Everyone else is dressed normally, of course. You don’t doubt that you’re the only one shivering in your own flesh. The thinnest scrap of useless silk cascades down your body, completely see-through and hides nothing of your body for anyone who dares sneak a glance in your direction.

Besides the scrap of material you think someone referred to as a dress once, the only other thing you wear is your collar and chain - a heavy, thick metal, one they definitely use on the ships and TIE fighters, you’ve concluded. It’s sturdy and basically indestructible to anyone who wasn’t Force sensitive.

The metal was branded ungraciously with anything but fancy letters or delicate swooping and curling. No, your Supreme Leader didn’t care to spoil you with niceties. Thick capital letters branded on to the front of the collar spelt out R-E-N.

Ren.

You're his. His thing, his object. Whatever he wants you to be, you became that. You belong to him. And you’ve long since accepted that. Once you stopped struggling, it became easier and at times… enjoyable.

You also think that the Supreme Leader’s become more comfortable around you as time has passed. He’s not as harsh with you anymore, not nearly as cruel as your first few weeks with him. He was nowhere near easy, or nice, or kind, or loving. He was none of that, but you were starting to like how sharp his edges were, how cold he could be.

It became a little game of yours; seeing how long it could take for you to crack him on certain nights, how long until he let you massage his shoulders, his arms, his thighs or let you suck his cock on your own accord. It’s rare but it actually works sometimes. Sometimes he lets you in.

If he’s tired enough, fucked out enough, or just had enough, he’ll let you do as you please, like a little fish cleaning up after the shark’s mess; he’ll let you have some scraps.

Sometimes, he hand feeds you the scraps. Like right now.

Your head is resting on his thigh as he sits back extremely reclined, leisurely, unbothered yet so, so bored. And his hand is on your skull, fingers scritching at your scalp.

It was intoxicating, he was intoxicating. You could fall asleep just like this -

But you can’t. The rule. The rule! You have to stay awake even though he’s visibly slacking right now, probably dozing off to some fantasy as he mindlessly scratches at your head.

You sneak a peek up in his direction only to find his eyes already on you. You nearly squeak as you look away, back at the people congregating in his throne room for whatever ‘important’ reason.

His eyes burn like suns, they welt and blister your skin and you try to clear your mind, making it a place of disinterest to him so he doesn’t feel the urge to go swimming in and around your thoughts as he so often does.

A quiet murmur resonates throughout the room, coming from no direction in particular, it’s just simply there. It’s the incoming of his voice through the Force, you know this now, you’ve become accustomed to it. It ripples towards you like tiny waves in a pond before you hear his voice clear and deep in your head.

“Come.”

His hand steadily leaves your scalp, coming to rest gently on his thigh; his way of asking you to come sit on his lap. He’s never asked this of you while in a meeting before, he never really cares to give you that much attention, fearing it'll give you an ego, make you think you're special or something.

You worry your bottom lip between your teeth, uselessly debating over something you have no say in.

Having already wasted enough of his energy on asking you politely, the Supreme Leader pulls on your chain, sending you hurling up off the ground and straight into his lap. You make an ugly noise, one of surprise and fear as you fall into him almost gracefully thanks to the tiny invisible touches of the Force along your skin.

He steadies you against him with one hand on your waist and the other pulling your chain tight, pinning your back to his wide chest. You straddle only one of his enormous thighs - bare cunt pressed flushed to the rough material of his pants - and he keeps you there, holds you still while you try to regain your breath from being moved so quickly yet so effortlessly.

You keep your eyes squeezed shut in an attempt to block out the several pairs of eyes that are taking in the scene before them, trying to tame your nerves and swallow down your shame and embarrassment. You're so visibly flustered, no doubt the Supreme Leader's getting a kick out of this.

You hear more rippling murmurs approaching you. Then a smooth leathered hand on your thigh, squeezing the flesh tight in his crushing grip.

“Eyes open, pet.”

You hesitate too long, still trying to regain your breath. That same hand on your thigh comes down hard, smacking your skin and letting the sound of slapped flesh and your wanton cry float through the room.

You try to curl towards him, to hide yourself in his broad frame but he holds you and your chain tight. His voice fills your head.

“You do as I say.”

You begin to answer him with a nod of your head but he cuts off your attempt.

“Out loud.”

You close your eyes and take in a deep, shuddering breath. Nothing could have prepared you for this unique type of degradation today. “Yes, sir.”

Only a few heads turn, no one daring to stare at you for too long. Like he had called you, you were his pet, that granted you some level of security.

The Supreme Leader makes some sort of contented sound with his throat. Whoever was speaking continues on with their speech while you finally manage to come down from such an overwhelming ordeal.

His hand stays on your thigh, tenderly massaging the flesh where he had hit you, emphasizing the sweet sting and letting it resonate throughout your body until it finds its way to your clit. The little pearl buzzes, needy for attention but you refrain from begging for mercy, for him to finish you off.

It's too easy for him to get you worked up. He must have been experimenting on you or something, like Pavlov's dogs or whatever. Anytime he touches you, even in the slightest, it sends you reeling for more, it turns you into some desperate whore, needy for whatever he would give you, whatever he deems you worthy of. Whether it was his spit or his flaccid cock in your mouth, you take it and accept it eagerly-

“Quiet.”

His sudden booming voice fills your head and sends you squeaking a silent apology back to him, your hips involuntarily jerking on his thigh. He pulls on your chain again, your back becoming flush with his chest, the length of your pussy dragging along his thigh leaving an embarrassingly sticky trail in its wake. You keen at the sensation, wondering if he was doing this to you on purpose.

“Doing what?”

You huff out a non-response, telling yourself you would roll your eyes right now if it wouldn’t get you-

“Punished.”

You audibly groan, rocking your hips onto his thigh on purpose this time. Fuck, he was so infuriating, so difficult to deal with. You’re thankful you’re just his plaything, not someone who has to deal with him professionally. He’s impossible.

You ignore the heads that turn in your direction this time and focus on the unsatisfying clench of your pussy around nothing. You know he feels it, feels the way your pussy is throbbing with its own heartbeat for him right now. He knows how desperate you are, he must…

Silence.

No response from him.

Maker, you could cry right now. He's usually so easy to rile up. So easy to frustrate, to annoy, to anger.

Yet he gave you no bruising grip on your thigh or waist, no warning for you to stop. Nothing.

His hand retreated from your thigh and now lounged on the armrest of his giant throne. His other hand doing the same. You feel the warmth radiating off of his chest leave you as he leans back against the throne. He was spreading himself out so wide and so far away from you.

You know he must still be wandering around in your mind, he has to be. There was no way he wasn’t doing this on purpose.

So you project.

You imagine all the ways he’s taken you, all the places and surfaces he’s bent you over just to relieve his tension, his anger, not caring if you came or not. You often did but it was never with any special care from him, just the pure shock and intensity of his fat cock, impaling you over and over again until you couldn’t help but cum all over him and sob from overstimulation, begging for more despite the pain, despite the blood-

The lights in the room flicker and whoever’s speaking stutters at the sudden distraction, but then continues on discussing… whatever it was they’re discussing.

You continue as well, remembering all the different way he’s punished you: for accidentally chanting his name as if in prayer when you’ve become so cock drunk and fucked out that it was the only thing that you could possibly think of.

Kylo, Kylo, Kylo.

You remember how he’s slapped you, hit you with the unforgiving and weighted metal of his lightsaber hilt. How he’s bruised you, burned you, marked you with his teeth, his lips, his weapon. You remember it all and you shamelessly rut yourself against his thigh, the building pressure in your clit making your mind blank to anything else except getting yourself off on him.

Fuck, you need him. You need him so badly, need him like the moons need their planet, like a planet needs their all devouring sun, a celestial body to rotate around or else they become meaningless, drifting off into space without a serving purpose.

Your body withers against his, your back threatening to arch off his chest if it weren’t for the death grip he’s got on your chain right now, keeping you in place like an obedient dog.

The lights continue to flicker. The muruming waves return and you scramble for what’s about to come next.

“Tell them to leave.”

His voice is steady yet it crackles with hopeful embers threatening to combust into something fiery and deadly.

What?

The lights in the room buzz loud and shine brighter than they ever have, like the stars in the sky before something magnificent happens. They shriek with strain until they burst, sending shards of glass flying throughout the room as they burn out, no doubt cutting people in the process.

A figment flies by your cheek and slivers your skin. You hiss at the contact, feeling something hot and thick roll down your cheek in its wake.

“Tell them," his voice booms, "to fuck off.”

“L-leave.” You speak, voice small, unsure and terrified. You’re not certain if anyone even heard you based on the minimal reaction you got. A few heads turn, surprised to hear the timid voice of the Supreme Leader’s pet.

Yet no one budges.

Your Supreme Leader’s hand snakes its way up to your throat, resting above your thick metal collar and crushes your windpipe in warning. You try again, this time, like he asked.

“F-fuck off.”

Someone, an idiot, dares to speak up with a voice quivering worse than your own, “S-Supreme Leader?”

“You heard her.” It’s the first time he’s spoken in hours. His voice is terrifyingly calm and sickeningly deep, you feel it resonate throughout your entire body, landing in the depths of your belly. You whimper pathetically, anticipating whatever storm is about to come.

Everyone stands, chair scraping against the floor and they file out through the giant throne room doors, letting the thick and heavy material seal you two away until your Supreme Leader is through with you.

[palaceofpassion]

Tempverse: Episode 2: Camping Time!

Here is episode 2, which I had to cut down cause going past 5k is starting to drive me insane!  Also my finger has been locking up.

Pyrrha Nikos was a lot of things, she was a champion, a S Grade Fighter, someone who always thought about doing the right thing.  Someone who believed her destiny would be to save as many as she could, even if it were to cost her life.  She was many things, and one thing that many forgot or didn’t realize, was that chiefly among everything else she was still a young woman.  Another thing very few knew was that she was an actor, a person who could put on a front when pressured by others and who could mask how she really felt.  And finally something that no one knew, because of the former reasons, was that she was a Grade A pervert.  Though really, could you blame the young woman?  As previously stated she WAS a young woman, one who was currently blossoming into her full youth, one who had urges and desires.  One who was currently in a field filled with health… strong… robust young individuals who were practically spewing out sexual pheromones.  

In fact, she had been invited to no less than 4 orgies in her past!  So yes she was a bit of a pervert, often having wild fantasies about her competition together, or them alone, or other women and men it really didn’t matter to her.  But one thing she was, something that oftentimes got her called a stiff, was someone who was devoted to the idea of destiny and love.  Despite her… growing lust, she was strong willed so much so that she really never saw the point in participating in sexually charged campaigns.  So despite the invitations she declined, albeit a small part of her HAD regretted that decision a few times.  Though when ‘accidents’ happened and said competitors ended up in quite the pickle, well she was most grateful to have stuck to her guns.  

Still to sate her urges she fantasized, which wasn’t too difficult when shower rooms were all unisex.  Despite her attempts to keep her eyes low she HAD seen quite a few individuals in their bare and well… she may have had some seriously twisted thoughts.  Like that one time, her old classmate and rival Arslan was actually the sweetest of girls!  Pyrrha wasn’t sure if she was like her or not, hiding her devious desires, or was simply naive enough to not care… but there had been times where Pyrrha had thought about her rival being pinned. The very thought of various men and women taking their turns with the gorgeous dark skinned muscular fighter had seen her through SEVERAL heated nights.  

So yes… Pyrrha Nikos was in fact a pervert… one who may or may not have had several metal piercings at various peculiar places… ones that she made SURE to keep hidden.  She was fine with being called prudish, fine with no one knowing her secrets or her desires.  It was easier that way, easier to be seen as abstinent, clean, pure.  So she made a vow to herself, never to display herself in public, to hide her dirty little secrets taking them to the grave.  She’d always been good at it, she never thought it would change.  

Yet, as she rested beneath the cold droplets of a running shower head, she found herself unable to concentrate.  Her thoughts laying back to the night before, the soft husky moans reverberating from within arms reach, or… or her own lack of inhibitions.  She could still feel the sensation of her fingers running through her soft soaking pussy, her digits roaming across the plump lips squeezing and grinding against her needy flesh.  Her new friends lusty moans still filled her ears, the wild scent of… of Jaune’s seed still clung to her nose.  Every breath was filled with a deep murky aroma.  Everytime she closed her eyes she could still envision the bag shifting as they… as they… as they plunged themselves into one another.  

She could only imagine, only DREAM about what was happening beneath those sheets, what they were doing to one another.  Pyrrha was an observant woman, always keeping an eye out for competition… always watching for an opportunity to imagine.  And… while others had ‘chosen’ to mock Jaune in his surprisingly adorable onesie… in her perverse and twisted little thoughts had chosen to take a peak downstairs.  Oh how easy it was to see, she was surprised at the lack of attention his lower region had received, perhaps the only other person to notice was the woman who had struck first?  

As thoughts of the night before continued to flutter through her thoughts, her hands began to slowly descend down her tight finely fit stomach.  Fingers, sliding between the curvature and creases of her abs roaming lower beneath her pelvis and finding themselves sinking between her drenched lips.  

Yet as her hands began to seep into her flesh, her thoughts fell back to their conversation.  Her eyes shut tightly as she bit her lip, everything coming back to her as clear as day.  

The young Nikos had never been so far away from home, even in her old school she was still within walking distance of her family house.  Even as she closed her eyes to try to lul herself into a comfortable rest she  found herself unable to.  She wondered, as her heart paced quickly within her breasts, if her new friends, oh a word she’d so adored to use, were already fast asleep.  Perhaps they were not?  Mayhaps she would be able to start a brief conversation with them.  And yet, as she willed herself to fumble around, she heard them speak.  Their voices but a soft whisper, almost drowned out by the snoring in the distance.  

The young woman’s heart began to race, the sound of the two laying just within arms reach whisked its way towards her.  “I don’t belong here…”  She stilled, her thoughts running rampant at what Jaune meant.  He was approved, he must have belonged here, right?  “I… I faked my transcripts.”  Quickly her hands wrapped around her lips forcing down the gasp that nearly escaped.  She… she shouldn’t be hearing this!  But… he DIDN’T belong here!  Her heart began to crack, she’d just made a friend, and now she would have to part.  She WOULD tell the Headmaster, even… even if she destroyed their new friendship she couldn’t let him get hurt, couldn’t let him hurt anyone else.  She knew… knew that… there was a selfish part of her that didn’t want to.  

Despite her reservations, they continued to talk, her thoughts in shambles as they came upon May’s response.  She heard them shift around, nearly drowning out May’s soft, “I’ll protect you.”  Pyrrha wondered, was that what friends did?  Did a good friend still let something dangerous happen to their new companions?  She didn’t know, she’d never been close to anyone before… but… but… then they got to the conversation about her.  She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, hadn’t meant to… but now she found herself completely enraptured by their muted musings.  “She’s really pretty…”  “She’s apparently famous…”  “Doesn’t matter…”  “She just wants friends…” 

She bit upon her lips, fighting back the choking sobs that were sure to follow.  Her heart swelled and body trembled.  She’d never had anyone talk about her that way, they… their voices were genuinely concerned.  They wanted to be around her, they really didn’t know who she was, yet they wanted to be with her.  She heard the Schnee’s name brought up, but mostly in jest, though she too had noticed the lustful glances that the young Heiress had passed her way.  Despite herself, despite the previous thoughts of turning Jaune in… she decided that maybe it would be okay to be a bit selfish this time around?  

Then something she wasn’t EVEN sure wasn't part of one of her fantasies happened.   

Even as Pyrrha’s legs trembled beneath her, her painted breath washed out by the hot flooding water above her and her toes curling into the hard tile floor, she found the events of last night to be too outrageous.  Her fingers curled within her quivering hole, grasping at the soft edge of her lips and plunging deeper into her depths. Squelch her ears were surrounded by the soft sound of liquid and air passing between her fingers and her pussy.  Her soft vulva folded beneath her tight white knuckles as she squeezed around her digits.  Her tongue whisked around her free hand, flicking between her fingers as she squeezed upon the strong pink muscle. 

She could only imagine what they were doing, and oh how it delighted her!  Just the thought of May’s small short stacked body being penetrated by that ridiculous monster between Jaune’s legs set her off!  Oh Brothers’ she wished she could have seen it, just… oh just watching them mate would have been so very delightful~  Would her little stomach bulge as his member punched into her?  Would those huge, delicious wobbly tits jiggle and bounce with every thrust?  She felt something shake inside of her while she pushed her head against the hot tile bracing herself for what was to come.

“Oh gods oh gods!”  She couldn’t stop herself any further, pinning her head against the tile, her ass wiggled expectantly.  Her mind was cracking, turning hazy as she continued to think about what she’d experienced yesterday.  She’d seen so many, seen a ton of things, but never that close, or!  Or that BIG, THAT HUGE!  Jaune’s massive cock hidden and tucked away, May’s massive bouncing soft breasts hidden away by her thick jacket.  How either of them moved was beyond her, but she couldn’t get the image out of her mind!  She wanted to touch them!  To suck on them, to feel both of them!  

Her eyes shut tight as she imagined herself, pinned between both Jaune and May, her face buried between May’s massive breasts rubbing herself back and forth as her fingers squeezed into those plump swells.  She imagined Jaune behind her, his massive GIANT FUCKING COCK, Piercing her insides pushing all the way into her depths burying himself into her.  She couldn’t stop herself as her fingers  grew faster and faster.  Her body quaked as her nails curved into her soaked pussy.  

She wanted something else, something bigger, harder, something to fill her with thick hot seed!  She wanted Jaune to bury into her, to breed her and pin her!  Despite her lustful experiences in the past, she’d NEVER felt the desire to be bred.  To have someone pump all their baby batter inside of her oven.  She’d never wanted to motorboat someone so badly before, to bury her face into a woman’s breasts, to suck and pinch them as much as she wanted now!  Her body was on the edge, her womb quivered in hope and anticipation.  She knew it was something more, something far deeper than a physical attraction.  They had treated her differently, had ignored her status that… that had turned her on far more than it should have!  And… and they both had a scent to them, an intoxicating aroma that she oh gods!  Just thinking about the smell coming off of their bodies that morning!  It was still trapped in her nose, her thoughts befuddled as she was getting to the edge.  “DICK DICK COCK!  TITS BREASTS MILKBAGS!  BREED ME BREED ME BREED ME!  FUCK ME FUCK ME FUCK ME FUCK ME FUCK ME FUCK ME!  COCK COCK COCK COCK COCK DICK DICK DICK!  CUM CUM CUM CUM! INSIDE INSIDE INSIDE!”  SHE WANTED SO BAD!  SO BAD!  “SUCK IT! SUCK DICK!  SWALLOW!  DRINK!”  She tried as she might to stifle those last words, thanking the brothers she was alone.

Her lips sucked on her plunged digits as she tried to muffle her coming orgasm.  With a silent scream she fell to her knees.  Her core tightening inside, no one would notice the sticky clear fluids being washed away by the falling faucet water.  Her chest heaved as she let her mind clear of the thoughts of last night.  “How are those two doing?”  

By the time Jaune had woken, May and Pyrrha had already gone off, obviously starting their day.  Fighting back the residual grogginess he began to shift, slowly sitting up.  Slowly he began to clench his hand into a grip and then release it, repeating it a few times to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming.  After a few cycles, he felt his blood warm inside his body at the realization and dawning of what had happened last night.  He could still feel May’s body pressed against his, the phantom warmth of their embracing forms floated within his thoughts.  “So it wasn’t a dream…”  

While he wanted to relish in satisfaction, the sound of a bell chiming above stripped him from his thoughts.  “Right… I have a lot to do today.”  Though as he stared down, the sticky feeling between his thighs was still ever present, he knew the first thing he would have to do was take a shower…

Thankfully it didn’t take too long to shower, and it had been a rather uneventful affair, well minus a few of the stares he’d been getting as he made his way over.  Perhaps it was because of his close proximity to Pyrrha?  Or maybe they’d caught notice of his and May’s little endeavors last night?  He wasn’t really sure… and honestly he had more important things to think about, like surviving today.  He couldn’t shake the feeling of how out of his depths he was.  Everywhere he looked he was met with confident grins, robust bodies, people who KNEW they had this… people who knew they belonged here.  

While he, Jaune Arc, truly didn’t belong here, he wasn’t stupid… well okay he probably wasn’t what one would call street smart, it was kind of hard to be with how much time he spent in bed.  But!  But, he’d been given the best education that his parents could afford, and thankfully that was quite a bit!  He’d also had his sisters help him out from time to time, they’d all been such wonderful supporters.  Also being bedridden had given him a lot of free time!  So he’d read, and no not just comics though he really did enjoy those, no he’d gone out of his way on reading about the outside.  Reading about Grimm, reading about how to survive, not once had he ever given up hope on being a huntsman.  So even though he’d honestly felt like he’d never get the chance, he’d still sworn to try.

So yeah he wasn’t stupid, he knew oh how he absolutely knew that au… that Headmistress Glynda and Headmaster Ozpin knew his transcripts were fake.  Which made it all the more shocking when they’d accepted him in.  His parents hadn’t taken it well at first, but they’d relented when he talked it out with them.  His family had their reservations about him coming to Beacon, so they did their best to try to get him ready in the short amount of time that they’d had left.  He knew that none of them expected him to pass, they were banking on him flunking out during initiation.  He knew… or at least he felt that Un… that Headmaster Ozpin was just humoring him.  He knew that of course but… but he had to take the chance!  

And yet, he knew how right they were, how he didn’t even believe in himself.  You know, if he was being honest with himself right now, he’d say he was scared.  Because he was he was honestly doing everything in his power to keep from shaking.  He was terrified, terrified that he was putting his life on the line for something that he had no right of doing.  He didn’t belong here, he was just some kid whose head had been filled with fantasy after fantasy.  From the stories of his parents, to his older sister.  He’d always wanted to see the world, wanted to experience what was behind his walls.  So… even with how terrified he was, even ignoring the terrible shakes running through his body, he decided not just then but long ago.  That no matter what, he’d do what he had to do.  And, even has he knew that he could be facing his death at any moment, he decided that dying while doing something he wanted to do was far better than not doing anything at all.  

Besides it wasn’t all that bad, he’d actually gotten to make friends!  Him!  Jaune Arc, quite possibly the most socially inept person in existence!  Heck it wasn’t even just Pyrrha or May, there was that gi- “Jaune!”  

At the call of his voice he was suddenly pulled from his thoughts.  His head snapped to his right, as his gaze fell upon a small girl within a redhood.   “Jaune!”  She called out once again, a smile spread across his face.  Yeah, this wasn’t all that bad.  

“Hey Ruby.”  

“Jaune! Jaune!  It’s good to see you!”  

How could he not feel better as he watched one of his new friends practically bounce on over to him, though the girl tagging along behind her seemed far less amused.  “So sis, this is the boyfriend you were talking about.”  He felt his cheeks flash hot for a moment, though only for a moment as he realized the sisterly tone coming from the girl.  And as someone who had to endure CONSTANT teasing from seven sisters, he’d grown a resistance to it.  

Ruby however, seemed to still lack that natural but very important defense.  “What?!  NO!”  The young hooded girl floundered around trying to think of an excuse without also insulting her new friend at the same time.  “I’m not looking for anyone!  Evenifhewasreallyniceandhelpedmeout!”  

There was a moment of silence between the three of them, however only for a moment as both Jaune and Yang began to burst out in a cacophonic laughter.  “Oh Rubes, never change.”  

And just like a kicked puppy, the young girl eyed her sister and pouted.  Something that was giving Jaune serious deja vu vibes from his own little sisters.  He wondered if it was just a universal sister thing or if perhaps he just didn’t have enough data.  “That was mean Yang!”  

The elder sister pulled the younger into a tight hug rubbing her face against her, “Oh Rubes, it's fine!  So.”  Jaune blinked as she brought her attention towards him, “No bunny pajamas today?”  This time, however, he felt his face grow a small tinge of red as he scratched the back of his head.  

“Uhm haha, no not right now at least.  Though they’re honestly really comfortable.”  

“And stylish too.”  

Ah, thank goodness he’d had all that sister training or he may have thought that was a real compliment.  He wasn’t exactly the best at picking out sarcasm, but that definitely was one.  “I mean, I like them enough, and they were a gift from one of my little sisters.”  

That had the unexpected effect of pulling the grin off her face and bringing her to a more serious look.  It was like she was pondering something for a moment before she started talking, “Family gifts ARE important.”  The blonde woman began to gently rub her hands through Ruby’s hair, running her fingers through the dark locks and pulling her close.  “Okay, you got me there then.”  

Jaune smiled at the small victory.  “Oh uhm, I’m Jaune, Jaune Arc.”  Reaching out his hand for a shake, which the girl replicated though she may have squeezed a bit too tight as he had to fight back a yelp.  

“Yang, Yang Xiao Long, Ruby’s big sister.”  When she released his hand he felt it pulse, “She has a seriously strong grip!”   “So you on your way to get your gear then?”    

“Yeah, it's almost time I think, and I don’t wanna be late.”  “I’d rather be there early, otherwise I’m going to fret all day.”   

Finally Ruby chimed back in, “Then we can all go together!”  The excitable girl hopped around the taller blondes with a bright smile on her face.  He couldn’t help but feel a bit of a confidence boost after witnessing Ruby’s own confidence.  She must believe that she had this in the bag, and if someone as young as her could do it?  Then well he could at the very least try,  even if he failed at the end of the day he could say he at least made an attempt.  And honestly, that's all he could ever ask of himself at this point.  

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”  He could at the very least give it his all.  And who knows, maybe things will turn out better than he’d expected.  

May found that she was practically floating!  Even the little part of her that screamed and chided her for last night’s acts was quashed down by how overall delighted she was.  She’d done it!  She’d practically confessed to her long time crush, and they’d almost gone all the way.  It had been an absolutely fantastic experience, one that she could only HOPE would get outdone when they finally DID have their first time together.  And as she all but glided across the Beacon grounds, she found herself still soaking in the memories of his touch.  She could practically still feel his body around hers, his big round cock sliding between her plump thighs, or his hands grasping onto her bare bottom.  Or oh how could she forget, the feeling his hot white seed soaking in her panties, foaming around the curves of her pussy.  

Just the thought of it sent shivers running up her spine and making her core clench in joy.  Though, and as much as she wanted to keep on with the memory, she had things to do.  So, she’d left her friend behind that morning, wanting to let him get as much sleep as he could before they HAD to get up.  She knew things were going to be rough for him, there was no way that whatever training his parents had given him was going to be enough.  She highly doubted he’d had any official training either, so she would make due on her promise.  She would protect him, and watch out for him.  But first thing first she needed to get herself in the mood.  

She’d spent a lot of time cleaning out her gear, her sniper though on the simpler side of things required a lot of attention and maintenance.  Something she went through on a daily basis to make sure that it was still functioning properly.  She would much rather be over prepared rather than not prepared, if things went bad after all.  This of course meant that she was the first one in the locker rooms.  It also meant that she was there when other people started to come in.  She heard a few passing remarks about her getting close to Pyrrha, or how she had gotten along with the scraggly looking blonde, but she ignored them.  Thankfully, and perhaps part of the reason WHY she put so much attention into her maintenance was because of how it let her wash out her normal shyness.  

She was able to ignore the dreadful thoughts of dealing with others, of having to face other people.  It let her simply concentrate on something that wouldn’t judge her, or talk about her behind her back.  She could just put her all into making sure that the very thing keeping her alive was working.  And that was something she could get behind, something she truly enjoyed.  So she ignored the conversations going on around her, and gratefully so.  Though, there was one conversation she found herself almost completely unable to ignore.  Thankfully she’d finished her preparations by that point.  

“So Pyrrha, have you thought about whose team you would want to be on.”

“I’m not quite sure.  I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may.”  

“Uhm, excuse me?”  

Okay, that was enough familiar voices to grab her attention, though as she finally snapped out of her own little world she realized how very few people were in the locker room now.  As far as she could see it was only herself, the Schnee, Jaune, Pyrrha, and two girls off in the distance.  “Oh, it's a good thing I finished.”   She wouldn’t want to be late after all.  

Though, she felt a chill run down her spine as she began to watch the rather painful event in front of her unfold.  

“What do you want?”  She flinched, if looks could kill she was sure that the Schnee would be charged with murder.  

Poor Jaune didn’t seem to notice though, “I’m sorry I was just wondering if you two could move please?  My stu-”  

“How dare you!  Do you not know who this is?!”  Oh she wasn’t going to let him finish.  She wasn’t sure she should join in, but… Jaune would have done it for her.  Letting out a sigh she walked up to the group.  Though by this point the Schnee had begun to make Pyrrha quite uncomfortable if the pained expression she had on her face was anything to go by.  

“And do you think you deserve to be on the same team as her?!”  

“I uhm…”  

“He… he didn’t… say anything about that though?”  May despite her normal meekness decided to chime in.  This of course had the unwanted but expected effect of earning her the Schnee’s wrath.  

“And WHO are you?”  Oh jeez, how could a girl just a bit smaller than her be so frightening?  It was like dealing with an angry chihuahua.  

Though, thankfully before May had to respond, Pyrrha decided to comment.  “Ms. Schnee, that’s enough.”  May was quite surprised at Pyrrha’s hardened voice as she gazed down upon the little Snow White.  “I believe that you’ve been rude enough as it was, Jaune here wasn’t even asking to be on a team.”  She turned her attention to Jaune, “But I would be delighted to be.”  

May smiled as Pyrrha gave Jaune a reassuring grin, the young boy’s face turning a deep crimson as he sputtered out a few nonsensical words.  

“Now that's most un…”  

“I believe he was simply asking us if we could move.  Isn’t that right Jaune?”  

“Yes please, you’re uh, in front of my locker.”  

The Schnee blinked as she turned towards the number in Jaune’s hand, and then the locker behind her.  Thankfully she had enough and stayed silently shortly after, huffing as she decided to take her leave.  

Frankly Jaune had no idea what to do in this situation, it had been awkward enough with the girl who’d already probably didn’t like him, just kind of threatening him.  “Well… that was interesting.”  

Pyrrha simply smiled his way, something that caught both May and Jaune’s attention as they felt a small warm feeling churn inside of them.  “I hope neither of you are bothered by any of what she said.”  

“None here.”  Jaune shook his head, he didn’t really get famous people.  

“That’s the same for me.”  May found herself stating what she felt was obvious.  Despite her shyness, she liked to be upfront about things.  

A warm cozy feeling fell upon the trio, only to be interrupted by the other two students still in the room.  “THAT WAS AWESOME!”  Ruby’s sudden appearance between the three caused the trio to suddenly jump back in surprise.  The young redhead turned her attention towards Pyrrha, a gleam in her eye that Pyrrha had seen all too often, however what came next wasn’t exactly what she expected.  “The way you shut her down!  Ms Snooty never saw it coming!”  This officially caught Pyrrha off guard, maybe coming here wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

“Well now, I see why you weren’t instantly smitten by my adorable little sister lover boy.”  

Jaune nearly jumped out of his pants as Yang suddenly appeared by his side, her arm resting on his shoulder, “You’ve got these two beauties fighting over!  Heck one of them’s even a champion!”  

Pyrrha couldn’t help but flinch at being called champion, even if this woman, she didn’t know their names, said it only in jest towards Jaune.  For now she’d let it slide, though she did take note of the way Jaune’s demeanor flattened.  Regardless, now wasn’t the time for that, they would all need to be at their utmost best if they wished to survive.

“Well uuuuh!  We should get going!”  

The younger girl, Ruby she believed her name was, decided to break the awkwardness.  

Pyrrha nodded, “I agree.”  The sooner she got her partner, the better things would turn out.  And hopefully, peering over to Jaune and May, she would end up on a team with these two splendid individuals.  

Jaune wasn’t ready for this!  He’d already been prepared for what was to come, but actually standing on a launchpad without any real plan other than “Use your Aura.” was not something that he felt comfortable with.  

“Today will be the day that you decide not only your partners, but your teams.”  

“Oh man!” 

“I knew it!”  

Jaune’s face scrunched as he heard two different voices in the background.  One he recognized as Ruby, and the other he didn’t.  

He couldn’t really argue with Ruby’s dismay, finding their partners in the middle of a forest was going to be awfully troublesome, it didn’t help that it was simply adding more pressure onto him, something he REALLY didn’t need right now.

“Oh gods I hope I don’t hurl.”

That had been another thing he’d been worried about when his elder sister had informed him that they’d be flying over the valley.

“The first person you make contact with will be your new partner.”  

“Oh that's… that doesn’t seem like a good way to build partnerships!”  

“As for teams?”  

Ozpin took a sip of his ‘coffee’.  Of course Jaune knew it wasn’t actually coffee, if he had to guess it was either tea or hot chocolate.  The man couldn’t handle anything bitter on his tongue.  He had a serious sweet tooth about it.  

“Well, that’s a secret.”  

Even in this rather unfortunate situation, Jaune found the time to roll his eyes.  

“Now then, Professor Goodwitch?”  

Jaune’s attention fell upon the disciplinarian and vice headmistress of Beacon Academy.  Probably the only real reason he’d actually made it in.  Even as he took the time to scan her cold demeanor, he couldn’t help but smile.  As scary as she was when she was stern and in her working mood, he’d always see her as nothing more than his loving aunt.  

“You will be launched one at a time into the Emerald Forest.”  

This he knew, “And when you touch down you will make an attempt to route with your fellow students.  The first individuals you make eye contact with will become your partner.”  He caught note of the s at the end of individuals, and that confused him slightly.  Had she miss-spoken?  

“From there, you have 48 hours to survive.”  

He blinked, this was different from what Rua had told him it would be!  But… survival?  He could make do with that!  Surviving off the land was probably the ONLY thing he was good at.

One nasally redhead decided to speak up, “What?  What does that have to do with being a huntsman!?”  

He was dutifully ignored. 

“We have provided all of you with a starter pack.”  

“Oh, that's what this is!”  

He heard Yang call out this time.  

“In it you will find various items, such as rope, a flint and steel, and most importantly a flare.  If ever you feel that you are unable to continue you and your teammates must decide on withdrawing.  Do note, there ARE Grimm in the forest.  You will have to learn to balance your survival instincts as well as your combat.  Being a Huntsman will often leave you in situations where you are low on supplies, or have to forage to survive.  This will be a good deciding factor on if any of you actually have what it means.”  

And with that she fell silent, pushing up her glasses as she took her place behind Ozpin. 

“Well then, any questions?”  

Jaune didn’t say anything, for the first time since he got here, he was feeling confident… except there was one thing he wanted to ask.  Raising his hand he was also ignored.  

“Good, I wish you the best of luck.”  

He couldn’t help but frown, catching the smile on Ozpin’s face as he was suddenly shot into the air, “I HAD A QUESTION!”  

Glynda watched as her nephew was suddenly launched into the air, having not noticed that several other students had already been sent off before him, “You know, Dana’s probably going to hear about that.”  

“Oh… hmm…”  

Ozpin frowned, that wasn’t good.  

“Well… he should be fine, he always did enjoy reading survival guides.”  

Glynda simply shook her head and sighed, this was going to be a very long initiation.  And, while she was supposed to be impartial, she did hope her nephew ended up on a good team.  

“So… has everyone already placed their bets onto the betting pool yet?”  

Glynda frowned, “You know how I feel about betting…”  

“Well?”  

“Ugh… yes.”

“And?”  

“Oobleck believes that at least a few students will get frisky during the initiation.  He stated that Winchester is definitely going to try something.”  

She glowered at the thought, “I don’t blame him… god I hope no woman ends up on his team.”  

“Agreed.”  

“Peach thinks that Lie, Valkyrie, and Sustrai will be up to some form of mischief and hanky panky.”  

“Mmhmm.”  

“And I believe that Zedong and Arc will push their relationship a little further.”

“Oh come now, that’s an easy bet.  We all could practically hear them last night.”  He took a sip of his drink once more, “I’m betting that Nikos snaps, you can smell the repression on the girl a mile away, your nephew is in danger.”  

“I swear, he’s just like his mom…”  

[djarinbarnes]

me olvidarás - four

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

Pairings: Javier Peña x female reader

Warnings for the chapter: soft javi. also grumpy javi. dry humping... kissing and flirting. two dumb idiots, probably in love.

Word count: 3.2k

Summary: an undeniable warm summer vacation in Bogotá. simply trying to get away from your nosey, boring parents and live for once, you meet a man who impresses you beyond where your imagination could ever take you.

a/n: fluffy filler chapter. the good kush is coming soon :3

previous chapter · series masterlist

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ��� ⠄⠂⋆ ･

The drive back to Bogotá was shorter than you remembered, but the drive there had felt longer than anything else you’d ever experienced. Javi knew just where to find empanadas and beer, and before you knew it, you were both sitting on the hood of his car, eating empanadas while looking over the city.

“This is so fucking good.” You say with your mouth full of potato and corn dough. You had no idea deep-fried dough with filling could be so delicious. You felt Javi laugh beside you, his mouth clearly full of food as he didn’t let out that heartfelt laugh you wanted to hear over and over. You both pushed the last bit of empanada into your mouths at the same time, watching each other out of the corners of your eyes.

With mouths full of more empanadas, Javi decides to tell you a joke, which makes you laugh so hard you have to clasp your hand over your mouth to prevent him from seeing the chewed-up empanada in there. You hadn’t expected him to be one to tell jokes in the middle of dinner, but you weren’t ever going to complain.

When you’d finally stopped laughing, you took hold of the beer you held between your legs, where it’d left an ice-cold imprint, but at this moment you truly did need a little cooling down. Being in Javi’s personal space, breathing him in and having him touch you with fleeting touches starved you in a way you’d never felt before. You wondered if he felt the same.

You scoot back on the hood of his car, leaning against the windshield. You watch as he follows you, thankful that he’d put the blanket under the two of you. It warmed you a little, and it was better than sitting on a cooling chunk of metal. The heat from the engine under the hood helped as well. You turned your body slightly, simply watching Javi as he looked over the city, occasionally sipping his beer. The silence between the two of you wasn't deafening like it usually was. It was good this time. Welcomed.

His left hand is sitting against his thigh, completely unoccupied, just waiting to be held. Or so you hope. You reluctantly reach out to take his hand in yours, and you mentally high five yourself as his fingers tighten around yours. He lets go of your hand soon after, though, making your heart fall in your chest and your mouth to turn into a slight pout.

Until he twists his wrists and intertwined his fingers with yours. It feels like your hands were made to be intertwined, his fingers fitting perfectly in between yours, and warmth instantly spreads from your hand, through your body and right into your heart. Yeah, you were definitely falling for him.

With your right hand now occupied, you’ll have to make do with drinking and eating from your left. You reach out and grab another empanada from between the two of you, before you bite into it, looking back out over the city. “So, tell me,” you say after you swallow the bite you just chewed through, “Where is everything?” you point to the city, empanada in hand. A few seconds pass before he speaks, lowly.

“I think you’re gonna have to come a bit closer for you to see where I’m gonna be pointing to…” He’s speaking at such a low octave it takes you aback. God, you wanted to hear that in the bedroom. You remove your hand from his slowly, moving the empanadas and the half six pack of beers on the other side of you, taking its previous place between you.

He lifts his left arm and welcomes you into his side, tugging you close. Your hand finds his again, as it’s wrapped around your body. Your head rests against the side of his chest, and he was right. When he points to the city, it’s very easy to see where he’s pointing too. “That’s the embassy. The white building right there,” you spot it easily, it being lit up by the streetlights in front of it.

“And I live right there.” His finger diverts slightly, now pointing to an older building, which you nod at. “That’s you.” He points the other way, and true to his words, you recognize the rented apartments you’re living in. It wasn’t far from where Javi lived.

He points to where you can see a plane take off in the distance, lights glittering as it ascends the sky. “That’s the airport. The Salt Cathedral.” His finger glides over the skyline to a giant white block of concrete with a laugh, “That’s the Museo del Oro. I know it doesn’t look like it, but there’s a fortune in there.” You nod before you let out a giggle as well.

“What does Oro mean?” You whisper, feeling stupid that you know so little Spanish. He lets his arm fall around you and pulls you closer, placing his mouth right above your ear. A short puff of breath makes goosebumps rise on your skin as it fans over your face. You close your eyes lightly, just enjoying having him close.

“It means gold.” He almost whispers, and it’s one of the most sensual things you’ve ever heard. His voice is deep and raspy, and you silently wish that you could hear him talk like that all the time. Hushed whispers and his body so close to you, you feel like you could combust from the sheer fullness you feel when you’re close to him. It’s like he’s the only charger within a thousand miles that can charge your batteries.

You smile at that thought. Yet it unsettles you - it was weird. You had started thinking about him as something you couldn’t go without, and it’d only been a mere 24 hours since you’d first met the man. You couldn’t allow yourself to think of him like that. Even though he’d already given you some damn good adventures so far, he was still a stranger.

You look up at him longingly, your eyes meeting his. He’d been looking at you. You offer him a smile before he cranes his neck down to place a kiss on your lips. You lift yourself slightly to meet him halfway, and you know he’s grateful for that. He must have a pain settling in his back from sitting so uncomfortably on the hood of the car, even though you were more comfortable than you’d ever been before.

You move yourself further up to relieve his back of some of the weight you’re putting onto him, and he’s silently grateful. You reach out for the beer you had placed by your side when moving closer to him, and upon discovering you’ve drunk it all, you pull another one from the carton. You offer one to him first, and he accepts it with a smile before you’re pulling out another for yourself, settling back into the crook of his arm.

“I think this is one of the most romantic dates I’ve ever been on,” you smile at him before taking a sip of beer, enjoying the way it slightly cools down your heated body. Even though the air around the two of you were cold, the heat of his body seeped into yours, making you flustered. You look up at him with a smirk. “It’s definitely in the top tier.”

He laughs at your statement, and you love the feeling of his chest rumbling by your side and the sound of his laugh. You admire the way the wrinkles surround his eyes as his smile gleams, and you get the urge to just… watch him for eternity. You don’t even know how you ended up here, on the hood of the most beautiful, older stranger you’d ever met.

“How many dates have you been on, hermosa?” you watch his mouth move, but you barely hear what he’s saying. You’re too distracted by his lips, his hand moving over the length of your arm, his body so close to yours. You hear it, though.

“Hmmm… Let me summarize… I was on a date this morning with a handsome guy.” The hand not containing a beer slowly traces the front of his shirt, your fingers tracing the buttons all the way until they’re right over where the shirt is tucked messily into his pants. “Then the handsome guy took me on another date by this beautiful lake, and he even skinny-dipped with me.”

Your fingers make their way all the way up to the button on his chest, the last button made to shield his chest from you. Your fingers move on their own accord as they pop open the button slowly, before you lean in, exposing his chest to you before you place a kiss against the bared, tanned skin. “Made me cum on his fingers all shamelessly, for the whole world to see.”

You feel how his heart beats in his chest, and how a deep breath is sucked into his lungs. Your fingers undid the next button slowly, the one right over the lower part of his sternum. You twist your body slightly to give yourself more space, yet you’re still holding on to the beer in your hand. You place another kiss a little lower than the first, before you speak again.

“Then he bought me dinner, took me to this wonderful, secluded outlook post so we could watch the city while we ate.” You pop another button, looking up at him in the dark to see the effect you had on him. You took in his parted lips, his hooded eyes, and the way he was looking at you told you everything you needed to know. He wanted this just as much as you did. “So, three in total.”

He lets out a breath before he’s running his hands over your hair gently, grabbing you by the chin to draw you in for a kiss. “Sounds like he likes you, hermosa. Should I be jealous?” You giggle as you pepper small kisses on his lips, never tiring of the way his lips feel against yours.

“I wouldn’t worry about that.” You whisper against his lips before you finally give into your temptation and swing your leg over his, straddling his thighs. He lets out a huff as you find your place on his thighs, damn well knowing you’ll easily get what you want from him. You lean down and reattach your lips to his, whining slightly when your knees dig into the hard metal of the hood of his car. You set down the beer by the others, not wanting to spill anything on the two of you.

He does the same before his hands find your hips as you slowly move your hips closer to the bend of his body, right where his groin was. You’re shuffling slightly closer to where you desperately want him, before you finally situate yourself on top of him, whimpering out at the contact. You feel his hands tightening on your hips as you grind down on top of him, and he pulls away from your lips.

“Hermosa…” he whispers against your lips, licking his lips, his tongue lightly reaching your lips as well, making you shudder. You silence him by placing your lips over his again, pushing your tongue into his mouth to really shut him up. He groans into your mouth as he forces your hips down against his, his bulge pressing into your core for the second time that day.

“Don’t want to hold back,” he groans against your lips, his left hand coming to the back of your neck to pull your face closer, basically mashing your nose into his cheek at the force he’s holding you close. “Want to take you.” His tongue finds its way back into your mouth and you whimper, making his cock twitch under you. “Want you so bad.”

“Take me, Javi.” You whimper again, grinding your core even harder against his achingly hard cock, closing your eyes at the wonderful feeling of how he’s able to draw you so close to the brink of letting go in so little time. “Please.” You breathe into his mouth, before finding his tongue with yours, exploring his mouth while your hands switch between unbuttoning his shirt and burying themselves in his hair.

He groans as he comes to his senses, quickly finding your upper arms with his wandering hands, holding you away from him as he pants, taking in your swollen lips and hooded eyes. God if you weren’t the most beautiful thing, he’d ever laid his eyes upon. “Hermosa…” he says under his breath and you huff, quickly getting off his hips and off the hood of the car altogether. You grab the beer from where you set it down, finishing it in one go before you squeeze the can together with your fist.

God, he annoyed you so fucking much. First, he acted like he was going to fuck you senseless, but then he turned all careful and considerate and you literally hated him for it. You hated that he wasn’t giving into you, hated that he wasn’t succumbing to his needs as easily as you wanted him to. You sighed as you grabbed another empanada from the bag, now turned cold, but it filled the hole in your heart slightly.

He watched as you grumbled right in front of him, clearly agitated by yet another refusal from him. It, again, reminded him of how young you were compared to him. It was clear you had a healthy libido that you wanted to use, but he just didn’t want to force you into something you would regret afterwards.

“I’d like to go home now, Javi.” You watched the way his face stayed set in stone, and you almost wondered if he was mad at you. You just hated that he apparently thought about you as a child that didn’t know what you wanted. It hurt you a little bit, and you felt bad about it. You just had no idea what to do about the situation, other than to back out of what the two of you were doing.

“Fine.” He said as he slid down the hood of his car, his back audibly cracking as he stood straight on the ground in front of his car, pulling the beers, food and blanket off the hood before throwing it in the back of his car. He motioned for you to get into the car, and even though you didn’t want to after the abrupt stop of your date, you found no other way to get home, and you sure as hell wasn’t walking home through the forest at this hour, in a foreign country.

With a flustered sigh you got into the passenger side of his car, literally grumbling all the way through the forest and down on the bigger roads. You barely talked as he drove you home, and the silence bothered you more than you would’ve liked to admit. When the car finally stopped you let out a sigh before you turned to face him.

“Thanks for the ride.” You whisper out, afraid to pull him out of the trance he’s in as his eyes are still trained on the road in front of him. He huffs slightly before turning off the car, letting you know he was listening. His eyes still didn’t meet yours, though. “Thanks for dinner. And for today.” He offered you a nod, and you felt your blood coming to a boil. Why the fuck did he act like this all of a sudden?

“Okay, what the fuck did I do?” you raise your voice at him, causing his brow to twitch slightly. You feel your heart beating faster and faster as you watch his face contort into many emotions all at once. You keep watching him, wanting just a spark of something that would tell you what you’d done wrong. “Javi, seriously. You can’t just go all oyster on me.”

“You’re mad at me because I don’t want to sleep with you.” He finally says, and you feel the heat rise in your cheeks. He was right. You wanted to sleep with him, you wanted him to take you with everything he could muster, hell, you wanted him to fuck you into senselessness. But he wasn’t giving into you, and it made you furious.

“Yes. That’s part of it.” You say, drawing his attention to you. You can see the conflicting emotions behind his eyes, and you understand his struggle. You really weren’t being nice to him, at all. “I’m mad at you because you make it seem like I’m a child that doesn’t know what they want. That they have so many options but don’t know which ones to choose from.”

He takes in your words, almost like he’s tasting them. “I don’t think of you as a child, hermosa. You’re just young. Too young for someone like me.” He tells you, and you can tell it comes from his heart. It breaks your own slightly, Javi thinking that your age has anything to do with what he should decide. You lay your hand on top of his, drawing his eyes from your face to where your skin is leaning against one another’s.

“Javi. I don’t care how old you are. This thing that’s going on between us… I don’t know if you feel it the same way as I do, but to me it feels like it’s working. I like what’s going on between us. I like the dates we’ve gone on today. I like you, Javi.” You tell him, and you watch his face as he once again takes in your words. Then he’s turning to you, his hand slowly coming up to grasp behind your neck, drawing you in for a kiss.

It’s short and slow, nothing like the other sensual and heated kisses you’ve exchanged so far. It feels good and there’s a certain domesticity in it that leaves you craving more as he pulls away from you. “Alright,” he says as his eyes find yours again. “It’s not happening today. It’ll happen when the moment is right. Not outside, not anywhere that is uncomfortable. Like I said, I want you to be comfortable.”

You nod with a small smile as you look at him. He’s bathed in the light from the lamps on the street, and he looks so good in that lighting. His shirt is still unbuttoned from when you were straddling him, and it tugs on something in your abdomen. You really would love to see his chest more than what’s already revealed to you at this moment.

He gets out of the car swiftly before he’s opening the door for you, holding out his hand for you to take. You slide your fingers in between his, like it’s their home. He follows you to your front door, watching you as you unlock the door to your apartment before you turn to him. “I’ll see you soon, hermosa.”

He presses another kiss to your lips, pulling you close to him to have you close one more time before he pulls away from you, turning back to get into his car. “When, Javi?” You yell, just before he gets into the driver's seat, causing him to look up at you.

“I’ll call you.” He offers you a smile and a wink before he gets into his car, leaving you to your own thoughts on the front steps. He didn’t even have your number…

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

next chapter

[in-my-feels-probably]

INEFFABLE - Kaz Brekker

Chapter Six

If you would like to read this on Wattpad, it’s on there as well, my @ is in_my_feels_probably and there’s a few visuals and better descriptions and stuff on there. otherwise, enjoy, let me know what you think, and you can check out my masterlist for updates and more. don’t forget to read the prologue, it’s important to the story!

INEFFABLE – Kaz Brekker

ineffable (adj.) too great to be expressed in words, utterly indescribable; too sacred to speak of. 

Chapter Six

It was nightfall by now, and Elham, Kaz and Inej were following the Conductor to his supposed way across the Fold. Jesper was nowhere to be found, and Elham could only imagine what kind of trouble he had gotten to by this point in the night. The moonlight casted over them as they walked, the Conductor leading.

“We're almost there. Just a little further.”

Kaz fell back a bit, causing Elham and Inej to slow, matching his stride. He kept his voice hushed. “Where the hell is Jesper?”

“I should’ve gone with him. Have I ever been wrong? No. Do you ever listen to me? No. And here we are.”

Elham knew she was bold for speaking to Kaz like that, they might have been close, but he was still technically her boss, and more than that, she needed him focused on this job. Making him angry was never a good idea, but she just couldn’t help herself. It was too fun teasing him. She was the only one who could get away with it.

Kaz pretended like he couldn’t hear her, rolling his eyes, walking a little faster. He knew she was right, but he would never admit it. The Conductor approached a sign, barely lit up by his torch. He continued walking past it, but Inej stopped, putting her arm out in front of Elham.

“Landmines.”

Elham stopped, huffing. There was no point in being surprised, she knew this job was going to be the hardest one she ever went on. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t have a slight temper tantrum in Kaz’s direction though, it was just her luck that this would go bad from the beginning.

She almost risked following the Conductor, deciding to not care about the imminent death in the field, when Kaz put his cane out to stop her, giving her a glare. “We’ll wait. Follow the path that you carve.”

“Oh, that sign, it was my idea to keep people away. Can’t be too careful. We’re fine. Come.”

Elham glanced at them, sighing. Might as well. She took off, following the footsteps the Conductor had set, Inej hot on her trail. Kaz stood behind, looking for another way, before realizing there wasn’t one. He sighed, trying to corral the goat closer to him, before slowly following them.

The Fold was a wall, a giant black mass, with eerie groans and high pitched screeches coming from the inside. It was bigger than anything Elham could have imagined, and the pit in her stomach only grew. If nightfall was dark, the only light coming from the moon, she couldn’t imagine how dark and empty the inside of the Fold must be, a void.

Inej was warily glancing around. “It’s one thing hearing about it, but this is--”

“Nothing, compared to what lies within.”

Elham scoffed. “Thank you, Arken, very inspiring.”

The Crows watched Arken slowly crank a handle, watching a dingy train emerge from the edge of the Fold. “There. So, goat, jurda, thank you. Now we’re just waiting on…”

Gunshots emerged on the other side of the field, and Elham turned to see Jesper sprinting in their direction, a crowd of men right on his heels. “Wait for me!”

“They can’t see the train!” The Conductor took the torch from Inej, putting it out in the sand.

Kaz was growing angrier by the second. “Jesper! Get here now!”

“Put out the lantern.”

Elham pulled the pistol off her hip, advancing forward just enough to be able to aim at the men after Jesper. She only had two bullets, and then her gun would be useless. Without her sword, all she would have left is the knife strapped to her thigh. Still, Jesper had to get there, preferably not full of bullet holes.

She began picking off the two closest to him, one bullet missing, hitting the sign next to him, the other lodging itself into another man's thigh. He crumpled to the floor with a cry. “Damn it, Jesper! Hurry the fuck up, I’m out of bullets!”

She dropped the gun, pulling out the knife, ready to use it if she had to. Jesper had stopped now, reading the landmines sign. He picked his pace back up when another gunshot flew over his head. “Oh, wait for me! Don’t you go without me! Wait!”

Elham turned, pulling herself up onto the train, grabbing Jesper’s arm and pulling him in when he got close enough, falling back into one of the seats. “You’re a fucking idiot.”

The men were still advancing, and Inej began pulling the door shut, checking to make sure everything was secure. Elham had stood now, grabbing the sack off Jesper’s shoulder handing it to Arken.

“Please tell me this is 20 pounds of alabaster coal.”

Jesper turned to them. “Slight snag in the plan. Turns out that the kid who was helping me buy the coal, didn’t exactly know how to, uh, buy coal.”

Kaz nodded, unamused. “We know you gambled it away.”

“I lost a little bit of the money...ok I lost all of the money, but I managed to steal twenty pounds of alabaster coal.”

The Conductor looked over the bag. “No, no, no, there’s sixteen pounds!”

Jesper corrected himself, smoothing down his jacket. “Sixteen pounds, of alabaster coal.”

Kaz looked like he was going to have a heart attack, and Elham was fighting herself to not say I told you so. “Can we do it on sixteen?”

“Never been done before?”

Gunshots hit the side of the train, and Arken moved Jesper, placing him into a seat. “Sit here. Never shift your weight.”

Inej slowly sank into a chair, and Kaz violently pulled off his jacket, before motioning to Elham to sit down. She took a seat next to him, and watched Arken pull up his sleeve, seeing cuts along his wrist, like tally marks. Saints, he had crossed that many times?

Inej, knife drawn, said a quick prayer. Elham took a deep breath, getting ready to think of some funny last words, when an explosion went off, followed by the sound of men screaming.

Kaz’s face grew cold. “I thought you said they weren’t real.”

“I said nothing of the sort. I just said I put the sign up myself.” The Conductor hit a few levers, and the train began moving. Kaz glared, leaning back in his seat, and Elham straightened up next to him, exasperatedly laughing. Could this be going any worse?

---

It had been a few minutes, and the train was barreling down, the Conductor checking his watch. The sound of metal clanging got everyone’s attention, and Jesper uneasily sat up. “What was that?”

“I’ve erected a system of timers along the line. Bits of metal hung on poles to keep me apprised of our pace.”

This piqued Kaz’s interest. “How did you know where to put the poles?”

“Physics and engineering account for most of my success. The rest is what we might call divine intervention, what others might call luck.”

Elham scoffed at that. “If there was any divine intervention, I’d be at the bottom of the harbour right now, Saint’s know I deserve it. But here I am, imminent death looming over me. Sounds like bad luck to me, eh Arken?”

“Well, I don’t know about that. I do know that the Fold is thick with volcra, and the tracks are not complete. Coal, please?”

Jesper perked up at that, eyes widening. “I’m sorry, did you say the tracks weren't complete?”

“I said they aren’t complete. And stop moving.”

Elham turned to Kaz, for the first time in the night, feeling actual fear. If she was going to die back there, a gunshot wound, or landmine, then so be it. It would be kinder than anything Heleen had planned for her. But to be ripped apart by volcra, part of a mass grave in the Fold?

Kaz gave her a look, one that said to calm down, don’t lose it. Arken ignored it, telling him to put in more coal. They were running late.

Jesper fidgeted in his seat, panicking, “I'm sorry, can we get back to the bigger issue? We’re on tracks that don’t connect to other tracks?”

“Yes, there’s a gap, but--”

Kaz had lost all patience. “You said you could get us through.”

Jesper was still panicking, now exasperated. “How much of a gap?”

Arken fidgeted with the levers, pushing buttons, and the car lurched forward. “I built slats on the car. They roll into place under the wheels. The turbine generates enough wind to push us all the way to the eastern track. As long as we don’t shift our weight. Now, the noise may attract volcra, but it’s the only way across. There’s a nest nearby, but we’ll be fine. If they haven’t attacked us in--”

A volcra screech was heard in the distance.

“Well now we’ve got a problem.”

“Of fucking course. Because why would this go well? Why would anything be easy? Can’t have anything nice, can we?”

Kaz looked worried now, but he was probably the most calm of the group. “Elham, shut up, Jesper’s gonna go into cardiac arrest if you say things like that. Arken, how do you fight them off?”

“I outrun them, open the throttle and toss in all the coal, which works when there’s twenty pounds of it!”

Elham sucked in a breath. “Jesper, I love you, but if we make it out of this alive, I’m most definitely going to kill you. Sit still!”

The car was slammed into, and a horrifying screech was heard. A pool of blood began pouring in through one of the cracks in the ceiling. Arken looked out the window. “Damn it! The stupid thing impaled itself on the spike.”

Kaz spoke up. “We need to get it off, the others are going to stand on it!”

“More coal!”

“We’re down to fumes! We’ll never make it with this extra weight.” He tossed the bag into the flames, but it did little to the pace.

Jesper was sitting in his chair, staring off. “This is how we die?”

Arken didn’t even look up. “Jesper, grab the groat.”

“I’m not throwing out the goat!”

“Grab the damn goat! It’s not bait, it’s for you! I need you to calm down, hug the goat. Shut the hell up.”

Jesper picked up the goat and held it tight to his chest, Inej groaning and placing her head in her hands.

Another clang, signalling the pace, went off, and Arken paled. “We should have hit that twenty seconds ago. My timings are precise to get us outside. Even twenty seconds behind means the train stops inside the Fold, and that...that means we die. There’s more coming!”

More volcra stacked up on top of the train car, screeching, and Arken scurried back to his chair. “You may want to make your peace!”

Elham turned to Kaz, who was positively out of plans. Inej was praying, Jesper was clutching tightly to the goat.

This was it.

Kaz met her eyes, desperately trying to come up with something to say, something that would possibly be good enough for his last moments with his Crows, with his Valkyrie, when Jesper stood up, the goat still under his arm.

He had this sense of calm to him, face now determined. He stepped forward, heading to the front of the car, the Crows watching him. He suddenly pulled his pistols from their holsters, twirling them around in his hands, before firing up at the ceiling. Volcra screeched, blood spattered, Arken was cowering in the corner, but Jesper persisted, rotating pistols, firing away.

Their pace increased as more and more volcra fell away from the train car, and Jesper holstered his pistols.

Inej glanced around, who had been still in her seat the entire ride. “Are they all dead?”

There was a moment of silence, before a claw burst in through the ceiling, and a volcra’s head pushed its way in. Arken screamed, but Jesper just raised his pistol, chambering a round, and launched it into the volcra’s head. It screeched, before falling off the train as well.

The Crows sat in their seats, stunned faces, before another metal clang went off, signalling the timer again. Arken checked his watch, and suddenly, the inside of the train car was lit up.

They had made it out.

They skidded to a stop at the edge of the Fold. They slowly stood up, making their way out of the train car. Elham wiped at her face, hopping out, turning to Jesper. “I’ve reconsidered. I’m not going to kill you. But pull some shit like that again, and I swear I’ll--”

“Got it, got it. Won’t happen again, love.”

She scoffed at that, speeding up to catch up with Kaz, who was leading them into the city. She muttered to herself. “Yeah, Jesper, sure. And I’m the Queen of the Barrel.”

Kaz raised a brow, glancing at her next to him, before continuing on.

---

A/N - hi, here's another chapter. please check out the authors note chapter, i will be deleting it before i post the next chapter, but i wanted a little feedback. (if you're reading this on tumblr, i didn't post the authors note on here, i'm basically just asking for opinions, critiques, likes, dislikes, ideas, i just want to writ something you all would enjoy better.) feel free to contact me anytime, and thank you for the support!

[hearts-hunger]

ciryc ca’tra (cold night sky): chapter five || din djarin x reader

Read on AO3 | Masterlist

chapter one | chapter two | chapter three | chapter four

Series Summary: When you crash-land on a frozen planet on your way to Trask, you and Din work together to keep the Crest afloat and keep your little family safe under the cold night sky. || Part One of Jate’kara (Lucky Stars)

Chapter Summary: In the aftermath of the attack, you and Din try and mend each other before you try to mend your broken ship.

Pairings: Din Djarin x Wife!Reader

Genre: Hurt/comfort, fluff, angst | Word Count: 3.9k

Warnings: spiders, brief panic attack/ptsd

A/N: This chapter? God-tier. Din is the best husband in the whole galaxy bar none. He’s attentive, he’s soft, he loves to make you laugh. Chock-full of fluff and hurt/comfort, just the way I like it. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you enjoy it too! ♡

You needed to be near to your husband.

Maybe it was the set of his shoulders as he stood out in the snow, looking towards the place where the X-Wings had gone; maybe it was the way you still felt his hand in yours, squeezing tight like it was the last way he’d ever tell you he loved you. You stepped carefully over the broken glass and crushed metal to get through the cockpit doors, one hand carrying your baby, the other carrying your blaster. The little silver thing shook in your hand as you held it in front of you, and you desperately hoped you wouldn’t need to fire it.

You came down the ladder and had to stifle a sob at the sight that met you.

Gruesome, disfigured spider bodies tangled with cords and wires on the floor; long, stringy webs shone on every surface from floor to ceiling. The floor was slick with ice and slime and webbing; some limbs still twitched where they lay, their faint clicking making you shudder with revulsion. You nursed a low whine of disgust and fear at the hateful things as you stepped over them, webs catching in your hair, your skin crawling with the thought of them. Your shoulders tensed with every sound, every faint sign of fading life from the things that had infested your home.

You wanted to take a gasping breath of fresh air when you stepped through the web-covered break in the siding, but the wretched spiders were everywhere, the acrid smell of the green fluid mixing with the exhaust from the Crest’s smoking thrusters. The body of the giant one was collapsed over the top of the Crest, its legs seeming to swallow the ship like it wanted to pull it deep into the ice with it as it decayed. 

You heard something scuttle across the rubble and swung your blaster around to aim at it, but before you even spotted it, it was reduced to a heap of ash by a shot from behind you.

You stood looking at it for too long, watching the way the smoke curled up towards the cavern ceiling; you jumped and let out a choked sob when you felt Din’s hand on your shoulder.

“Just me,” he said, like he was afraid to spook you. He put a hand on your wrist and eased the blaster down; he gently pried it from your fingers and holstered it on his own belt. 

“Easy, cyar’ika,” he said softly, pulling you towards him. You gave a pathetic whimper and leaned into him, felt his hand move to your back to hold you securely against him. Your chin quivered with sickness and emotion, and you weren’t sure if you were going to be sick or burst into tears.

Your baby gave a quiet coo, and your body made the decision for you as you finally started to cry. You leaned completely against your husband as sobs wracked your body, every bit of fear and hurt and tension shredding through you until you were so overwhelmed by it you couldn’t catch your breath. Din gently eased the baby from your arms and urged you to try and take a breath.

“Ok, cyare,” he soothed, deep worry coloring his voice. “Breathe for me, love. Try and take a deep breath.”

You sucked in a greedy, hitching breath, pressing your hands to your face, trying to tether yourself to something - you felt your whole body had gone numb, and you couldn’t breathe - 

Din took one of your hands in his and held tightly, like he had in the cockpit, and suddenly your breath caught on a groaning sob like the sound of purest grief. Gasping moans tumbled from you, and it seemed like you’d never stop. You wanted this to be over. You wanted to be home. You didn’t want your home to be a pile of rubble underneath a giant, lifeless monster.

“Din, I can’t - ” you sobbed, “I don’t want - I can’t - ”

“I know,” he said, and the grief in his voice matched yours even if he couldn’t give himself over to it like you were. “I know, cyare. It’s ok. Just breathe for me.”

He stood patiently with you, letting you hold onto him, murmuring words of comfort in Basic and Mando’a until you’d finally worn yourself out with crying. You scrubbed at your hot, tear-streaked face, your shoulders hitching with your stuttering breaths, dizzy and tired and more run-down than you’d ever been in your life.

“That’s it,” Din said gently. “Deep breaths.” He grunted a little as you hugged him tightly, trying to be as close to him as you could.

He ran a soothing hand up and down your back. “You’re ok, cyar’ika. I’ve got you.”

“Sorry,” you said miserably, his chestplate cool against your burning cheeks. You’d wasted valuable time breaking to bits like that, out here where you were most vulnerable to attack. You couldn’t imagine keeping a hold of yourself like Din was, and wished you could be stronger.

“No, cyare,” he said, kind and yet firm. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. You... we’ve suffered a great deal of fear and loss. You don’t have to apologize for feeling that.”

He tucked you protectively against him, one arm wrapped around you and the other holding your son. He gave a heavy sigh and rested his helm against your head.

“Mandalorians have a word - mirjahaal,” he said. “It means peace, or healing of the spirit. You say it to people who’ve suffered a loss or gone through something traumatic.”

“Mirjahaal,” you repeated. You had always loved the way Mandalorian words sounded, and held on to the way this word sounded strong and gentle at the same time.

Din hummed in agreement. “You can’t heal unless you feel the wound, cyar’ika,” he said gently. “And there’s no shame in being wounded.”

You let your husband hold you and offered your hand to your baby; he took your pinkie in a gentle grasp and cooed at you. There, with your little family held close in the protective circle of Din’s arms, you felt a little less of the terrible weight that had settled on your heart.

“Mirjahaal,” you said again, softly. You didn’t know how, but you felt things must get better; you would heal, and so would your family. You would be safe and have an abundance of peace. You knew you would.

You looked up at Din’s visor. “I love you.”

He gently touched his helmet to your head. “I love you too.” His grip tightened on your waist, and you lightly kissed the bottom of his helmet.

“We’re all safe, cyare,” he said, and you knew it was to remind himself as well as you. “We’ll find a way out of this, I promise.”

You nodded wordlessly; the baby gave a quiet, happy babble.

Din’s laugh was wobbly through his vocoder. “I love you too,” he said, cradling his son closer to his chest. “You were very brave with mama, weren’t you, verd’ika?”

You smiled at the nickname, “little soldier” in Mando’a. His grip on your finger was strong, and you felt a wash of gratitude that he hadn’t been hurt. You didn’t know what you would have done if either he or Din had been injured, and felt profound relief that they were both safe.

“Come on,” you said, pulling away from Din just enough to take his hand in yours. “Let’s try and fix our home.”

Din let you keep your hold on him as you ducked back inside the Crest; you were thankful for his strength and steadiness as you took in the state of the ship with a clearer mind. It looked more hopeless than it ever had, a mere shadow of the safe, familiar fortress it had always been for your little family. 

“Haar’chak,” Din swore quietly. “This is... the worst I’ve ever seen her.”

You gave his hand a comforting squeeze. 

“We’ll fix her, Din,” you said, trying for confidence. You slipped your hand from his to reach down and pick up a box, saw a severed spider leg leaning against it, and bit your tongue to keep from yelling every curse word you’d ever learned from your husband.

You crossed your arms over your chest lest you be tempted to tidy anything else before the spiders were gone.

“I know it looks bad,” you said. “But we can handle it. We’ve...” You trailed off, your gaze snagging on the webs sticking from the ceiling to Din’s armor, and wondered fleetingly how covered you must be in the sticky residue.

He cocked his head at you. “What?”

“You’re just... covered in webs,” you said. He looked up and turned his head slightly, making the threads billow with his movement.

He sighed. “Yeah. I’ll have to scrub my beskar for a week to get everything off of it.” He gestured to you. “At least I have armor - you’re covered in it too.”

You gave him an unimpressed look. “Yes, I know I don’t have armor on, dearest. Thank you.”

His huff of a laugh was cut short, and you could tell by the sudden stiffness of his posture that something was wrong.

“What?” you asked, trying to tamp down the panic rising in your chest.

He held out a hand, like he might do to steady a skittish Fathier that could buck at any moment.

“Don’t freak out,” he said in a purposefully calm voice. Your baby was watching you with wide eyes, cooing with interest; all of a sudden you knew what it was, and your shoulders tensed with utter revulsion.

“Oh, kriff - get it off, Din, get it off, get it off,” you pleaded, squeezing your eyes shut. You felt a little scurrying movement on your shoulder and heard a tiny chitter, and you really and truly whined at the thought of the horrible thing on you.

 You felt Din’s hand swipe your shoulder, then heard a single blaster shot. You jumped and opened your eyes to see a scorch mark on the floor as Din holstered his blaster at his hip.

“It was that big?” you asked in dismay. You’d assumed he would just bat it away and step on it, but if it had been big enough to shoot at - 

“No,” he said. “But I didn’t want any more spider guts on my boots.”

You ran to him and put your arms around his waist, feeling your skin crawl. 

“It’s gone, cyare,” he said, though you knew he didn’t mind the hug. 

You shuddered. “I don’t care. I’m staying right here with you, forever.”

He chuckled. “Okay.” 

Your baby gave you a happy coo, delighted to see you so close to him as he leaned contentedly against his father’s chest, and you gave him a little smile.

“I love you, my little darling,” you said quietly, just for him to hear. He babbled and brushed his claws through your hair with intentional gentleness.

“Yes, nice pets,” Din said, like he had when teaching the baby to pet the Tusken Massiffs. “Be gentle with mama’s hair.”

You couldn’t help a laugh, but were reminded of the thing that had just been in your hair a second ago.

“See if there are any more on me,” you said, dreading the possibility.

Din leaned forward a little to check your back. “No, you’re fine.” He pulled a few strings of webs from your hair. “Have you ever considered shaving your head?”

You looked up at him. “It’s that bad?”

He considered the lock of your hair tangled in his fingers. “It’s... going to take a lot of dedicated brushing, I think.” He looked back down at you. “Not that I would know. Perks of an extremely religious upbringing.”

You gave him a wry smile and found yourself very relieved and comforted that your husband was joking with you.

“Thank you for slaying the beast,” you said. “All of them.”

“My pleasure, cyar’ika.”

He looked around at the interior of the ship, a low sigh coming through his modulator. “The only way I can think to get us out of here is to just fix the cockpit. There’s no way I can make enough of a repair of the hull to make it usable.”

You thought of the damage the cockpit had sustained and felt its repair alone was an ambitious goal; with the state of the Crest and your limited knowledge of mechanics, you agreed with his assessment that the majority of the ship would be nothing more than scrap metal until you could get it to a shop.

“We’ll get it fixed, Din,” you said. “Surely there’s someone on Trask who can help.”

He nodded. “I hope so. I’d really like to take it to Peli, but we can’t make it to Tatooine before we do some patchwork.”

You thought fondly of the short, curly-haired mechanic who’d become as good a friend to you and Din as any you’d found on your travels through the galaxy. If she and her droids were here, Din would have the Crest as good as new in short order, and your baby would have the company of one of the many people he’d charmed within the first few moments of meeting them.

“Though I should thank her for getting me into this mess,” Din said, an edge of uncharacteristic surliness to his voice. You knew he was just tired and overwhelmed, and tried to be kind when you responded.

“It’s not Peli’s fault that we’re here, my love,” you said gently, pulling a few threads of webbing from his pauldron. “She wanted to help a friend, and really, we owed her for helping us find someone to take us to the other Mandalorians.”

He gave a resigned huff. “Somebody to take us to the Mandalorians won’t do us much good if we don’t get off this kriffing planet.”

“Well, good thing we are getting off this planet,” you said. You looked up at him without judgement, but you wanted him to know you weren’t going to indulge his grumbling.

He sighed, and you saw how his shoulders slumped a little.

“You’re right,” he said, weary. “Sorry. I’m just...”

You would have kissed his helmet, but it was so covered in webs that you settled for tapping it gently where you knew his mouth was.

“I know,” you assured him gently. “And you don’t have to be all sunshine and starbursts for me, you know that. But if you start doing down the path of doom and gloom, we both know I won’t be far behind.”

He breathed a laugh. “Can’t have that, can we?” he asked. Then, very tenderly, “Thank you for keeping my head on straight, ner kar’ta. I couldn’t do this without you.”

You beamed at that; he only ever called you ‘my heart’ when he was very pleased and proud of you, and you were happy that what little help you could offer in the grand scheme of things had been that important to him.

“You won’t ever have to,” you reminded him. “I mean, I’ve stuck with you through a giant spider attack. There’s really not much worse you could throw at me.”

He gave a wry hum of agreement. “No, I guess not.” He looked around at the tangled spider bodies that had begun to close in on themselves, and you knew him well enough to know he was grimacing under the helm.

“They are pretty awful, aren’t they?” he asked. “I’ve dealt with some questionable creatures before, but I think these take the uj'alayi.”

Just the mention of the dense, sweet Mandalorian cake was enough to make you start daydreaming about it. “I could go for some uj'alayi right now,” you said dreamily.

He chuckled. “When we get the Crest back on her feet, I’ll make you some,” he promised. “But for now, I guess we can eat our fill of roasted spider.”

He waggled his fingers towards you in imitation of the creepy things, and you batted his hand away with a laugh.

“That’s disgusting,” you said, and he laughed too. “I’d rather share the frog eggs with the baby if it came down to it.”

Din tried to muffle a laugh but it ended up just sounding kind of strangled, and not a second later did you hear the quiet croak of the frog lady from behind you. You looked wide-eyed at Din, struck with sudden embarrassment like a youngling talking about someone behind their back on the playground, and he merely cocked his head at you. You knew he was trying not to laugh under his helmet, and you gave him a petulant shove against his chestplate.

“Good thing we have some rations left, right, cyare?” he said, intending to be overheard.

You tried for a withering look but couldn’t quite manage it; his shoulders shook with suppressed laughter and you couldn't help a grudging smile at how his mood had improved.

“I’m so getting you back for that,” you said in a low voice.

You knew he was smiling at you; you could always tell with Din.

“I’ll be on my guard, cyar’ika,” he said amusedly, assuring you he was looking forward to whatever you’d cook up to get back at him with. You felt a brief, hesitant desire for your husband, something you were sure would have burned much brighter if your circumstances had not been so dire. You hoped that once you got out of this mess, you could take a breather of sorts - maybe drop the baby off with Omera and go back to Naboo for a long weekend in the sun. 

The thought of your home planet’s warmth only made you feel the cold of this planet more sharply, and you allowed yourself a little sigh as you were brought back to the reality of your situation.

“Alright,” Din said to both you and the frog lady, and you knew he’d felt the end of your short reprieve as well. “I’m gonna repair the cockpit enough for us to limp to Trask. There’s nothing I can do about the main hull’s integrity, so we’re gonna have to get cozy in the cockpit. It’s the only thing I can pressurize.”

You’d never minded being in the cockpit before, but you’d also always had the option of roaming the ship. You idly wondered how long it would take to get to Trask, considering lightspeed was out of the question, and began to mentally prepare yourself for a lengthy trip with a toddler who wasn’t used to being so cooped up.

“If you need to use the privy, do it now,” Din suggested. “It’s gonna be a long ride.”

He handed the baby over to you, and your son gave only a slight coo of protest before he snuggled into your arms. You wished you had somewhere to take him to let him run around for a bit before you settled in the cockpit, but there wasn’t a single place in or around the ship that wasn’t in smoking ruin or littered with spiders.

Come to think of it, there really wasn’t any place for you to go. You looked up at Din.

“Can we stay with you while you work?” you asked.

He shrugged. “If you want to. It won’t be very entertaining.”

You gave a tired wave of your hand. “Fine by me.” Dozing in the passenger seat while Din worked on the repairs seemed luxurious compared to the events of the past few days.

You turned to the frog lady, intending to ask if she’d like to come up with you, but she had set herself to the task of gathering the smaller spider bodies and tossing them outside. You cringed as a limb broke off one when she picked it up, but as much as you had all disliked them when they were alive, they didn’t seem to faze her now that they were dead.

Din stepped forward as she put her weight into dragging a larger one towards the split in the hull, his body language tight with almost comical unease.

“You don’t have to - ” he started, but she gave a dismissive croak and muscled the spider across the floor. Both you and Din reacted with wincing aversion, but she didn’t seem to mind at all.

“Ok then,” your husband said quickly, clearly content to let her continue if she wished and unwilling to continue watching her do it. He steered you towards the ladder. “We’ll be up in the cockpit if you need anything.”

Like he always did when you went up the ladder with the baby in hand, Din let you go first and hovered protectively to catch you if you slipped. You never had, but you didn’t mind indulging that particular habit for the sake of his nerves. You actually appreciated it then, with webs and slime covering each rung - Din’s hand on your thigh was steadying as you fought to overcome your reluctance to keep a firm grip on the sticky ladder.

The cockpit was covered in webs too, and Din kindly swept them from your seat before he started pulling them from the instrument panel. You felt a little guilty as you sank into your chair, watching him set to work - you were achy with exhaustion, and you knew that for all his armor, he’d gotten battered and bruised in the fight with the spiders and was running on only a few hours of broken sleep. 

“Is there anything I can do to help?” you offered. You didn't know the first thing about mechanics, but maybe there was something you could do for him.

His chuckle was affectionate. “No, cyare, that’s ok,” he said gently. “You rest.”

Before he hunkered down to work on the dash, he unscrewed the little silver handle from the gear shift and dropped it into your son’s outstretched hand.

“Be good and play quietly,” Din said to the baby. “Let mama rest.”

The baby cooed in agreement, settling in your lap and turning the ball over in his hands. Din gave your knee a slightly distracted but affectionate pat as he knelt in front of the instrument panel, fishing through the toolbox to find what he needed.

You leaned your elbow on the dash and watched for a few moments; there was something soothing about the way Din was so methodical in caring for his ship. You’d sat with him during repairs or routine maintenance countless times while you were courting; he’d let you chatter away about anything and everything while he worked, occasionally asking a thoughtful question or laughing at a funny memory you recounted. You’d fallen in love with him while he worked on the Crest, and you rested in that love now as he worked diligently to keep you and your baby safe. 

“I’m gonna fall asleep,” you mumbled, resting your cheek against your propped-up arm. Your exhaustion was finally catching up to you now that the adrenaline had faded, and your eyes fluttered shut as your head nodded a little.

You heard him turn towards you. “You don’t look that comfortable, cyar’ika.”

You gave a light shug, re-settling your arm around the baby. “Take me somewhere with a huge, Varactyl feather bed when you get the ship fixed.”

He chuckled. “Okay,” he agreed. “Do you want me to take the baby from you?”

“Only...” You yawned. “Only if he looks like he’s going to fall off my lap.”

You felt him run his knuckles lightly over your shin. “Goodnight, cyare.”

You nodded, feeling yourself fade fast, knowing you were safe and taken care of. “‘Night. Love you.”

“Love you too,” he said. You heard the soft whir of one of his tools start up again, and moments later, you drifted off into a dearly needed sleep.

Read chapter six!

pedro pascal character taglist: @punkgeekchic​​, @tv-saved-the-teenage-girl​​, @stardust-galaxies​​, @theorganasolo​​​ ♡

series taglist: @kyjoraven​​, @sarahjkl82-blog​​, @remmysbounty​​, @bitchin-beskar​​ ♡

let me know if you’d like to be added to either taglist! ♡

[theclockworkmonk]

Title: Intermission

Summary: During the intermission of "The Boy in the Iceberg," Zuko and Toph are fed up with Aang and Katara's drama.

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Read on AO3

Read on FF.net

For Throwback Thursday, thought I'd post the first fanfic I ever wrote, back in August of 2013 (so excuse how...not good it is). The way Katara goes from rejecting Aang to kissing him with zero conversations in between always bothered me, so I wrote this scene that could have been a deleted scene in the episode, and to this day the type of fanfic I'm most drawn to is "missing" scenes that would have improved an aspect of the story. So awkward writing is what sucked me down this rabbit hole.

******

"Ow! What was that for?" Zuko rubbed his arm, suspecting a bruise would probably form.

Toph just smiled innocently. "That's how I show affection," she said as if she had just baked him a cake instead of physically assaulted him.

Zuko was glad Toph hadn't been with Aang, Katara, and Sokka back when he was chasing them on their way to the North Pole. They had given him enough bruises, lacerations, and concussions on their own. If Toph had been there, he'd probably still be eating through a straw.

"So, anyway, do you know where Aang is? I'm starting to worry. I told Sokka that this play wasn't worth the risk."

Toph just frowned, "Why are you asking me? In case you haven't noticed, this whole place is made out of the evil substance known as wood."

"I thought maybe you would know because he told you. Ya know, that's how the rest of us keep track of where people are."

"That sounds like a hassle," Toph said casually with a finger digging in her ear, "Anyway, Twinkle Toes is probably in the same place as Sugar Queen."

Zuko groaned for what seemed like the 12th time tonight. "Good. Maybe with them alone together they'll finally clear the air and allow the rest of us to move on with our lives."

"Hey, at least you just got here. Meathead and I have had to endure this drama for months."

"I honestly don't understand what their thinking is," Zuko sighed with his head in his hands, "At least you have the excuse that Sokka has a girlfriend."

Zuko saw Toph scowl a scowl that would even put Azula to shame. "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about, and unless you want a more symmetrical face, you don't either."

Zuko rolled his eyes, "Whatever. I was surprised to find out they weren't official yet by the time I got here. Especially after Katara straight up threatened to kill me if I looked at him wrong."

"Wait, what now? You serious?"

"Yeah, it was the first night I spent at the Air Temple."

"Nah, she was bluffing."

"Toph, I grew up with Azula. I got pretty good at spotting lies. Katara meant every word she said. And it got even worse when I would try to train Aang. He would always make up some excuse about how he needed to practice more waterbending, even though he's been working on that almost a year."

Toph grunted in agreement, "You don't need to tell me. Just as I was about to break through his earthbending block, Her Sweetness comes in all 'Oh, don't worry, it's okay, we can practice waterbending. Come on, let's go splash around in our underwear.'"

"Yeah, I've been thinking that if they just got it out in the open then he could concentrate again. That's why I've been getting closer to Katara. I thought maybe if I piss him off enough he would man up and push me out of the way."

Toph smirked in her very self-satisfied way, "I knew it! Though, you might want to tell Snoozles about that plan. He's been worried that you really were interested in her. I guess that explains the seating arrangements this evening?"

Zuko rubbed the back of his head and smiled guiltily. "Yeah, I made double sure to sit next to Katara, and for a second he actually seemed like he was going to grow a backbone. I was thinking 'Come on, this is driving you crazy, isn't it? Call me out, why don't you want me sitting here?' but he hog-chickened out again. And I've been doing this for a while. After I saved Katara from being crushed at the temple, I made sure to stay on top of her just a little longer than necessary, but that just made her mad at me rather than him."

"And your little field trip?"

"Well, no, that really was just me trying to help her. But me decidedly not inviting anyone else, not even Sokka, to come help find Yon Rha had something to do with my meddling."

"And plus, it certainly seems like the play is helping you," Toph laughed.

Now it was Zuko's turn to scowl. "I actually think I got more than I bargained for with that. I'm just certain that if he finally told her he liked her, they could move forward and not be stuck in this limbo."

Toph looked confused, "Oh, she knows that he likes her. Did no one tell you that? He kissed her on the day of the invasion. Twinkle Toes waited until everyone else was gone, but he apparently forgot that they were standing on a giant metal submarine. He's kind of stupid like that."

Zuko just sat back, re-thinking his efforts, that he apparently had been wasting, "Well….huh. I guess I was wrong. Maybe she doesn't like him that way."

Toph sniggered in the way she always did when people failed to hide things from her, "Oh, she likes him, Sparky. You don't enjoy a kiss that much unless you do."

"You can tell?" Zuko asked in an alarmed voice. Toph's semi-mind-reading abilities still creeped him out.

"Oh yeah, her heartbeat went through the roof and she apparently forgot how to breathe until Meathead reminded her that we had a nation to invade."

Now Zuko was downright angry now. "Well then why the hell are they still dragging this out!?" He asked, probably too loudly.

Toph smirked and raised one eyebrow. "I think the better question is why you care so much. I mean, I find the drama annoying, sure, but you're really going above and beyond." She nudged him in the side and winked, "could it be that our own resident Angsty McEmopants is secretly a hopeless romantic?"

Zuko elbowed her back, "I'll have you know that I care as his firebending teacher. Firebending is fueled by raw emotion and passion," he nervously tried to figure out a euphemism, "and I just, um, thought that if he had a particular something that invokes certain….urges, then it would give him a little boost."

Toph grinned again. "So you're hoping that Sugar Queen makes him hot in more ways than one?"

Zuko groaned. "Well, if you must put it that way, yeah. You've been hanging out with Sokka too much." He stood up, "I'm going to go find them to see if they do something stupid."

And, sure enough…

***************

Katara was a split second away from kissing Aang back when her eyes shot open

NO!

She pushed him away, trying to muster up some anger. "I just said I was confused!"

Aang simply looked down. He had the same look on his face as when she pulled him out of the Avatar state at the Southern Air Temple, and he had no choice but to accept that he was the last airbender.

"I'm going back inside." She had intended to calmly walk back into the theater, but she had to run to keep Aang from seeing her eyes watering. She burst through the doors and stopped a few steps in to try to get ahold of herself. That was when she heard the voice behind her.

"Katara, who exactly do you think you're fooling?"

She whirled around and saw Zuko standing behind the door, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Had he been listening?

"Yes, Katara, I was listening. So I'll ask you again, who do you think you're fooling?"

She turned around with a scowl on her face, determined not to get roped into this conversation. If she couldn't talk about Aang with Aang, how could she with Zuko? "Mind your own business, Zuko."

"Katara, you're a very gentle soul. You're peaceful, compassionate, understanding, slow to violence. To the point of stubbornness, in fact, which is one reason you two deserve each other. Hell, you didn't even kill the man who murdered your mother in cold blood. And yet even now, I don't doubt that you would have one second's hesitation to end me if you thought I might hurt Aang."

"Don't paint me in that light Zuko," She couldn't help but smirk, "I would totally give you one second's hesitation. Probably."

"So why are you putting up this 'confused' act?"

She put her hands on her hips and scowled, "You don't know how I feel, Zuko! Of course I'm overprotective of Aang, he's my best friend, not to mention that whole only-hope-for-the-world thing."

Zuko raised a skeptical eyebrow, "Your friend, huh? That's funny, because it's not Toph you were homicidally protective of, nor your own brother, who would be a lot easier for me to hurt, need I remind you. And don't think that I didn't notice you getting angry when those actors had you saying that you think of Aang as a brother. That wasn't a look of concern about Aang getting his feelings hurt, that was you pissed because they got something wrong about you."

"Well aren't you just the mind-reader?" she asked with enough sarcasm to upstage her brother.

"No, I'm not. I don't have to be. Newsflash Katara, the entire group knows. Sokka, Suki, Toph, even Duke, Haru, and Teo knew about it. Hell, all it takes is watching a single one of your 'waterbending sessions.'" He said the last two words with air-quotes.

Katara looked away nervously and blushed, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, to be fair, I'm not a waterbender, but none of my training sessions involved my teachers pressing up against me from behind to correct my stance."

"So, I was making doubly sure he had the proper form, what's your point?"

"My point Katara, that I had the waterbending scroll in my hand as you were doing it, and he was already doing it right. There was no 'correcting' to be done."

"Alright, FINE!" She almost shouted, "Maybe I have some feelings for Aang, but…he can't afford any distractions or confusions right now."

"Katara, don't think that I'm stupid enough to believe that you're stupid enough to believe that. In what way would knowing that the person he loves loves him back and is there for him be a distraction? What is a distraction, however, is this game you're playing. Why do you think I'm here? I don't care about your love life, but this uncertainty is keeping me from doing my job as his teacher. Even after we trained with the dragons, Aang has been too timid, too hesitant. Firebending requires lowered inhibitions and absolute confidence in oneself. Now I know why he's been like that. Because the one time he was completely open and bold in his emotions about the thing most important to him, you left it hanging there untouched for weeks. And now that you've full-on thrown it back in his face, he might get even worse."

Katara couldn't keep her eyes from watering anymore, "Well then he should get over it! Get over me! What's the point, Zuko? It's not like my love for him will protect him! What, is your dad going to be so moved by our love for each other that he decides not to try to kill him?" She slumped against the wall and sat down, hugging her knees as tears streamed down her face, "He died in my arms once already in Ba Sing Se. I can't lose him all over again."

Zuko came over, sat down and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Before I left to join you, I had a girlfriend back home. Her name's Mai. You've already….become acquainted with her."

"I'm better acquainted with her knives, but whatever."

"When I left, I left a note for her saying that we weren't together anymore. I thought ending our relationship would make her lose her feelings for me, so that if anything happened to me, she wouldn't be hurt. Sokka and I are still alive because I was wrong. Even though we weren't technically together anymore, she still loved me enough to go against Azula and save my life, and I still love her enough for that knowledge that she's rotting in prison eat me alive every single day. Hiding behind words and technicalities about where you stand can't change how you feel. It just adds the weight of things not said if something does go wrong."

He stood up. "I'm going back to the seats. Think about it."

Toph was the only one already back when he got back to the balcony. "Have you seen Suki and Meathead yet?" he asked.

Toph answered with a punch to his gut, "Only I get to call him Meathead. But no. Honestly, Sokka has probably gotten them both thrown out of the theatre for harassing actor-Sokka. Twinkle Toes or Sugar Queen do something stupid?"

"Both did, actually. I think I might have managed to get to through to Katara."

People started shuffling in to retake their seats. "I will say this though, this intermission has definitely been the most dramatic part of the play so far."

[gullivertravelstowonderland]

Since Doomguy probably got all or most of his clothes shredded in the Divinity Machine Incident, imagine him going to a nice Sentinel tailor or seamstress to get fitted for some new clothes and armor. :)

Ficlet under the cut!

The Doom Marine awoke slowly, vaguely aware of the fact that he was laying on the floor, shrapnel of some kind pressing into his bare stomach. A distant voice was frantically calling to him, a strange weight settled on his arm and harshly pushing at his temple.

He slowly blinked the sleep from his eyes, absently shifting to drag a hand over his face with a groan. Whatever was on his arm flinched away, falling from its perch with an audible 'oof.'

"Watch it, you damnable oaf!" The Doom Marine froze, confused; he knew that voice. That was… God, right, the Divinity Machine!

He shot up, the back of his head connecting with something as he let out a pained growl, one hand slamming into the ground as he searched for the source of the voice. His eyes narrowed as they fell on the creature curled on the ground, staring up at him with both anger and fear in its eyes. His own eyes widened for a split second as he processed what had happened.

"You… What the hell did you do to me?!" The human barked, wrapping his free hand around his sore throat after he'd spoken. His voice rumbled low and gravelly, grating against his vocal chords for reasons he didn't quite understand, head spinning as the Makyr cowered under him, covering his ears and fixing a glare on the soldier.

"This wasn't supposed to happen! You weren't meant to become a monster!" Samur fumbled back off of the floor, running a hand along the curve of his mask with a frustrated sigh. "It must have something to do with your biology reacting poorly to the machine— either way, we're both going to die if we waste any more time! We need to work together if we want to get out of this, understand?"

The Doom Marine growled, trying to position himself so he didn't feel so… exposed as the Makyr tried to explain his plan.

—

When the Elite Sentinel Guard found the human, he was pressed against the wall with his knees to his chest, settled into the indented ring that surrounded the remains of the Divinity Machine. Samur had ordered them to bring a large sheet of fabric, crafting some story about a betrayer of some sort giving him access to the machine, and using it to make him a weapon more powerful than anything the Argenta had ever seen, in order to defeat the demons that invaded their land. The Doom Marine's job was mostly to stay quiet about who brought him there and comply with their demands until Samur was done with him.

To say the soldiers were shocked to find him in such a state would be an understatement. They were terrified, although you wouldn't know it at first glance: they had their weapons raised and stances defensive as they approached the giant. Two of them stepped forward, holding the fabric out to him, ready to spring into action the second things went wrong.

He hummed to himself, carefully raising a hand so they could see before he slowly reached towards them, gently taking the cloth from them with a small nod in thanks.

The two Sentinels quickly retreated back into the safety of their group as he unfolded the plain fabric, mentally planning how he was going to cover himself with it as he waited for the group to empty the room so he could clothe himself. When they made no move to leave, the Doom Marine turned his attention to them, fixing them with a peculiar stare.

"Can I… be alone?" He mumbled, deciding to ignore the pain it caused. An embarrassed blush crept over his cheeks as the soldiers cautiously complied, looking down at the cloth with a sigh before slowly standing in the small space once he was completely out of view. He had to be careful not to hit his head on any of the floating pillars as he stood, experimentally wrapping the fabric around his waist.

Fuck, this wasn't really gonna work, was it? He couldn't walk out of here wearing nothing but a scrap of cloth wrapped around him like a towel. He tore the fabric off with an indignant huff, his eyes scanning the room for anything he could use to sew it into something more fitting.

He grabbed some wires and a thin metal pole from the remains of the Divinity Machine, using his teeth to shape one end of the pipe into a loop before threading the wire through it. He laid the fabric out, using a piece of sharp metal to tear through it where he needed to and doing his best to turn the heap of cloth into a decently wearable pair of shorts. They weren't bad, considering the limited materials and circumstances he had to work with, just a bit loose around the waist; a problem easily fixed by tearing some tubing from the machine and tying it around his waist like a belt.

Once he was finally dressed, he slowly inched his way towards the door, peeking out at the soldiers gathered outside waiting for him. They sat amongst themselves in an anxious huddle, exchanging whispered words in their native tongue. A few jumped to attention once they noticed the giant looming in the doorway, offering an awkward wave as they brandished their weapons.

"Come on, we don't have all day. The shop closes in an hour." One of the higher-ranking Sentinels grumbled as he approached the Doom Marine, he and a few others ushering him out of the room, edging towards him with their weapons raised.

"Shop?" He questioned, stumbling as he tripped over his own weight. The Sentinels corralling him flinched, darting out of the way as he struggled to regain his footing, an apologetic cringe crossing his face.

His entire balance was off, despite his body seeming to be completely proportional— if a tad bit more muscular. Maybe it was just a side effect of the machine, or something had changed besides his height; whatever it was, the Doom Slayer wasn't really willing to dwell on it.

Civilians and soldiers alike stopped to gawk at the giant as he passed by, sheepishly curling in on himself at the unwanted attention. Why did this have to happen to him? Why did they have to drag him into town and make a huge spectacle out of him when all he wanted to do after the incident was curl up and disappear?

He was snapped out of his self-deprecating thoughts by a concerned shout, belatedly realizing that he had almost knocked someone over when the group suddenly stopped.

"S— sorry." He mumbled, turning his attention to the building they had stopped beside as a few of them made their way inside, most likely to speak with the owners. "Is this… a tailor shop?"

"Of course. You didn't think you'd be wearing that into battle, did you?"

His head snapped to the source of the voice, his eyes falling on the higher-ranking soldier from earlier. His brows furrowed inquisitively as he carefully lowered himself to the ground, afraid he misheard the small soldier. They all stepped back as he crouched, the group readying their weapons again.

"Battle?"

"Of… of course. You've proved your worth in the arena, and you would clearly have an advantage on the battlefield: not to mention you'd need to find some way to repay our people for the resources it would take to keep you alive… it's just the most logical solution." He muttered, fidgeting nervously with his armor under the Doom Marine's imposing gaze.

It didn't take long for the shop's doors to open again, the owner emerging with a quiet squeak of shock, turning to the soldier beside them and whispering something in the alien language. The giant settled himself on the ground with a sigh, the chill of night creeping ever closer, seeping into his exposed skin with a shiver. The superior soldier noticed, and quickly spoke up.

"Is there any way we could do this inside? I'd rather not make my troops suffer the cold any longer than they must— including the giant. I'd hate to imagine the amount of medicine it would take to cure a cold at that size…"

The giant stifled a laugh, following as the tailor led them around the building to what seemed to be a delivery entrance. The Doom Marine made his way towards the garage-like door, careful to step over the others this time as he forced it open and slipped into the blessedly warm space, ignoring the cries of shock and alarm at the action as he settled himself amongst the fabrics. The others followed suit, standing guard as the tailor closed the door and made their way towards the giant, gingerly extending a hand to touch his knee, and clambering on top of it when the giant made no move to stop them.

He sucked in a shocked breath, the sensation of another living, breathing person walking along his legs sending goosebumps crawling over his skin. He felt his face flush as he held his breath, watching the small tailor as they tested their footing on the odd surface. Once they'd seemingly found their balance, the tailor curiously padded over his lap, seemingly fascinated by the giant as they prodded at his limbs and torso, eliciting an odd noise to come from the back of his throat in response.

The tailor chuckled lightly as they held one end of the measuring tape out for the marine to hold, carefully making their way down the giant's leg until they ran out of tape with a huff. They decided instead to settle themself on the giant's knee and scribble the measurement into their notepad.

The Slayer shifted slightly, unsure of how to act in this odd scenario. The Sentinel soldiers would raise their weapons at the slightest movement, eyeing the larger man wearily; that he was used to. He was always the outsider, or the gruesome warrior, or the enemy— he was used to being stared at in mistrust or disdain— but this? This strange, casual fascination? Not normal.

The procedure continued semi-normally, the soldiers eyeing him warily as the tailor did their job, occasionally glancing up at the giant to mutter a request in that odd language, miming whatever it was they wanted. They didn't seem to speak English, but they certainly understood it, as they could respond to the human's questions rather easily. They seemed to truly enjoy working with the unusual client, despite the obvious difficulties. The Slayer, however, couldn't quite say the same.

It proved to be increasingly difficult to sit still during the strange procedure, as the comparatively small tailor clambered awkwardly over his much larger frame. The sensation felt… oddly familiar to the marine, though he couldn't quite place why. Of course, that wasn't much of a surprise. He had spent far too many years traversing the unforgiving planes of Hell and Argent D'Nur to retain much knowledge of his life before; he couldn't even remember his own name anymore.

At some point, while the tailor was measuring the length of his arm, a slight misstep and the ensuing twitch of the giant's muscles nearly sent the Argenta tumbling to the ground, the swift movement of the Slayer's reflexes startling the guards into defensive positions, ready to attack at the first sign of danger. The marine wasn't even fully sure what had happened by the time his brain registered the fact that an actual, living person was literally in his hand, sending his heart into his throat as he scrambled for the words to explain himself, trying to force his breathing to return to normal.

The tailor suddenly seemed so fragile, making the Slayer almost afraid to move, lest they fall to pieces. He could feel the Argenta's heart hammering in the small, almost doll-like chest. Each panicked breath wracked their whole body as their brain struggled to comprehend where they were and how they got there. They looked around briefly before locking eyes with their savior, the shocked and slightly panicked expression visibly relaxing as they caught their breath. For a moment it was as if time had stopped, as no one in the room moved or made a sound, just… froze.

Then, the tailor laughed, sending small tremors through the giant's hand with the motion.

It wasn't clear if it was from relief, shock, or just the pure absurdity of the situation, but the sound quickly broke the tension in the room as the others joined in, each for their own, unknowable reasons. The Slayer chuckled in relief, mostly, but also the utter strangeness of the whole day, culminating in the restrained, nearly hysterical laughing fit he had now, shaking his entire body as tears crept from his eyes.

His attention turned to the tailor when he felt the Argenta shift in his hand, softly clearing their throat before speaking, eyes locked with the Slayer's, a hand gently squeezing his thumb.

"Thank you, amiixus." The small person smiled, placing a fist over their heart in what the Slayer understood to be the planet's general sign of friendship, and he carefully shifted his free hand to mimic the gesture with a nod.

Friend. He liked the idea of finding a friend in all of this madness.

—

//In the end the tailor gives the Doom Slayer a small selection of outfits, as well as his custom-fitted Praetor suit— with a bit of help from the Maykers and a team of assistants, of course! Anyways, I really liked this idea and got a bit carried away lol. Hope you like it!

[impala-dreamer]

Two Weeks Notice - Day Three

~With the world practicing self-isolation, Y/N and Dean break all the rules of social distancing and common decency as they explore an empty bunker and use the time alone to their playful advantage...~

Dean x Reader

1,645 Words

Warnings: NSFW! Role Play. Bondage. Rough. "Monster Fucking". Slight Pregnancy!Kink, Consensual Non-Con. It's all fantasy! Fluff

Two Weeks Notice Masterlist ~ My Masterlist ~ Become A Patreon ~ My Original Works on Amazon

Dean woke with a start. He felt cold, like a spirit had moved through his body, but that was impossible- wasn’t it? He blinked, clearing the dizziness from his mind and looked around the dark room.

It was hard to see anything much, the table below him giving off such a glow that it nearly burned his eyes. The table.

He was laying flat atop the War Room table, arms and legs spread out as far as the edges of the table would allow. In a moment of panic, he tried to move, twisting his arms, then his legs, but he was strapped down, solidly locked with fabric cuffs laiden with velcro on all sides.

He swallowed hard and took a deep breath to calm himself, trying in vain to remember the last thing that had happened to him.

He’d been coming home with some groceries- ice cream and chips for Y/N, when suddenly…

Nothing. It all went black after that.

He looked down and realized the cold was not a ghost, but a lack of clothing. He was fully naked and on display for anyone to see and there was nothing he could do about it. He felt embarrassed at first, but then a twitch of excitement flooded his system; he knew it was wrong, knew he was in some sort of danger, but he couldn’t help the heat that rushed down to his cock.

A clink of metal from above drew his eyes to the iron balcony.

“Mr. Winchester, good morning.”

His eyes rose to a shadowed figure looking down upon him. Light from the table washed upwards, highlighting a beautiful face with dark lashes and deep red lips.

He sneered, tugging at his cuffs once more for good measure. “You.”

She smiled like a wolf. “Me. Nice to see that I am remembered. A hero such as yourself has too many things on his mind to be remembering lowly creatures; even ones that he tortured.”

Realizing that he had no way to defend himself other than his mouth, Dean smirked and licked his lips smugly. “Lady, I can’t remember every two-bit witch or flea-ridden wolf or whatever the hell you are that I’ve taken down. I just remember a pretty face when I see one.”

A scowl turned her lips downwards and she turned, high heeled leather boots clicking loudly on the metal as she slowly descended the stairs. She wrapped a hand around the banister and Dean’s eyes were glued to the dark red painted claws afixed to her fingertips.

“Baltimore...2003,” she told him plainly, every word corresponding with a step down, a clank of metal. “You murdered my family one night...took their heads clean off.”

Dean kept his cocky attitude and shrugged. “It happens.”

“Does it?” She rounded the bottom of the staircase and turned to him.

“Sometimes.” He sucked in a heavy breath as she came at him, a vision in a tight, shining leather dress. Her tits were pushed high and bubbling over the deep neckline, her waist cinched painfully into the perfect hourglass shape. She was stunning. She was sexy. She was…

“Wait…” Dean narrowed his eyes as her face came into full view. “Y/N.”

Emerald went dark with realization as she bared her vampiric fangs and dove down, wrapping her claws around his face to hold him still. He gasped as she bit into his throat, his pulse racing to flood her mouth with precious blood.

His eyes rolled as she kissed the spot and stood back up, her nails tracing the defined lines of his collarbone and left shoulder.

“So you do remember me.” She grinned and collected a drop of blood from the corner of her lips with her middle finger. She stared at it for a moment, letting it sparkle in the light before sucking the blood and digit into her mouth.

Panting and dizzy, Dean watched her carefully, calculating his next move. “Yeah, I remember you now. You got away, ran out the back door like a coward while I decimated your entire nest.”

Y/N sneered, baring her fangs as her hand rose to grip his throat, squeezing hard. “My family,” she corrected. “You murdered them. I barely escaped.”

“Thin line between escape and fleeing,” he choked.

Seething, Y/N bent down again and tore at his neck, tongue flickering at his pulse as she pulled on his essence.

Dean’s world began to spin and he tugged at his restraints, hopefully when he heard a bit of velcro give. “Vampires are all cowards,” he went on, using her rage to buy himself some time. “I’ve killed thousands. All the same.”

The more he mocked, the harder she sucked, moving around his throat with her deadly kisses. Her hand left his throat as his breathing quickened, fingers sliding down the deep cuts and curves of his firm torso, lower and lower until Dean hissed in protest.

“What do you want from me?”

Y/N lifted her lips from his throat and smiled down into his beautiful eyes. She wrapped a soft hand around his cock and slowly began to stroke him to life.

“I want what you took from me,” she said simply. “I want a new family.”

Dean scoffed but inside he cringed, fearful to become that thing again. He flashed back to years ago when he’d received the magical blood. He could feel it flowing through him again; the power, the connection, the lust of it all. “No.” He tried his best to push it from his mind, but her hand kept his attention elsewhere.

“Tell me, Mr. Winchester, are you familiar with the idea of a True Pure Blood?” Her fingers pulsed around his cock, thumb gently stroking the swollen head.

His head rolled along with his eyes, unable to focus on an escape any longer. “What? No.”

Y/N set her tongue against the sharpest of her fangs and smiled. “It’s the theory that two virial vampires can produce an offspring of immeasurable power, creating a new, True Pure Blood child that cannot be killed.”

“Anything...can be killed.” Dean’s voice caught in his throat as Y/N massaged his balls. “If you take its head off…”

“But what if it were true? What if it could be done?”

“It can’t.” He was panting, stomach muscles tightening, arms straining. “You can’t. It’s a myth. Just lore.”

“Funny,” she teased, lifting her tight skirt and climbing up onto the table beside him. “I thought your brother was the one with the library in his head.”

“I know stuff,” he spat, turning his face from her kiss as she leaned close.

“I bet you do.” It was sweet, almost romantic, the way her lips grazed his ear. Her breath was hot and shiver-inducing as it blew across his flesh. “You’re smart Dean,” she told him in a sultry whisper as she tossed one leg over his thick waist. He closed his eyes, lost to the feeling. “Handsome, clever…” Her pussy was hot and wet as she rubbed herself against his pelvic bone. “Brave, funny…” His cock twitched against her ass, warm and throbbing. “That’s why I chose you.”

His heart nearly stopped as he realized his error. When he looked up, she was barely an inch away, her lips puckered, her eyes hungry.

He shook his head defiantly. “No.”

Y/N smiled kindly. “You have no choice, Dean. It’s already begun.”

Before he could turn his face, Y/N stuck her tongue against her canine and bit down, drawing a river of fresh vampiric blood into her mouth. She kissed him hard, forcing his lips to part with her tongue and pushing the blood into him. He swallowed without a thought and felt the surge of power overtake him.

As they kissed, exchanging the Blood, Y/N scooted back and sank down onto his cock, filling her pussy as she filled his mouth. Her nails dug into his pecs when she pulled back, sitting up to ride him fast and hard.

Dean gasped, shaking against the hard, glowing table as the Blood worked on his system. Y/N kept him distracted while fangs ripped through his gums, his eyes changing, filling with the power. He writhed below her, limbs tensing, pulling at the straps, his chest heaving as he neared the end.

“Hush now,” she soothed, running a cold hand down his sweaty cheek. “You’re gonna be a great dad.”

He roared as he came, pain and pleasure mixing into one giant explosion that nearly knocked him out.

Y/N rode on, letting go of him for her own pleasure as she felt him spill into her throbbing cunt. She came soon after, using him like a toy, cackling into the empty War Room as she shuddered with pleasure.

“Rest now,” she said, climbing off of him and adjusting her dress. “You’ll need your strength to go again in a bit.”

Dean reeled. “Again? I…”

“Oh, you will,” she assured him, planting a sweet kiss on his forehead. “We’re gonna keep going until you’ve knocked me up for sure. The True Pure Blood must be born.”

Dean lifted his head as she backed away, face contorting with sudden worry. “Uh… ok, but you’re still on the pill though, right?”

Y/N laughed, nearly doubling over as the facade was broken. “Of course! What the fuck, dude!”

He sighed gratefully and lay back down, laughing at himself. “OK, good. I’m not- that’s not- I mean… yeah… no.”

“Agreed.”

He twisted at the cuffs again and turned back to find her walking from the room. “Hey! You gonna let me go?”

Y/N shrugged and eyed him over her shoulder. “Eh… maybe later. You look sexy like that.”

He watched in arousing horror as she actually walked away, heels clicking down the hallway into the shadows.

“Ah, nuts.”

2020 Forever Tags:

@akshi8278 @alwayskeepfightingsweetheart @amanda-teaches @bakutododeku69 @because-imma-lady-assface @broiderie @burningcoffeetimetravel @cheritzie @cosicas-cuquis @covered-byroses @crashdevlin @deansotherotherblog @deanmonandnegansbitch @deansgirl215 @deanwanddamons @defenderrosetyler @dontshootmespence @emoryhemsworth @feelmyroarrrr @focusonspn @hannahindie @herbologystudent252 @ilsawasanacrobat @justcallmeasmodeus @ladyjenny19 @laxe-from-outer-space @letsby @mariekoukie6661 @missjenniferb​ @mrswhozeewhatsis​ @msjava1972​ @mylovelydame21​ @mysticmaxie​ @pilaxia​ @sandlee44 @spn-dean-and-sam-winchester​ @squirrelnotsam​ @typicalweirdbookworm​ 

TWN: 

@rebelemilu​ @pastathighs​ @deans-baby-momma @bobbie3939 @peachyafshawn @spencer-reids-babygirl @akrasiaev @shadowkat-83​ @deangirl7695 @foxyjwls007 @bxbyizzy @chenshemesh1 @pandaxo79 

[willowaudreykeyes]

I’m Afraid, Your Cute And We’re Both Stuck; Let’s Cuddle

@surohsopsisofclouds asked for (red 11) Wings and (purple 12) Spirits from here and I took the ‘spirits’ prompt and just made it into a Haunted House/fears thing and I hope that’s alright

@sparrowofsong​ @5am-the-foxing-hour​ @ladyedwina​

Pairings:  Romantic Intrulogical, Background Romantic Roceit, Background QPR Patmile

Warnings: Swearing, wings, collapsing structure, claustrophobia (fear of tight spaces), mentions of thalassophobia (fear of the ocean), fluffiness, my fear that Remus isn’t in character by the end of this

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

Remus

Two stories tall, with dull brick walls and the occasional broken window. A stereotypical haunted house; recommended by Patton of course. If Virgil recommended one, it’d have reviews about a real ghost that made the rooms go cold and maybe a fork being thrown across the room. This place reeks of machinery and fake, money-grabbing tourism.

I glance up at the sound of wings, not fully turning towards it as I’d know my brother and best friend's wings anywhere. Roman has those huge angel wings that everyone swoons over because of their power and fluffiness; while Jan-Jan has awesome looking yellow-green scaled ones that he’s still self-conscious over since they’re often stereotyped to be with ‘evil’ people. 

So now I’m surrounded by winged-ones. Patton’s Puffin wings press tightly against his back as the sound of shattering glass, that’s been happening every five minutes on the dot, while Virgil’s huge Wedge-Tail Eagle wings fluff up despite knowing that it was going to happen again. At least Roman and Janus didn’t react as much, despite it being a shock to them

“You two are being fucking pussies.”

“Language, Em! And the shattering sound is scary… I can’t help it.” Patton should have brought his life-partner with him as it’d be more fun with more people. I guess after the last haunted house that we took Emile to, he wanted to be able to actually sleep this October.

“We’ll go inside soon, Pat. Is Logan here yet?” Oh yeah, that guy that I’m supposed to be meeting. Forgot about him. Virgil and Roman made him sound so boring, but they also made Remy sound boring before I met the guy while he was dealing with caffeine withdrawal. 

My foot sends a small stone flying as Virgil checks his phone; tsk-ing quietly as he starts typing. “He’s inside already. In the upstairs piano room.”

“I thought we were gonna meet him out here?” Oh my god; I’m going to die from boredom and haunt this place for real if I stand out here any longer. So I grab my jacket from the ground, throw it on and quickly slip between the fence bars instead of grabbing a ticket. No one’s watching anyway.

“I don’t care! I’m going in- Bye!”

“Remus! Wait up!”

Happily ignoring Roman, I slip in through an unlocked side door and fight the distant sound of doors slamming by letting my stomping echo through the house as I head upstairs. This place sucks at scares if they’re resulting in slamming doors, but I can probably piss off some employees if I can find one of their hidey holes. And finding this ‘Logan’ and messing with him would be a nice bonus.

Taking a glance into each room -and ignoring the bad jump scares of fake ghosts played by underpaid, teenage actors- I finally find the piano room Virgil mentioned with someone standing at the far end, by the window. Despite the poor lighting, I can tell that he’s wearing a dark blue polo shirt and that his dark hair has been attempted to be slicked back. Perfect posture, hands held behind his back, shoulders tense; I may even be seeing a pair of those fancy black shoes that a lot of the richer kids in the area have. 

I shake my head as I step into the room, followed by an eerie creak in the floorboards. The guy spins around and I manage to see dark eyes behind some glasses before my legs suddenly give way.

One second I see those dark eyes, then the next I’m on the floor with sore arms and a heaviness on my back. A muffled voice, sounding close but layered beneath some kind of fog, gives me the energy to push myself off my stomach and onto my knees before I’m suddenly feeling exhausted.

Those eyes are in front of me again, but this time are a whole lot closer and also no longer as difficult to see that they’re a dark blue; as if the lighting has changed. With a quick glance around, I realise that it has. Because now there’s a broken piano, some splintered wooden pillars, a floodlight that looks like it’s been forgotten about, the walls showing their insides, and a giant fucking hole in the ceiling.

“What the hell...” This guy better have some answers- there’s no way that I should have fallen through the floor. But he looks just as roughed up as me, with some sawdust and a black feather in his now unkempt hair and his tie -who wears a tie to a haunted house?- is hanging around his neck. His huge, ruffled, pitch-black wings of some corvid don’t look injured at least. 

He… didn’t have wings a moment ago.

The guy must have noticed me staring at them, as he motions behind me wordlessly as he stands and brushes himself off. Something twinges in my gut as I turn slightly, only to find myself looking at the dusty wings of a hummingbird. They’re small and rather thin looking, but covered in blues and greens and a few hints of red. They flutter as I try out the new limbs, tearing another part of my shirt in the process. But who cares? I just grew two new limbs.

I’m pulled to my feet, my vision spinning slightly and a tightness in my chest makes it a little harder to breathe. My eyes drift back to the guy in front of me who seems like he’s not as stupefied as I am at what the hell just happened. “Uh… There’s a feather in your hair.”

His eyes widen as he reaches up and runs his fingers through his hair, catching the feather along the way and taking a second to pocket it before nodding slightly. “Thank you.” I hear him taking in a sharp inhale as his wings twitch as they try to stay off the dirty floor. There’s no point as they’re covered in dust and dirt already, but he seems stubborn enough to keep trying. “As unexpected and strange as this encounter was, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Logan Crow.”

“Oh! You’re that guy I’m supposed to be meeting- Wait, your last name is ‘Crow’?” I point at the black masses on his back. “And you have those wings?” His brows dip in slightly; just enough that he looks kind of cute. I wonder what all of his other expressions look like...

“Purely coincidental. And you must be Remus Aurelian-”

Something grinds together, echoing the sounds of wood against metal and of a highly taught string snapping from the pressure. Logan’s wings move so that the joint sits higher than his head, ready to fly him away from danger; if only he actually knew how to fly.

I swallow with a dry mouth as I finally realise how small of a room that we find ourselves in. Not that the small amount of space is an issue. Nor that the room seems to be also empty, besides the useless, broken piano. “We should probably leave.”

“Agreed.” The door to the room is just a maintenance one; small enough to not draw attention to it the other side, while large enough to push through wood or something to fix these pillars. They obviously haven’t done so in a while...

It’s rusted hinges squeak with resistance until one of the screws pops out of place as I manage to push it open. But as I attempt to crawl through, a stab of pain flows up my back and shoulders as my new limbs hit the top of the door frame. I try again, wincing this time as I attempt to squeeze through until I’m dragged back inside by the leg.

“I can’t fit through that! Are you fucking kidding me?”

“If you can’t, I surely can’t either.” Even with my tiny-ass wings that may or may not be able to carry me in the future -something to worry about another time- we’re stuck in here unless we suddenly figure out how to fly. In this small room, with not even a window in it. Just four walls that seem to have gotten closer than the last time I had paid attention to them. “I’ll text message the others, see if they can get the operators of the house to help us.”

Standing up doesn’t help the irregular waves of nausea that continue to hit me, but it’s better than how hard it is to breathe when I’m sitting. “But that’s going to take ages!” Except now it’s both hard to breathe, and I feel like I’m going to throw up. And I feel light headed. And my legs don’t want to hold me up anymore. A deep growl escapes my throat as I kick the stump of the closest broken pillar, making a few extra chunks fly off of it. “Why the hell did they make half of these rooms so damn tiny!?”

I kick it again until a hand sits firmly on my shoulder. It’s weird that I already feel so much for this guy, as anyone else would get an elbow to the ribs for touching me while this nausea keeps attacking me. I move away instead, huffing a bit while also taking in a few deeper breaths. “Are… Remus, do you happen to be claustrophobic?”

“What? Fuck no.” I can almost see Janus raising his eyebrow at me; always somehow knowing when I’m lying. It’s just some stupid fear that everyone thinks that I got over years ago. I can last until someone comes to grab us. Maybe sitting down will help...

“I know that we have only just met, but I will ask if you need comforting right now. And before you say that you don’t need it; you are shaking.” The nausea fades into chills and a heavy stone in my gut as I look at my hands as the ground gets a little closer. I close my eyes, hoping that I can just imagine that I’m outside or in a huge cathedral with furniture and lots of room to run around. My hands aren’t shaking; they can’t be shaking. If Roman or Patton or Virgil- anyone knew that I would turn into this wreck just because I’m in a tiny space, I’d never hear the end of it. Being afraid isn’t… It’s not me.

A comforting warmth makes me jump, sliding me off of my pins-and-needles-filled legs. Something slides in behind me, with one hand on my waist and the other helping my wings fold before I’m pulled into a chest. Logan’s chest. When the hell did he wrap his wings around me? 

“I’m not great at this…”

“It’s cool.” I go to say ‘me either’, but instead decide to relax into him. My chest still hurts and it's still harder to breathe then what I’d like.

“You were crying.” 

“I didn’t notice.” Well fuck. What a great first impression this has been. He doesn’t sound judgemental, and he has his wings around me, so he mustn’t think too badly of me. Probably...

“Are you alright?”

I shake my head, sighing as he adjusts the both of us for a few seconds before he finally seems comfortable. “Don’t tell anyone that this happened. They uh, don’t know.” All of my usual drivel and weird flirts are weirdly vacant from my head. It’s weird since that’s the usual, but it’s not bad. I don’t think I’ve felt this comfortable since I was a kid. “The claustrophobia thing, I mean.” 

“Ah. Of course. Your secret’s safe with me.”

Logan seems shy; that’ll be fun to fuck with later. A distant scream from the haunted house brings his arm further around me, and I definitely get a smug smirk because I know that Roman didn’t get cuddles for weeks after meeting Janus. Logan may be a little awkward but holy shit, I already love this.

It's too quiet though; I can hear how bad my breathing is and it’s making me way too self conscious. “I’m gonna eat a full squid in front of Roman to cheer myself up after this.” He stifles his laugh too. Oh, he really is a shy one! And he doesn’t get grossed out easily from the sounds of it.

“They do have three hearts that could be used to help you scare him, but I’m unsure if they are also edible. It may depend on the species.” He hesitates for a moment, moving his head to look down at me, judging by how he’s moving. Roman did say that he was a nerd, but not about stuff that’s actually cool. “I do know that they use two for their gills while the third sends blood to the rest of the body.”

He stops again, this time tensing up the shoulder that I’m using as a pillow. With a huff, I reach up to pat his face before closing my eyes; getting comfortable enough to try and forget where we are. “Keep goin’, you’re nice to listen to. Got that sexy teacher voice thing going on.”

I’m exhausted, but manage a chuckle after his sputters for a moment. He starts talking once more as the hand that’s wrapped around me lightly tapping a rhythm against my side.

“Oh, uhm, alright. I myself am afraid of the ocean, as we have mapped far more of Mars then it and it confirms that over ninety percent of the world is in the dark, but it is rather fascinating to know that ninety-five percent of life on Earth comes from our Ocean’s-” I get to listen to Logan talk endlessly about cool facts, wrapped in his large wings, while being comforted about some silly fear as we sit inside of a partially collapsed room? I think I could get used to stuff like this.

[jaskierswolf]

The Howling of Wolves pt.2/3

TW for the whole story: Angst with happy ending, kidnapping, mentioned previous child abuse, mentioned torture (but off page), Major character injury and recovery, canon typical violence

Previous

Jaskier gasped awake as a bucket of ice cold water was dumped over his head. “Oh bloody hell, fuck that’s cold.” He spluttered through mouthfuls of water.

His hands were bound in cuffs that were chained to the wall. The metal almost burnt his skin meaning they were laced with dimeritium. He was all too familiar with dimeritium handcuffs, they had been a staple of his childhood during the experiments of his youth. Just to be sure he tried to let out his magic and shift. It would be idiotic not to try, but sure enough he barely felt a ghost of his magic over his skin.

At least who ever had taken him had allowed him to keep his clothes.

There was an unsettling itch just below his skin which he hadn’t felt in months which was bothering him.

How long had it been since he shifted? Not since before Geralt had gone off on his werewolf hunt, perhaps even a few days before that. Not long enough for him to be feeling like this though. It was normally at least a couple of weeks before he started to feel cramped in his own skin.

Fuck. How long had he been unconscious…

Unless whatever was in that dart had messed with his magic more than he thought.

“Geralt?” It was a long shot but he had to ask, at the very least he could work out whether his boyfriend was in danger.

“Your witcher isn’t here, petal.”

Jaskier’s heart sank and he felt a dizzy panic hit him like a giant.

“No.” He whispered.

He couldn’t be here. Not now, not again.

“Now, is that anyway to greet your mother, Julian?” His mother stepped out of shadows, and people wondered where he got his flare for the dramatics.

“Well, I would say it’s lovely to see you, mother, but I am currently chained to the wall.” He held up his bound hands as if to prove his point. “So really I’d rather be on my way and out of your hair, if you don’t mind.”

She laughed. “Oh dear boy, the cuffs are for your own good.”

He snorted. “Oh yeah, heard that one before.” He muttered.

“If we can just work out how to cure you then everything will be ok. You don’t need to be a monster.” She cooed, the same shit that she’d been spewing for years before his escape.

“I am not a monster!” He snapped. “Geralt knows that.”

“That witcher is no better than the beasts he slays!” His mother shrieked. “I only ever loved you, darling. Why must you fight me?”

“Loved me?” Jaskier scoffed. “You hate my very existence, or do you just hate the reminder that you cheated on your husband, that you’re stuck in a loveless marriage?”

“Gag him!” His mother ordered and Jaskier’s chains were yanked hard. He fell back against the floor.

“Hmmph!” He protested as one of the servants tied something around his head.

“Now, shall we begin?” His mother knelt down and cupped his cheeks. He saw his own eyes reflected back at him. There had never been any doubt of who his mother had been. His eyes were the spitting image of hers.

It had taken him a long time to learn to love his eyes.

“Hmmph.” He grumbled and rolled his eyes at her, shaking the cuffs on his hands. He’d never been very good at keeping his hands still.

She stroked a finger along his cheek and he tried to turn away.

How had he ended back in this hell?

He just hoped Geralt would find him soon.

___________________________________

The witchers of Kaer Morhen had gathered in a dingy looking cave. Geralt was pacing irritably across the entrance of the cave. It had been weeks since Jaskier’s disappearance. He’d tried to track his partner on his own but whoever had taken him had been too good so he’d sent messages to his pack and waited, impatiently for them to arrive at a fairly central location.

Lambert had been the last to arrive. He’d turned up with another witcher in tow, a blond blue-eyed witcher from the School of Cat. On any other day Geralt would have teased his redheaded brother about finally finding a friend who could tolerate him… but today his focus was on Jaskier.

“Wolf, you are making us all seasick with all that pacing.” Vesemir said in a calm voice.

Geralt snarled at the oldest witcher. How could he be so calm when Jaskier was missing?

“Jaskier is missing, possibly dead, and you are worried about getting seasick!” Geralt snapped.

“Hey.” Eskel punched his arm. “You’re not finding anyone like this. Getting pissed at Vesemir won’t help Jaskier, Geralt.”

Geralt groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I need to find him.”

Eskel pulled him into a hug and he buried his face in his brother’s shoulder. “We’ll find him. They’ll regret taking one of our pack. I promise you.”

“I’m gonna fucking murder them all.” Lambert agreed.

Geralt looked at Lambert over Eskel’s shoulder and scowled. “No. Whoever did this, they are mine.”

Lambert laughed darkly and nodded. “Alright, White Wolf. You have a deal.”

“No.” Vesemir said firmly. “We do not take revenge. We get the pup and we get out.”

“But Vesemir!” Lambert whined.

“We kill to defend ourselves, nothing more.” Vesemir’s voice left no room for arguments.

Geralt scowled and picked up his swords. “Let’s get moving.”

“Do we actually know where we’re going?” The blond witcher drawled as he pushed himself off of the wall. “Because it seems like not one of you actually has a plan?”

Geralt glared at the newcomer and his fingers itched to reach for his sword. He wouldn’t hurt Lambert’s friend but normally they would greet new witchers by sparring or wrestling, especially if they were being welcomed into the pack of wolf school witchers. Jaskier had gotten a pass, partly because he wasn’t a witcher and partly because he could turn into a fucking dragon. It also helped that Geralt had vouched for him.

Lambert had vouched for Aiden but Lambert didn’t have a good history of choosing friends, and Geralt didn’t trust Aiden yet.

“Don’t even think about it, you bastard.” Lambert snarled.

“You gave Jaskier concussion.” Geralt pointed out.

Lambert had the audacity to laugh. “Fair point, sorry Aiden, he gets a free hit when all this is over.”

“Idiots.” The cat witcher muttered. “All of you. Remind me again why we’re friends?”

“Because I’m pretty?” Lambert suggest.

Eskel snorted.

“Oi!” Lambert growled.

“Can we please focus!” Geralt snapped. “Jaskier is missing! I don’t care if Lambert’s pretty or not.”

“Yeah but…” Lambert protested.

“You’re gorgeous, darling, but the White Wolf has a point.” Aiden winked at Lambert who spluttered and went bright red.

“Right. Yup. Ok.” He muttered and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“What did you say that man called him?” Aiden asked, peering at Geralt with cool blue eyes.

Geralt frowned. “Julian.”

Aiden nodded. “Then I think I can help you, if you’re willing to trust me, dog?”

Geralt glanced at Lambert. His cheeks still matched the colour of his hair and he was scowling angrily at the world, but he nodded. The nod was barely perceptible even to Geralt but it was enough. Lambert trusted this new witcher and he was Geralt’s only hope right now to finding Jaskier.

He reached out his hand and Aiden grasped it tightly as they shook on it. “Help me.” Geralt all but pleaded.

“Alright, listen up dogs.” Aiden grinned, his fangs shining in the firelight.

____________________

Jaskier groaned as he was pulled to his feet. How long had he been here now, stuck in his old bedroom as if he’d been sucked into one of his nightmares?

His skin itched, his bones ached and he felt like he was on fire. The metal cuffs cut into his skin and his once cream shirt was now yellow and covered in splatters of blood.

The last time he’d been here, his family’s attempts at ‘curing’ him had been based on working out the limits of his abilities and where they had come from. This time his mother, without the help of mages, had decided to starve his magic instead. He  woke up shivering each morning and it was instinctive to him to try and shift but every morning he let out a pitiful cry and fell to the ground sobbing.

He was stuck.

He couldn’t breathe.

He had begged his mother to take off the cuffs, to allow him to shift. He’d promised he wouldn’t shift into anything dangerous or try to escape but he needed.

Gods he needed.

He ached.

But his mother just pulled him to her chest and stroked his hair, whispering that it would pass and that he was just experiencing withdrawal following his time with the witchers.

The witchers.

Geralt.

Where was Geralt?

Why hadn’t he come?

He’d been sure that Geralt would find him.

And it all hurt so damned much.

“F-fuck!” He stammered and curled up into a ball on the floor.

At least before his room had at least tried to resemble a bedroom. Now it was just a stone cold prison.

He felt sick to his stomach. He wasn’t sure how much more of this he could survive. He needed to shift. They knew that. They knew they were killing him in this crazy plan to cure him.

But he needed to survive.

He had to.

For Geralt.

For his pack. His family. His heart.

He had to survive.

____

Next

[idjitlili]

Hello there.

Kili x reader x obi-wan(slightly)

(Not my image)

Summary: Annoying the company with your 'sword'  pretending it's not a metal sword, being unladylike. When in fact it wasn't a sword...it was a lightsaber.

Word count:6036

Warnings: Obi-wan , language, food stealing, dwarf nudity, put some clothes on!

Y/h/c= Your home country.

It was no secret, that you weren't from middle earth, with your strange speech, strange references, oh and the simple fact that you had fallen from the sky knocking Kili right out. Not just Kili but yourself before. You would've been quite embarrassing; if you were awake. Lucky you.

When you eventually you did awake, you were surrounded by below average height men , and man with a grey hair and wizards hat. One of the smaller men? Or dwarf you weren't sure if this was even real, it was strange to see such shorter men. His hair dark, shoulder length, not styled well compared to all the others, as for his beard..it was just stubble. The other men had long braided beards.

Yet there sat this man, very different to the others , barely with it, like he had hit his head, there you felt it , your head felt like your brain was going to pop out. You noticed , a smaller fellow jumping behind the small man to see, his curly blond her upon his head, was all to be seen.

The man that looked right out of a wrestling ring, glared at you , judging you, as did the one with ocean eyes and majestic hair. You hands behind you in the dry dirt, your heart beating heavily, shaking almost. "Uhm, w-what is h-" you didn't even get a sentence out before you were interrupted by the beardless short man.

"Well you fell out of the sky and fell on me, knocking me straight out." The man was not quite happy, "uhm, I guess I'm sorry? I didn't plan from falling from the sky, I'll try next time to see where I'm falling, but oh right, I never consented to be thrown from the sky, last time I was conscious I was- actually I do not remember." Blabbering on, even though really you should be terrified.

In the end , Gandalf and Thorin questioned you, as if they were Holt and Terry, Gandalf being Terry.

"Where do you come from, human?" The mans face frowning, the same as he had as you awoke, he spoke with sternly, as if you were a threat. Extremely intimidating. Now the others had left ,as you now sat in front of the two men.

"Uh, y/h/c." Their clothing didn't sit right with you, nor did you ever see anyone with such extreme hair styles. Maybe it was a cult?  The old man , and the slightly younger man looked at each other , then back to you , clearly confused, well the younger one anyways.

"Tell me dear, have you ever heard of Erebor?"

Thus, for whatever reason you were apart of this dwarven company, as it were.  No one was sure what in gods earth caused you to be here, well there's no 'God' in middle earth, not called God anyways.

Honestly, you didn't know what to do with yourself: no blankets, no spare clothes, no nothing except you , your thin graphic t-shirt, jeans and shoes.  Thorin was definitely no help, oh yes and no money. Who would accept plastic notes as currency here? Nor were coins from where you lived were made from gold.

Oh wait you did actually have something other than you and your clothes , you had tiny little sword, which was in fact just an letter opener, you must've been opening the post before you fell out of the sky.

Not only was it awkward between you and all the dwarves, you did not fit in. Oh yes, Gandalf explained to you that elves and wizards existed, basically explained everything. Thorin had decided this was the place they would rest for the night, so you didn't have to do any travelling... except from falling out of the sky.

You could only think, it must suck to shit squatting, oh yes you'd have to face shitting the forest soon enough... without toilet paper too. It is not even like you can be certain that no one is going to walk into the forest and find you shitting or even worse no pads bleeding out.

You were definitely not looking forward to that,  since there was no confirmation that you'd be getting home anytime soon.

So, now as the day grew dark, you sat against a large rough pine tree, the cold from the ground rising up your body. Knees pulled right up to your chest, your arms tight around, as goose bumps covered you like paint covers a wall. Hair dropping down your face as you leaned forward head on top of your knees.Staring at your feet, and the ground.

You thought on what your family must think, maybe it was like the labyrinth and they had forgotten that you had even existed. Bloody hell, Jareth, you didn't even wish for this to happen.

Not breaking out of thought when three pairs of boots, and a pair of overly large hair feet, were stood in front of you.  "Lass?"  Even then, you didn't realise, only noticing their presence when a hand was placed onto your shoulder.

Only then did you realise, looking up to see the the beardless man that you knocked out, somehow, another man with a hat , the other below average height man that looked like lion cross Seth rogen , and the jumping small fellow. "O-oh hi?"   Strange that's the only way you could put it, the two brunettes grinning largely down at you.

"Excuse their bad manners, my lady. That is Kili, my brother , Bofur, and this little fellow is Bilbo Baggins... Oh right, and I am Fili at your service." Each of them doing a little bow, Bilbo's face redden a little , being called little. What did he expect, 'Oh yes, this giant fellow with the fat ass is Bilbo.'  Them staring at you waiting for you to introduce yourself.

"Uh, I'm y/n."  Standing up , daring to do a small curtsey, with a small blush, surprised really that anyone had even approached you.

"Beautiful name, perfect, I guess I'm falling for you already, miss y/n , you know since you knocked me out."

You almost blushed at the m-Kili's words, now blushing in embarrassment. "I didn't me-" "he's only messin' with yer, lass, don't yer worry," The hatted dwarf know as Bofur had smiled at you, only to get a jab in the side by kili, only for him to return it twice as hard.

"I'm sorry, miss y/n? I'm just wondering about your clothing-" Bilbo had began to questions your clothing choice, only to be interrupted, bad manners? Definitely. "Yes, those pants are very lovely, can you do a spin-" "OI," A big muscly man, the one that had glared at you earlier had smacked the beardless dwarf on the back of his head, letting out a Yelp of pain.

"What I was going to say, before I was rudely interrupted was, are you not cold? You are barely dressed!" You had choked out a snort, at the hobbit , who had glared at Kili, he really did not like dwarves interrupting, well anyone, he's not racist.

"I'm not dressed? You've got no socks on! My mum would have scolded me, even if I just got out of the bath. 'Y/n, where's your socks! You are going to get ill! Y/n, I don't care if you have just sat down, go get your bloody socks on.' "  Starring back at you feet, now stretched across the mud, it was incredibly awkward, well until they had started laughing.

"That's just like our Amad, right, fee?" Kili had called to his brother, before sitting down on the mud near you. "Oh yes, remember when Amad told you not eat all that cake-" Looking over to Kili who's face flushed red, interrupting his brother.

"Don't you dare."  Bofur , Fili and Bilbo sat down,  you sat in a circle, Fili trying to hold back from laughing. "Well ye gotta tell us now,Fili." Bofurs hand supported his head eager for Fili to continue. Bilbo the same, he loved stories.  Kili's pleading eyes, were no match for his brother.

"Alright, so he ate all the cake, this stuff was heavily creamed, sweets covered it, it could feed 12 dwarves, that's saying a lot. Our Amad strictly told us, mostly Kili, not to eat it."

Fili's moustache braids jiggled as he talked, very distracting, letting out a small chuckle while talking a breath.  "Anyways, Amad woke up in the morning, she was not happy at all, she had yelled so loud, that me, Kili, and Thorin were awoken from upstairs. All three of us rushed down the stairs, to see the table with no cake, just the plate. Amad  stood there with her face redder than a smacked bosom, hands on her hips."

Kili face now in his hands, Fili grinning larger and larger by the second. " She had looked all three of us done, before calling Kili towards him, and it was dreadfully obviously his hair had cake crumps throughout it, he got scolded so bad."

"Is that it ," Bilbo was disappointed with the outcome, he had thought it would've been more suspenseful. "No master Baggins, Thorin later took us for training with Dwalin as well as many other viewers. Basically what happened was Dwalin threw him over his head and he landed on the floor, when he finally tried to stand up he let loose the loudest wet fart.  Then, he stood up and the back of his pants were covered, and out the ends of his trousers... he had to walk home like that."

Bursts of laughter had erupted through the circle, Kili just looked horrified with his brother, placing your hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up to you, with a sad smile.

"Don't feel bad, someone I knew yawned up to the sky and a bird shat in her mouth, to make matters worse she was afraid to tell anyone so she spat it out, and stood there with bird shit taste." 

Looking at you wide eye,  "T-they did what?"

"A bird shat in their mouth."

"Such crude language, yet suddenly I feel much better." Kili smiling up to you, the other three still laughing about Kili's shitty pants.

A friendship between you and the dwarf ,you knocked out, began. Over the months you had gotten more comfortable with the company.

Soon enough you were all captured by trolls, but you were sleeping so, you woke up and everyone was packing to leave. You were very confused indeed, Thorin had announced that you all were leaving for a troll cave.

Gandalf had merged after Thorin with two swords , calling you and Bilbo over. Wow, free stuff. 

What Gandalf had not expected was your behaviour later on at Rivendell... Bathing and changing at Rivendell, eating some rabbit food, it was soon time for second dinner and after that bed.

Roaming the grounds of Rivendell the next month, you had bumped into Bilbo. That's when it started, you had already been messing with your sword. When Bilbo had approached you, seeing your cheeky grin he didn't know whether to run.

"M-morning ,miss y/n?" Speaking uncertain of himself, partly nervous,  you had been pretty unpredictable, you know falling out the sky?

"Morning ,Bilbo!  How are you feeling?"  Swinging your sword in like it was baton or baseball bat, almost dropping flat on your face.

"I'm fine , thank you. Uh..." The sword now between your legs, swinging it around. "Bilbo look, it's my cock." Bilbos face now red, your crude language tended to fluster the poor hobbit, sorry the rich hobbit.

"Miss y/n, I do not think that's quite appropriate.."   You head snapping towards the hobbit, your face dropped, instantly Bilbos mouth is gapped. "Oh- I didn't mean any offence." Taking a step forward, Bilbo had stepped back , another and another.

Bilbo had ended up sprinting , you chasing him, well until an elf had offered you pastry's. Continuing your walk around the grounds, munching on your pastry, distracted by your breakfast you didn't notice the dwarf in front of you until the last second. 

"Where's your trousers?!"  You had made eye contact with something other than his eyes, it was painfully obvious. Meeting his actual eyes, the smirk on his face, concluded that he had seen you check him out, flushed pink cheeks.

"Fili took my clothes."

"Why would he want to see you running around naked,-cover up gosh!" Your voice getting higher by the second.

"Well, my lady with what?" You had thrown your pastry at the dwarf, now quite put off; even though his size was quite large. Instead covering himself he began to eat the remaining amount of the pastry.

You had scoffed, walking around the dwarf, away from his naked body.

What did catch you off guard again was a  man popping out from a pillar , his longish hair blond, his eyes ocean blue, his beard trimmed, his shirt beige , with a brown leather belt around his waist. You didn't know how to describe it, you jumped when he spoke.

"Hello there," 

How could be here? In a land of dwarves, elves and wizards? It was Obi-wan Kenobi, surely he should've been in the high ground? I mean, chopping some legs...so Anakin is leg a less, because his legs Aragorn.

"General Kenobi!" Kili had to turned around, to see you running at a strange man, who was General Kenobi, turning back round he had stomped off back to the company... to gossip.

"What are you doing here, Obi-wan?" His arms held behind his back as you two walked through Rivendell together, the truth was that you had never met before.

"I'm here because of you, y/n...the Council has sent me to help you. The universe is in great danger, again."

Then, you found out your real purpose was in middle earth; to save the line of Durin, With Obi-wan Kenobi as your master you as the pad awan. However, of course you did not have the force, he was just going to teach you how not to be damsel in distress.

You didn't know how this would bring you so close to the Jedi knight..

Obi-wan, had hid until half a day from Rivendell, when you had gestured him to come out, Kili had let out the most over dramatic gasp possible. "I told you he was real!"

That definitely caught the attention of the whole company, stopping, turning , drawing there weapons, Fili pulling you out the way.

"Why are you following us?" Thorins voice boomed over the winds, you couldn't imagine how your eardrums would certainly burst if he had a microphone. Getting of the grips of the dwarves again, standing between Obi-wan and the axes of the company.

Little Bilbo just watched the slope of the mountain with amusement. "What are you doing, y/n?!"

"You stubborn dwarves, if I was walking with him with no fuse, you'd think that he was with me, he's here to help me." Kili had scoffed, nor did any of other dwarves look convinced, Obi-wans hands on his hips, puffing his chest, revealing his lightsaber.

"I've had enough, I don't care what you say Thorin, he is my protection, he's not taking any of the reward, now let's go, he is not the enemy." Maybe you told a small lie, it would not go down well if Thorin knew Obi-wan was there to protect him and his nephews.

"At the front, both of you, now." And you were walking again, you and Obi-wan at the front.

Though, all together you were from three different universes, you from one which starwars was just a set of films, and series. It felt weird. Knowing he died, old, and he didn't look himself.

"Wait, so, Qui-Gon basically died of STDs, because he so many that it slowed him down? I thought it was a rule not have attachments; but he could sleep around?" I mean, if that's the case... you are very handsome, I'm not the best looking, nor have I ever.."

Your face felt hot, that was more than light flirting, really you had only known him for 27 hours, your crush on him though, that developed from watching him on screen.

Now concentrating on where you were going, surprised when Obi-wan had let out a laugh.

"My lady, you must be mistaken, you are absolutely beautiful." Your face flushed pink, wrapping your arm around Obi-wan's arm, his eyes watched you as you did, not hilding hands or anything just his arm. There are times in life when words are not needed.

Soon enough it was time to stop, when the company approached a large path on the mountain, so big that the company could sit in a circle if they desired. Along the way many of the dwarves had collected sticks and branches for a fire.

Right against the mountain wall you had set up your bed roll, and dropped your cloak from the elves on it as a blanket, you were sure to remember to share with Obi-wan later.  Obi one had copied you, dropping his cloak neck to yours, as you both stood next to each other, the sky now dark, the smell of dinner lingered in the air.

The glow of the fire lit up Obi-wan's face, his beard now more orange, his blue eyes focused on you.

"Hey, um, Obi-wan...can I hold your lightsaber?"  His hands on his beige tunic, eyeing you down, one of a second, before handing you the weapon.

The lightsaber, heavy in your hands, yet still you were swinging it like you were playing tennis on the wii. "Um, Obi, can I please..?"  Turning to face the Jedi with pleading eyes, he just shrugged his shoulders casually nodding.

With that you had pressed the button, there stood the blue blade in front of your very eyes. Bilbo had noticed almost immediately spitting out his food, who in their right mind would give her a weapon?

Noticing Bilbos sudden uncomfortableness, grinning at him, as the saber made its way between your legs. "Hey Bilbo,Check out how big my dick is!" Bilbo had put his bowl of food down, and his behind Thorin, brooding.

"Uhm, lass? What is that?" Bofur wearily, spoke, eyeing the saber not blinking,like many other dwarves. Balin flinching as you waved it between your legs.

"It's a lightsaber, the weapon of Jedi's. Hey, Kili, sorta looks like your dick ,if it was a hundred times smaller. " Not that you were looking at Kili, his face flushed as he chocked out his stew, Thorins eyes burning into the back of the head, he would speak to him later.

"Oi, when did you get a look at Kees , lad?" Fili wan most  amused at the situation, Kili knocking him in the ribs.

"Well , what happened was I got a pastry at Rivendell, and Kili almost whacks into me. Yeah, and he was naked, so, not that I like to give away food, I throw the pastry at him and Obi-wan appears and saves me. End of story."

Now swinging the lightsaber like it was a golf club, you wondered if Obi-wan had to charge his lightsaber.  Kili now standing up , walking over to you as the dwarves forget about the story, simply because it wasn't rare that they went around naked. 

"Oi, Kili , throw that stick at me, so I can hit it." 

Kili had planned on telling you a piece of his mind, how his dick was not small, but there you were not a care in the world, waiting for him to pick up the stick.

His eyes searched the stone floor when his eyes catch, a thick stick not a twig. Without a thought he threw it, your eyes waiting, standing like you were going to play baseball or rounders. Swinging your arm slicing through the stick, causing it to slam to the floor in two separate pieces.

"I'm sorry, but what in middle earth is a Jedi and why do they have that, what even is that!"

Obi-wan just stood by you chest puffed, huge smirk on his face, as Kili ranted slightly , fear embedded in his eyes as he stood back as you swung the weapon around more, it was not surprising that the company were also in slight shock.

"This man is a Jedi." Pointing at Obi-wan before turning fully towards him, ignoring the others questions. "Okay, now teach me, master..." A grin across your face, as Obi-wan took the saber from your hands, turning it off, before standing behind you.

Turning your back into place, your feet in the correct stance, his back against yours as ushered you take your sword from his hands.  His hot breath briefly against your neck. Once you had done, his back peeled from yours, and he had done the same.

Throughout the next months, Obi-wan had continued to teach you how to defend yourself

, Kili always disagreeing on Obi-wand methods, suggesting he would be better to teacher you.

That was until you were all captured at Mirkwood. Of course, Obi-wan tried to use the force on the elves, however , due to being immortal they weren't easily controlled.  Somehow he did it still, only allowing you and him to escape, due to being human. What you didn't understand though, why was Obi-wan such a flirt.

The blond elf, the one that looked straight off like a princess, had stared at you and Obi-wan with his eyebrows raised. His light foot steps, couldn't be heard as he glided towards you both, standing close to Obi-wan, as the dwarves were search. Legolas excluding you two from it, using the side of your body to hide the lightsaber at Obi-wan's belt.

"Why are two humans travelling with dwarves?"   Was this elf wearing tights? David Bowie could get away with it because that ass and overall god looks, but the colour scheme on this blond elf was not it. Wondering if his dick could even breathe, maybe it shrank.

Looking at Obi-wan, who was smouldering at the elf, his lips slightly pushed out his blue eyes sharp, his long hair flowing. But..there was no wind. His hand doing a weird gesture like waving.

"We are not, we are trying to get lake town, as I have finally decided to meet my darlings parents. You will let us go." You were surprised when Obi-wan had wrapped his arm around your waist pulling you close to him. Your eyes wide, you really didn't think you were going to get out of this, how many times had you all been captured? Too many times.

"Go, follow the path, goodbye." Obi-wan had quickly let go of your waist , talking your hand, pulling you away, false smiles on your faces as you left. Trying not raise suspicion, Kili had watched the whole thing, scoffing in disgust, watching you and Obi-wan walking away.

You wanted to help the dwarves you really did;but Obi-wan had assured you they didn't need your help. You both waiting in the safe forest outside of the woodland realm, waiting for the dwarves.

Not only had Obi-wan had taught you basic defensive skills, but you had became extremely close. Here you were, stuck in a forest, no bedrolls no nothing, due to Azog. Nights were cold, so cold, as Obi-wan's duty to protect you, you both decided for your survivals there was only one way.

The fire low, so that you would not be detected by Orcs, Obi-wan and you snuggling up together, his arms around your waist, knees tucked under yours. Body heat being the only thing from stopping you both freezing to death.

During this week, what disturbed you the most, was Obi-wan's french accent...Considering there was no earth in the star-wars universe. If that matter you weren't sure. He'd pop the accent out at random moments, going to bathe in a stream?

"Do you need a chaperone, mon amour?" No, he did not go in the water with you, he just stood guard, holding his arm out to walk you to the stream and even back. Though you did have to wait by the stream while he was bathing , with his lightsaber in your hand, just in case.

However,one day when you you were bathing Obi-wan had almost had a heart attack when you let a gasp, running out of the hair all across your face, running smack into him. Your bare body against his robes, soon as he made eye contact with you he knew it was nothing life threatening.

"When I said 'You don't have time to be timid, you must be bold and daring' this was not what I mean." Obi-wan's stuck to yours , reassuring your privacy, even though his back was against the mud , your whole body pressed against him. Again with the accent, Obi-wan's smile small, your hands against his chest, as laugh erupted from your mouth.

"What is, Ma Cherie?"

"Only reason I'm laying on you butt naked is because a fish brushed against my leg." Obi-wan's once sincere face replaced with a grin you snuffled your laughter against his neck. Your cold skin against his , as vibrations travelled through his body, a laugh from his lips travelling to your ears. A few minutes passed, with you just against Obi-wan as you laughed together.

"This would be very embarrassing ,if the company found us now."

"I'll close my eyes, and you can go get dressed,"

That was it with that, Obi wan would never disrespect your modesty, it is not like when Kili had shown off on purpose.

The next day, you had caught up with the company and an injured Kili. However, the french accent was not lost...

Kili's faced laced with sweat, as you and Obi-wan made your way to the compan, his eyes met yours. He felt relieved that you had came back, yet anger still bubbled down in inside.

"I thought ye had left us." Bofur popping up infront of you two, his eyebrow raise.

"No, figured from I heard about that king , it was not the best if he had got a hold of Y/n, it is my mission to protect y/n." Bofur , along with Gloin, Dori and few others nodded in agreement.

Your eyes drifting from Obi-wan's face, back to Kili, his thigh seeping with blood,you had grabbed Obi-wan by the hand pulling him over with you towards Kili. Obi-wan meeting your eyes once again, confused with your actions. "Obi.. help him."

Letting go of your hand, Obi-wan had brought his hand over the wound, Kili tried to protest, only to be shut down by Fili. Kili felt tugging on his skin, the pain slowly disappearing, a few seconds late Obi-wan had remove his hand, stood up, made his way back to you. "W-what? H-how did you?"

This is what you and Obi-wan were sent here to do, save the line of Durin. After that, not even seconds Bard had arrived, the company was on their way again, no delays, except being caught by the master, which kind of annoyed

Obi-wan, getting to be called that without being a Jedi , disgraceful.

After that, it was one more boat ride away, and climbing more mountains. Within three hours , you feet began to blister, the knocks harsh, you wondered how Bilbo could do it, he was a happy chappy. Obi-wan next to you, had immediately picked up on you change. His eyes caught onto yours like a magnet, within seconds you were on his shoulders, hanging. Just like Anakin had carried him unconscious, he could've carried you anyway way but he decided on potato sack really?

"B-Ben!" The little shriek had erupted from your mouth in surprise, in reality it sounded like he had just made you orgasm. Your face flushed, as Obi-wan grip tightened around your thigh. "Yes, Ma Cherie?" Again with Obi-wan doing the french accent, letting out a groan.

"Never mind." For the next three hours you are carried on Obi-wan's shoulders, you couldn't imagine how his back feels. There's no negotiating with the negotiator. Your stomach ached from just being on his back. You did get to sleep for a while, which was great.

“Obi, I can walk now." Your face next the side of his face, softly speaking to him. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." With that you were back on the ground, walking with the rest of the company, though you didn't speak to many of the other dwarves much, you found yourself away from Obi-wan and in the company of Fili, who had left the company of his brother. Your conversation had started out normal, Fili telling you about the Elves, and Bilbo saving them.

"Are you courting the man?" Eyes widening at the dwarves words, it was no doubt that you had liked him watching him on screen, but no way he had made advances, had he? He could not, it's not the Jedi way. Why did he flirt with you all the time.  As you two grew close, you felt you chest tightening, you could feel that way. Just months ago you had felt the same for Kili, but then Obi-wan had appeared.

"No, why do you ask?"  Your face felt hot, unbearably hot, embarrassed that you had been clearly flirting back to Obi-wan.

"It's just that my brother... don't know if you have noticed he has been not himself, and well I think it's because of you and Obi-wan."  Fili whispered to you, you could barely hear him, but when you did make out what he was saying, why would Kili not himself because you and Obi-wan, had you offended him some how?

"What do you mean? Why would it be our fault?" It was not appropriate but a chuckle still left his lips, Fili could not understand how you could be so blind.

"You and Obi-wan flirt publicly a lot..." Then it hit you, the reason Kili could barely look at you anymore, you had not really ever have someone like you let alone possibly two.  Blush upon your cheeks, "Oh.."

"Now, you must understand, y/n , if you don't feel for him, you must put him down, do you love Obi-wan?"  Turning you face back to look at Obi-wan, who had been watching his steps, as he talked to Bilbo, who seemed to be deep into conversation. When Obi-wan's blue eyes had finally caught yours, his lips had turned up in a smile, before you turned back to the blond haired dwarf.

Fili's moustache braids jigging, as you all walked, waiting for your response.

"Jedi's aren't allowed attachments; it would never work out."

“Do you love him?” Repeating the same question, how could you know if you loved him, why would it matter it would never work out, Fili clearly didn’t want his brother heartbroken because you couldn’t decide.

“I d-don’t know, Fee,”

“Do you love Kili?”

“Really, Fili, I don’t know.”

Fili, had suggested to speak to Kili later, what if you only loved Obi-wan platonically?

Once Thorin had stopped the company for the night, and when the sky was dark. Only the glow of the fire upon your faces, Fili had left his brother on a log, making eye contact with you, gesturing for you to swap with him. Sitting upon the rough log, thighs touching, Kili had turned slightly jumping when realising it was you, his brown eyes now looking to yours with the flame of the fire reflected into them. His face with no expression at all, he didn’t even say anything to you. A string of pain, flowed through your heart, you hadn’t realised how you hadn’t spoken to Kili in months, properly anyways.

You had wrapped your arms around Kili neck, your cold flesh against Kili’s neck, as you pulled him into a tight hug, slowly he had accepted it. Wrapping his arms around your waist tightly, his head in the crook of your neck, breathing in deeply, his dark hair, tickling your neck.

“I’m sorry, Kili.” Pulling away, Kili brows scrunched together, his dark eyes searching your face, he thought he had done something wrong, and was going you space, also think mostly that you and Obi-wan were courting. However, Fili had informed him that you were not courting, he wished he could scold his older brother, for being nosy.

“W-why?” He had been jealous of your behaviour towards Obi-wan no doubt about that, but you shouldn’t have to apologise for his feelings, you could like anyone you wanted, you are beautiful, bodaciously so.

“Because I haven’t spoken to you for months, it’s not because I don’t like you, it’s just...you promise not to repeat this to anyone, especially your uncle?” Kili knew it, you didn’t like him, but his uncle? Yuck, he couldn’t be mean to you though, you were nothing but nice to him. Instead he just nodded, with a small smile.

“Thank you..the real reason why Obi-wan and I were sent here, well is to keep the line of Durin alive, must have a big effect on all the universes otherwise, two people from separate universes would not have been sent. So, we’ve been keeping this secret, it’s been hard, that’s why I spend so much time with Obi-wan.”

Kili’s eyes never left yours, as you spoke, taking a deep breath before you continued on, you were scared for the safety of your friends, Thorin didn’t care what you were doing , because you and Obi-wan were quiet and kept to yourselves, he saw how effective in battle Obi-wan was and didn’t complain. He needed the man power, there was no doubt about that.

“If I am totally honest, I do love Ben, and if he was allowed to be with me, I wouldn’t be with him, it’s not the way of the Jedi. He is my best friend, that is a gentleman, I’m sorry, but his back must’ve killed carrying me like a sack of potatoes. Plus, when we were waiting for you... I was having a bath, he was on guard and fish brush against me, I went running, fell flat on him, that was definitely not a pretty sight for hi-“

“You what?” Kili was scared to know what you were getting and frankly disturbed that Obi-wan had seen you vulnerable. You had reached and gripped his, large dwarven hand, tightly, rough, yet so warm...

“ Doesn’t matter, he was very respectful. Anyways, what I was getting at Kili, is that.. I c-can’t live within you...I love you, not platonically either, I understand if you don’t feel the same for me. I wouldn’t if I was you.” Before you could blink , his soft lips upon your, your hands in you his hair pulling him close, his hands back around his waist.

You finally felt certain of something.

Bonus:

Kili was not the slightest happy when you accidentally cut a lock of his hair off with the saber.

“Hey, Ben, can I cut your hair too?”

“Fuck off, I’m the only Jedi left with good hair, you touch it you’ll become a baked potato.”

“Okay I’m sorry!”

“mon Cherie , I could never harm you, for I love you like a dog.”

“Oi, stop flirting.” Kili had interrupted, petting his burnt detached hair.

“He just called me a dog, that’s not flirting,”

[godess-ofthe-underworld]

Love Finds A Way

(sequel to “See You Again) ( A Harry Hook x reader story)

Part 11

"I love you."

Harry cradled her jaw with his palm as his thumb gently glided across her cheek.  Hadley closed her eyes leaning into it.

"Haddie… I … I love you too." 

Hadley's heart nearly leapt out of her chest.

Harry ducked his head slowly bringing it closer to hers. He was close enough that she could still smell the sea and metal permeating from his jacket. 

She sucked in a sharp breath just as his lips were about to collide with hers.

However….  Their moment was interrupted by a shriek coming from the deck. 

Startled, the two jumped away and looked around for the source, only to notice that the music had stopped and Ben and Uma had stopped dancing.

Grabbing Harry's hand,  Hadley led them back to the main deck.  She stopped when she saw the others still on the stairs, this time looking to the opposite higher deck.  

"Cool stained glass window" Hadley said pointing at as she stopped next to Evie.

"Buts whats going on?" Hadley questioned as she looked around at the others.

They all shrugged.

"Ben's been spelled" Mal squeaked.

"Uma found your spell book" Evie realised. 

"Ohhhhh.." Harry started " so tha's what happened".

"Wait … Harry did you know about this?" Evie asked looking over at him. 

"Nah.  Wasn't me business." Harry shrugged.

Mal looked from the window to Ben knowing what she had to do. 

There was a lot of back and forth between Mal and Uma trying to keep Ben's focus and a little of Uma shouting at Fairy Godmother.

Mal gained his attention and she started rambling, a little too quickly for Hadley to understand.  Her rambling ceased only when she stepped forward and kissed him. 

All around people were gasping,waiting.

When she pulled away there was a moment where no one said anything, the only thing heard was Ben whisper Mals name.  The whole deck signed in relief that the king was back to normal.

"True loves kiss… works every time" Evie sighed wistfully. 

Uma however, had other plans as she rushed towards Fairy Godmother demanding and reaching for the wand.  

When Hadley and Evie blocked her path Uma looked for another way out.

Glancing over the railing to the water Uma smirked dashing over towards it. The Vks and everyone else rushed after her yelling for her to stop. She stops and turned around still clinging to the railing as Mal spoke up.

"Uma, I know you. You are so much more than just a villain,  and you have to believe me because I've been there.  Do not let your pride get in the way of something you really want."

Uma looked around, then her necklace, or well her mothers necklace started glowing.  Mal stepped forward to take her hand, but Uma turned, climbing up and over the railing, all while they shouted for her to stop.  She dove into the dark waters the rest running to find her but she didn't surface.

Suddenly the waters started swirling, creating a large whirlpool. It got bigger and bigger, until it was taller than the yacht itself.  Every one backed away scared.  Hadley felt Harry's arm wrap around her waist pulling her close to him. 

The cyclone suddenly burst as Uma sprung from its middle spraying water all over the deck and everyone who ran trying to shield themselves. When the water subsided they ran back to the rail, to find Uma, this time as a giant cecaelia. The long tentacles matched the teal of her dress and swirled just under the surface of the water. 

Uma laughed maniacally, spreading her arms wide as she taunted them. 

"True loves kiss won't defeat this. The world will know my name." She screamed.  She started snapping a tentacle at the deck causing everyone to duck and be sprayed  with water again

Harry pulled Hadley close, he noticed that Evie was directly in line with a tentacle snap and thought fast.  He quickly grabbed her arm pulling her towards them and shielded them both.

Uma snapped a few more times to startle everyone, laughing the entire time.

When it was safe and they could stand properly again Evie, although stunned, thanked Harry for saving her.  He, however, had no time to say anything because Mal started smoking.  Literally smoking. Purple and black smoke wound around and completely enveloped her as her eyes glowed vibrant green.  Those closest to her quickly backed up unsure of what was happening. Ben went to rush towards her but was blown back when a gust of air came through the smoke clearing it.  Left in Mals place was a brilliant purple dragon.  Evie and Hadley looked at each other in shock, jaws hitting the deck below. 

"Did you know she could do that?!" They both frantically asked as they ran to the rail which dragon Mal had flown over.

Uma cackled but quickly stopped when Mal Got a fireball at her.  She retaliated by snapping a tentacle at her.

They ducked as Mal flew over the deck to avoid it.

Mal circled around and blew a straight line of fire right to Umas head, which she narrowly missed by ducking under the water.  Only to resurface, causing a large wave  to splash up the side of the boat and rock it.  Everyone screamed and held onto each other to try and stay up as the yatch rocked roughly.  They were all startled when Ben let out a loud roar. He threw his crown and jacket at Jay and dove over the railing despite everyone yelling for him to stop.  

He swam in between the two looking from one to the other begging them to stop.  He started talking about listening and respecting each other.

The crowd stood in suspense after Ben asked Uma to be a part of the difference and not be against it. 

Umas features softened, shoulders slumping and tentacles no longer in defense as she thought.  She stretched out one to Ben's outstretched hand and delicately placed his gold ring on it.

Uma smiled sadly saying nothing as she turned and ducked under the water swimming off.  

Hadleys head hung.  She was hoping that Uma would accept his offer.  She felt Harry's hand on her shoulder as she looked up, giving him a tight smile as he watched Uma swim away.  Everyone's attention had turned to dragon Mal as she hovered over the deck with a puff of smoke, human Mal landed on the upper deck magically changing her dress to match the one in the glass window startled as the fabric started singeing.  She patted them out quickly and evie met her at the bottom of the stairs and led her to Ben, again, and tripped when Evie pushed her to him.  

"I owe you guys so much" the vks laughed as they agreed with him. 

" really, if there is anything you need or anything i can do for you please-" he was interrupted by Evie stepping up.

"Actually there is Ben, um, I know a girl who would really love to come to Auradon. Its Drizzellas daughter, Dizzy.  She's like a little sister to Hadley and me." She smiled at Hadley. 

"Then she should come." Ben smiled.

He started to say something Hadley interrupted this time.

"Ben there are a lot of kids who would really love it here in Auradon.  Kids just like us who deserve a second chance." 

"Can we maybe get you a.. a list?" Evie said hopefully.

"Yes absolutely" 

Everyone cheered until a guard came up with Mal's spell book that was found below deck.  She ultimately decided to give it up to Fairy Godmother, who eagerly took it and whisked away with it.

Hadley felt her arm being tug gently. She turned around looking at Harry who was smiling just as wide. He tugged her closer holding her hands. 

"Make sure me name is at the top of the list would ya." 

Hadley feinded  thought for a moment.

"Hmmmm… Dizzy definitely is first on the list." She teased.

"Oh really?" Harry chuckled and wrapped his arms around her waist. 

Hadley laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Hadleys smile grew wide looking up into his eyes.  They seemed brighter, more blue, like the kind of blue Hadley had only seen in an Auradon sky.

They must have had the whole crowd invigorated because Evie and Ruby both shouted " Kiss her!" 

Harry and Hadley laughed along with the rest. 

He looked down at her smiling as she jokingly shooed at them.

"Ye don' have ta tell me twice." He whispered. 

He gently grabbed her chin making her look up at him.  

She closed her eyes and met him halfway as he leaned toward her. His soft, but slightly chapped, lips collided with hers and the rest of the world slowly faded out.  

His arm around her waist pulled her closer and his other hand moved to rest on her cheek.  

Hadley felt her cheeks radiate heat but couldn't care as she kissed him.  

They were so lost in each other that they didnt see the others scheming.  

Hadley and Harry pulled away laughing when they felt a spray of cold water hit them from all sides. 

(Ben)

Looking back at yesterday

I thought I gave it everything

But still there's so much road ahead of me

Harry wrapped his arms around Hadley's waist hugging her close.

(Mal)

When I looked into your eyes

I guess I didn't recognize

Who we are and all that we can be

Harry took hadleys hands following everyone elses movement.

(Ben and Mal)

Sometimes it's hard to find yourself

But it's worth it in the end

'Cause in your heart is where it all begins

(All)

We gotta be bold

We gotta be brave

We gotta be free

We gotta get loud

Making that change

You gotta believe (whoa)

We'll look deep inside

And we'll rise up and shine

We can be bold

We can be brave

Let everyone see

It starts with you and me (whoa, whoa, hey)

It starts with you and me (whoa, whoa, hey)

It starts with you and me

 Hadley let go of Harry's hand as Evie pulled her to the ships railing looking out at the isle.  Carlos joined them and the three linked arms. 

(Evie, Hadley and Carlos)

There's something special that I've learned

It's together we can change the world

Everybody's got something that they can bring

Mal and Jay joined them.

(Mal and Jay) 

When you take a look inside yourself

Do you wish that you were something else?

But who you are is who you need to be

Evie pulled Mal and Hadley away holding their hands.

 (Evie, Mal and Hadley)

Sometimes it's hard to find yourself

But it's worth it in the end

'Cause in your heart is where it all begins

 They separated and formed a large circle with everyone else splashing in the water and laughing.

(All)

We gotta be bold

We gotta be brave

We gotta be free

We gotta get loud

Making that change

You gotta believe (whoa)

We'll look deep inside

And we'll rise up and shine

We can be bold

We can be brave

Let everyone see

It starts with you and me (whoa, whoa, hey)

It starts with you and me (whoa, whoa, hey)

It starts with you and me

Everyone  joined evie and Ben at the stairs.

(Evie and Mal)

We all can do a part

We know that it can be the start

To bring about the difference that we need (yeah)

(All)

I promise we can work this out

I promise we can see it through

Hadley reached out and grabbed harrys hand.

Don't you know it's up to me

It's up to me and you

They charged the center of the dance floor splashing as they went and formed a large circle  with people dancing in the middle.

(All)

We gotta be bold

We gotta be brave

We gotta be free

We gotta get loud

Making that change

You gotta believe (whoa)

We'll look deep inside

And we'll rise up and shine

We can be bold

We can be brave

Let everyone see

It starts with you and me (whoa, whoa, hey)

It starts with you and me (whoa, whoa, hey)

Hadley pulled harry out to the middle. He scooped her up and spun around as the water went flying. He quickly kissed her as he set her down. He grabbed her hand as they danced out of the circle.

It starts with you and me (whoa, whoa, hey)

It starts with you and me (whoa, whoa, hey)

It starts with you and me

Mal and Ben waved to the crowd as they cheered.

The Djs kicked back up and upbeat music flooded the deck. 

Hadley held harrys’ hand as he spun her and she kicked water up at him.

Only a few more chapters until the end :’(  but at least they finally kissed!! If you like part 11 and would like part 12 please comment and like!  As always you can read the illustrated version over on my Wattpad (@phelpsphan).  If you would like to be added to the tag list please message me! 

Summary: You would think that six months in Auradon would do any villain kid good.  Well, not Hadley.  After the events of the Coronation, Hadley's mood took a downward spiral; and for one reason, guilt.  She'd broken a promise and left her best friend on the Isle of the Lost.  How will she handle seeing him again when certain circumstances bring her back to the Isle? Will she finally tell him what she really feels?  

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters in Descendants.  Hadley and the plot between her and Harry are mine. 

Tag list: @unded-bride , @fangirlforever2412 , @itsnottilly 

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

The Shallows (Part 3)

(x)

Summary: A few months after moving to a quiet little lake town on the edge of the state park, the reader has a near death experience and is saved by a man close by. When the police don’t take her seriously, he does and the pair stumble onto something bigger than they imagined…

Masterlist

Pairing: Wildlife Agent!Dean x reader

Word Count: 2,400ish

Warnings: language, kidnapping, near drowning

A/N: Enjoy the final part!...

________

You yawned when the sun had started to rise. You were pretty close to Maker’s Point if you had to guess. Sticking close to the trail cam line had helped you stay on track in the dark. You figured Dean would be relatively okay once you found him as long as nothing had happened after you left. You’d just sneak him back to your house until Donna could get some backup.

After fifteen minutes, you knew you were in the right area. The terrain sloped down into a deep valley and if Dean was restrained, he’d have no chance of climbing out on his own. You tied off a rope and used it to help you get down a rough patch, leaving it there as you started to walk. You used your flashlight to look around, the air much cooler down there. You rubbed your arm and walked around a corner, trying to check every spot when all of a sudden you heard a rock move nearby. You spun around and watched a tiny little rock roll, another one jutting out from seemingly nowhere.

“Dean?” you asked as you went back. You pointed the flashlight and saw a flash of green jacket in the space behind a large boulder. “Dean. It’s Y/N.”

You bent down and heard him shift around, Dean turning when the flashlight got him in the face. 

“You okay?” you asked. It was hard to tell but you were pretty sure he nodded. “Alright. Looks like someone shoved a giant rock in front of this alcove. I called Donna so she’ll deal with those other guys. I’ll figure out how to get you out of here.”

He jammed his face up against the rock and you saw the duct tape. You reached as far as you could, fingers barely scraping between the space but you caught the corner of it and he turned his head to peel it off.

“You gotta hurry,” he said with a pant. “It’s supposed to storm this morning.”

“Dean, a little rain-”

“This is a flash flood area. The river is close and this area always floods when it storms,” he said, thunder going off in the distance.

“How much room do you have back there?” you asked.

“Not much. They drugged me after you left. I woke up here maybe a few hours ago. I figured out I was in the valley once the sun started to come up,” he said. “How big is that rock?”

“Pretty big,” you said, sitting back on your heels.

“You won’t be able to move that on your own,” he said. 

“You’re gonna have to help me,” you said. He laughed and you sighed. “I’m serious.”

“My arms are useless and I can’t see a thing,” he said. 

“Yes, you can,” you said, looking down the crack, catching a green eye looking back. “Okay? Don’t freak on me in there.”

“Okay,” he said, his eye glancing up when a drop of rain hit your face. “I’ll do my best.”

“Alright. You need to get your feet against the rock. Can you do that?” you asked.

“Give me a second,” he said. He grunted a few times but eventually stopped. “Yeah, I think I got it. You’re gonna need leverage at the top at the top here. You didn’t happen to bring a big ass metal pole, did you?”

“No,” you said, looking around for a moment, pushing your hood up when the rain started to come down. 

“Y/N.”

“Let me think,” you said, gaze going over to the far end of the valley, a trickle of water coming down. “Dean. There’s water starting to come down here.”

“This place always floods,” he said. “Get out of here before it gets bad.”

“Not happening, Winchester,” you said as you climbed up on the rock.

“Sorry I called you a bitch before. I didn’t mean it.”

“I figured that out,” you said, standing on top of it and sliding down against the rock wall. “Okay. We’re gonna have to push.”

“Y/N, it’s too heavy.”

“We’ll get it,” you said. “You didn’t let me drown. I’m not letting you, simple as that,” you said. “On three push as hard as you can. One, two, three!”

You tried to push out as hard you could, imagining Dean was doing the same right below you. It didn’t even budge and you sighed.

“Stop,” you said, hoping back down, the water coming down in a rush from the river. You stared at the rock, Dean quiet.

“Y/N. When I tell you to go, you go, understand? You don’t want to mess with flash floods.”

“Well you don’t want to mess with evil bottle plant owners either but I already did that so what’s a little flash flood,” you said. You stared at the rock and then at the dirt, looking back at the slight slope of the valley. “I’m going to try and dig away at some of the ground underneath the rock so when we push again, gravity will help pull it away.”

“Do not get crushed by this thing. That’s a horribly stupid idea,” he said.

“Good talk,” you said, taking a rock from close by and hitting the ground. You dug as much as you could until you heard water behind you, the bottom of the valley full and rising up quickly. “Alright. Let’s try again.”

You climbed on top and tried the motion again, Dean hissing after a second.

“You okay?”

“Water’s cold,” he said.

“Just push.”

“I’m trying,” he said. You groaned and felt the rock giving more this time. “It’s not going to budge. Seriously, go-”

“Shut up, Dean. I’m not leaving,” you said, hoping back in the water, digging again. The water was frigid but you didn’t say anything. You dug out more and more, climbing back top when you heard Dean shivering. “Come on, Dean. You gotta push with me.”

“It’s up to my chest,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Fuck.”

“Dean. I got you. Push with me, babe,” you said, looking to the right, twice the water from before coming in. “Now.”

You kicked your legs and pushed out again, trying to push off the wall. Dean made a strange sound and you heard him spit water out.

“Take a big breath, Dean. Push as long as you can,” you said. You heard him inhale and the rock moved a little, both of you still pushing. Your bottom got wet and you saw the water hit your boots, Dean completely underwater at that point. “Shit.”

You pushed harder, getting some leverage. It stopped though and you knew Dean must have stopped pushing, either to conserve oxygen or because he couldn’t anymore, you didn’t really know.

“Come on!” you shouted, the water starting to get up to your waist. You planted your palms against the rock and pushed, scraping them up. You grunted and felt your legs start to shake.

A jolt of adrenaline hit you and you shouted, the rock giving some. You stretched out your legs all at once, the rock falling away as you slid down the rock wall behind you and into the water. Dean didn’t pop up though and you immediately grabbed him, getting him to the surface.

“Dean,” you said, his head hanging there lazily. You groaned as you swam with him to the less steep side and hooked an arm around him, finding the rope you’d used to get down and tying it around his waist. You pulled him up to the top of the valley with it, panting a few times before he was laid out on his back, arms behind him. 

You hit his chest a few times, Dean immediately flashing open his eyes and coughing up water. He rolled to his side and you hit his back a few times, Dean getting up more before he sucked in a few big breaths.

“Ow. That fucking burns,” he croaked out, giving you a lazy smile. “I owe you one.”

“We’re even,” you said, sitting him up and pulling him into a hug. He rested his head on your shoulder and took a few deep breaths. 

“Thank you,” he said, calming down as you ran a hand up and down his back. “You are easily the best girlfriend I’ve ever had.”

“Was that all it took?” you laughed, Dean turning into your neck. “You’re okay. Here, let me see if I can get those off of you.”

You moved behind him and opened your backpack, pulling out a few bobby pins and working for a few minutes before one cuff popped free. The other came off easier and you shoved everything back in your bag, Dean checking out his cut up wrists.

“Here,” you said, taking out the small first aid kit and cleaning him up before you put some bandages on him.

“I see you read the book I gave you,” he teased.

“They didn’t hurt you anywhere else?” you asked.

“No. I knew Nolan was an asshole, never thought he was that bad though,” he said.

“We can hide out at my house until everything-”

“No. I can guarantee they’ll have eyes on your place. When they don’t see you around, they’ll probably come looking here. We’re better off hiding out in the woods for a while,” he said.

“Where though?”

“I have an idea.”

“Dean?” you asked. He hummed and lifted his head from your shoulder an hour later. “Drink some water.”

“My throat still hurts,” he whispered.

“You need to drink something. Please. A few sips,” you said, holding your bottle out to him. He sighed but let you put it to his lips. He took a few swallows, wincing for a moment before he realized how thirsty he was and chugged most of it. “Better?”

“Yeah. We’re gonna need to move soon, get back into town,” he said.

“We can stay a little longer, wait for more backup,” you said. You looked out the window of the small state park cabin, a perfect view of the Shallows outside. “It’s pretty here.”

“It is. I always thought about getting a house on the lake front. No way I can live here anymore,” he said.

“Why not?” you asked.

“Even if you get rid of Nolan and the people he paid off, they’ll probably shut down the plant which is jobs here and I can’t show my face. I should move out to my brother and parents and find some city job,” he said.

“You’re gonna leave me here all by myself after all this? I thought we were doing that whole being alone together thing,” you said. He smiled and looked over at you, kissing your slowly.

“Come with me,” he said.

“I ran away from my problems once before. I don’t want to run away again, Dean,” you said. 

“Alright. We won’t run,” he said, rubbing his throat. 

“Don’t talk,” you said, moving his head to rest on your shoulder again. “We’ll be okay, Dean.”

“How is he?” you asked when the doctor finally let you into Dean’s hospital room that afternoon after you’d spoken to every law enforcement official in the tri-state area.

“Okay. A few bumps and bruises. He needs rest is all. He’ll be discharged shortly,” he said. You nodded and took a seat on Dean’s bed as the doctor left, Donna walking in a moment later.

“You know how to cause trouble, don’t you, Winchester,” she said as she came in and gave him a hug.

“It’s more fun that way,” he said. “You figure out what’s going on?”

“The chief and security team at the plant flipped on Nolan the second they heard attempted murder charge. Plant’s shut down until the lake is cleaned up. People are taking it surprisingly well,” she said. “How about you guys?”

“Y/N’s taking care of me,” said Dean with a smile, grabbing your hand and giving it a squeeze. “I’m ready to go home and relax.”

“We’ll stick a car out front for the night,” she said.

“Thanks, Donna,” he said. “Oh and the Shallows-”

“Swimming is off limit for the time being in the lake. I’m sure you two want to stick to dry land for a while though,” she said.

“Yeah. I don’t think it’ll be hard to do that.”

“This pie is so good,” said Dean that night after you’d brought some take out to his house.

“I should not be surprised that you ate dessert before dinner,” you said. He threw his arm over your shoulders and tucked you into his side, kissing your temple. “I just realized I’ve only know you three days.”

“I’m good on excitement for awhile. Something nice and quiet is good with me,” he said.

“Me too,” you said. “It’s been a long few days.”

“Extremely,” he said. “Hey, Y/N. Back at Maker’s Point...I was freaking out more than I let on.”

“I know,” you said. 

“You didn’t leave me behind even when I told you not to,” he said.

“You’re not always going to get what you want in this relationship, Dean,” you teased. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around you.

“I’m okay with that,” he said. “I’m okay with diving head first into this thing too.”

“We already dove in,” you said. “I’m perfectly good with that. We met because you dove in after me...and you believed me.”

“How couldn’t I believe a face like that?” he said, getting a giggle from you. “If I had the energy, I would so make out with you.”

“I will settle for a cuddly safe and warm Dean,” you said. He hummed and let out a big breath. “There’s plenty of time to make out later on.”

“Very true. I will gladly take the cuddle right now,” he said, sliding down in his spot, curling up into you. “You want to stay over again, sweetheart?”

“Yeah. I’m not going anywhere, Dean.”

__________

[songfell-ut]

Chapter 15 took forever ergh

Man, this was a thing. In this thing, Sans cannot do poker face, and Undyne is half bro and half troll. Chapter can be found here.

           Frisk wiped the sweat from her forehead and clutched the envelope tighter as she crept over the last "bridge." The monsters in Hotland were supposed to have disarmed all the traps and puzzles for the humans’ visit, but they had replaced them with a bunch of regular wooden planks, not bothering with supports or railings to keep people from falling into the lava.

           There! She was across. Puffing a little in the heat, Frisk trotted up the ramp and saw the doctor’s laboratory – helpfully labeled “LAB” – right where they’d said it would be.

           But no one had said there would be a crowd blocking it. “…your very eyes!” someone was shouting from a stage in the main area.

It wasn’t very impressive, just a rickety platform with one corner curtained off and a few musicians standing around. The only thing on it was a giant metal rectangle that rocked back and forth on a single wheel, with no human features except for strange, floppy arms ending in white gloves. Yellow and red lights twinkled in elaborate patterns on its front as it raised an arm and twirled in place. “No, you say? It’s not enough?” asked a tinny voice.

           Frisk had no idea what it was supposed to be – some kind of loud statue? – and neither did the rest of the audience. The rectangle spun itself impatiently. “Well, then, behold!”

           Just like that, the thing froze in place, and there was nervous laughter as it began to look like it was broken—until something darted out from behind the curtain and whacked it in the back. There came a POP and a grinding sound, and the rectangle exploded in a plume of smoke!

           But before the audience could work up to a proper state of panic, they heard a silvery laugh. Out of the smoke stepped a dazzling figure; it was shaped like a human, but as the air cleared, the stagelights shone on a monster made entirely of bronze and steel, its features delineated in ivory. Sleek black lacquer served as hair, and it winked an opalescent eye at the gawking crowd. When they didn't get the hint, it raised its hands and tapped them together, then bowed graciously as the applause started in earnest.

           This must be the automaton she’d been sent to find! Somehow, Frisk doubted she was supposed to get up on stage to give him the note; if she was, the answer was—

           “Yes!” At that cue, the musicians broke into a swift-paced dance tune. Mettaton bowed again, then launched himself into a series of amazing leaps and twirls, hopping around the little stage like an agile, attention-fueled clockwork toy. The audience cheered and clapped along, which seemed to put an extra spring in his step, as Sans would say.

           Frisk had crept closer and spotted a set of steps beside the stage. She started up them on all fours, hoping to catch Mettaton after this song. A Royal Guard moved to stop her; Frisk showed her the fancy seal on the note she was carrying under her armpit, and the cat-woman directed her to go up and wait behind the curtain.

           The human did so, and immediately bumped into someone. “E-excuse me,” another monster said apologetically. Frisk turned to see a stocky lizard monster with bright yellow scales, wearing glasses and a doctor’s coat; she offered a sheepish smile as the human child backed up. “I’m just here to m-make sure M-M-Mettaton doesn’t s-squeak too much,” the doctor said, holding up an oil can. "I hope he s-stops after this number so I can—"

           The audience was applauding again, and the lizard gulped as Mettaton launched right into another routine, the musicians scrambling to keep up. Frisk couldn't help poking her head out from the curtain; she had never seen anything like the automaton, especially not this close.

           "I'm so g-g-glad that I finished him on time," the yellow monster said quietly, as if to herself.

           "You made him?" the child whispered back in astonishment.

           The monster looked a little frightened, as if she'd been caught doing something wrong. "Um...just his b-b-body." She shuffled her feet. "It w-was nothing."

           Frisk watched the automaton do a series of backflips ending in perfect splits. "That looks like a lot. It's incredible," she said honestly.

           "Really?" The lizard squinted at her to see if she meant it. "W-Well, if you think so..."

           Out of nowhere, Frisk felt a cold sensation sliding down her back. The same way one has to sniff at something that looks rotten, the child had to peek out at the audience: sure enough, there was Chara at the back of the crowd, frowning up at the stage.

           As Frisk stared, the woman's gaze shifted until her eyes met Frisk's. Chara smiled thinly, and the child's gut knotted. How did—

           Another grinding sound pulled Frisk's attention back to the stage. Mettaton’s ankles were starting to smoke as he moved faster and faster; to Frisk's horror, one of the joints locked up, and the automaton's heeled boot skidded across the stage, lurching him off balance. The little human had a panicky mental image of the poor monster lying in a heap, people trying not to laugh too loud, Chara rushing up to help because everyone was watching...

           Maybe that was what gave Frisk the courage to drop the envelope and dash onto the stage as Mettaton came careening toward her. She grabbed the nearest pearly-gloved hand and swung him around with all her might, nearly wrenching her shoulder out of its socket.

           But it was enough: the automaton slammed his knee and his other hand into the stage and used the momentum to twirl back onto his feet...all in time with the music. The child didn’t have time to catch her breath; Mettaton winked at her with a little clicking sound and then caught her up to dance in place with him, setting her down long enough to let her pose dramatically.

           The first time she did it was just freezing up as she faced the audience, but they cheered so loudly that she tried it again the next time she came down, and the next. To her amazement, she wasn’t embarrassed anymore. This was fun!

           All too soon, the song ended with a crashing flourish, and she panted happily as Mettaton held her arm up, prompting the now-huge crowd to applaud both of them. The automaton turned to address everyone, but Frisk was glad to stagger back to the side of the stage, where the lizard monster was waiting behind the curtain. “Th-thank you so much,” she said. Despite her scales, she appeared to be sweating, beady eyes fixed on Mettaton. "He's g-going to be s-so upset with me..."

           Frisk hated how miserable the doctor looked, as if she expected the automaton to blame her for the mishap because it was her fault. The human tried to think of something to say, and spotted the note in the monster's hand. “Oh, you found it! Thank you!” Frisk cried, as if her life had been saved, and was rewarded with a shy smile as the lizard handed her the envelope. “Here, sir. This is for you,” said Frisk, turning to Mettaton as he came over.

           Sure enough, he was scowling. "I was just telling the doctor how amazing you were," the child said as gushily as possible. "But, um, you're so amazing that we're worried about you pushing yourself too hard. Please take more care so you can keep performing for us," Frisk finished.

           The automaton blinked, his attention diverted. “Why, thank you, darling,” he said, ruffling her hair fairly gently, “and thank you for your assistance! That was marvelous! Any time you’d like to come back for another performance, my little beauty, you are absolutely welcome.” He gave Alphys a brief glare, then allowed her to creep forward and begin re-oiling his joints as he tore the note open, eyes flicking over the words with inhuman speed. “Ah, duty calls.” The metal monster  smiled at Frisk again, working his ankles to spread the oil evenly. “I’m heading to meet His Majesty now. Would you like to come back with me, darling?”

           “Thank you, sir, but I promised the Queen I’d stay and meet more people in Hotland,” Frisk lied. She turned to the other monster and gave a half-bow. “My name is, um, Kris. What’s yours?”

           “Uh…m-my n-name?” The lizard pushed up her glasses. “I-I’m Dr. Alphys, the r-royal s-s-scientist. It’s n-nice to m-meet you, Kris.”

           “I’ll see you later, then, Kris!” Without further ado, Mettaton stepped out of the curtain and leapt off the stage, sailing clear over the astonished humans’ heads and pirouetting once more before he pranced out of sight.

           “Um…” Alphys was fidgeting with her claws. “So, d-do you like…stories? Novels or p-p-plays?”

           “I don’t know,” said Frisk, rubbing her sore shoulder. “I’ve never read any.”

           Alphys’ eyes got wide, and wider. “C-c-c’mon!” she nearly shrieked. “Do I have s-some things to sh-show you!” And she was off, racing down the steps and tearing the doors to her laboratory open as though her tail had caught fire.

           Frisk started to follow, but another bad feeling crept up on her, and she had to turn to look at the audience, praying she wouldn’t see—

           Chara was still there, still staring at Frisk. But this time, she wasn't smiling. She looked...thoughtful.

           Why did that seem so much worse?

 ~

             Sans lay on the floor in his room, flat on his back, his head spinning. For a long moment, he had no idea what'd just happened. He'd woken up and had to get away in a hurry—from Undyne? Because he'd been chewing on Frisk? That was a dream...right?

           But if it was a dream, what was he smelling? The boss monster glanced this way and that. All he saw was his pile of long-outgrown socks, his too-small treadmill shoved against the wall, and the wadded-up sheets on the kiddy-sized bed. Sans grunted and turned onto his side, curling up with one arm under his head.

           Then he blinked, grabbed a handful of his shirt, and jammed it into his nasal bone, inhaling so deeply that he almost sucked the material up into his skull. Ha! Frisk's scent was all over him! It wasn't a dream after all. Heh, as if he could've imagined her saying those things, making those little noises and tasting like—

           Sans tried to leap to his feet, but he made it about a third of the way before he staggered and fell back with a butt-rattling thump. No good; he'd done too much yesterday and gotten too little sleep. That last shortcut had completely drained him.

           It was just as well, when Sans gave it any thought whatsoever. He'd gotten out of Frisk's room fast enough that she had a decent chance of convincing Undyne he hadn't been there. It'd be about eight flavors of stupid to go back to her now, no matter how badly he wanted to.

           And boy howdy, did he ever want to. The giant skeleton stared at the ceiling, fighting the urge to rub his face in his shirt like a damn cat. His tongue came up and ran slowly across the back of his teeth, remembering the taste of apples—she must've had some before she went to bed. He'd never be able to eat one again without getting twitchy.

           In fact, he had a feeling that life was going to be trickier in general from now on. Being around her had been distracting enough before he knew exactly how soft she was, what it smelled like snuggled into her neck...

           Shit. No wonder humans were such obsessive morons about this whole thing. Magic was already tingling throughout his bones, especially his pelvis, a helpful reminder that it was there in case he wanted to have his way with anyone; Sans had to bring his fist up and clonk himself square in the forehead to snap out of it.

           ...And it didn't even work. The harder he tried not to think of Frisk, the more irritated he got, and he also had a headache.

           It was a profound relief to feel the house shake as the front door was thrown open. Undyne shouted something, and Pap's door also banged open; Sans had to smile as his brother loudly rejoiced at seeing Frisk. Footsteps pounded down the stairs, and a moment later, Frisk shrieked with laughter—probably because Pap had picked her up and swung her around, just as he had swung Kris around all those years ago.

           Sans sighed. The stairs were too small for him, and he wasn't sure he could manage a shortcut to the living room. Maybe it was just as well: he was tired and cranky, and he hadn't calmed down enough to trust himself yet; better give her some time to get reacquainted with Pap first, before they started handing out everyone's gifts.

           Oh, crap. She'd asked him to do something last night with the wagons, but he'd been too distracted by the other stuff she'd said, and too intent on proving that he could do stuff, too. He had spent the past couple days thinking it over while he was pulling the stupid wagon, theorizing that he could cram some of his accumulated magic back down and revert to a lesser height for short periods; listening to Frisk whistle, he'd wondered if he could do that, too, and then gone off a long mental tangent about lips.

           Maybe those self-adjustments had worked so readily because he'd had so much practice manipulating his other body parts, or maybe he'd just wanted it to happen badly enough. Maintaining his crammed-down form was something he'd have to work on, and he didn't know if he'd be able to do it at all outside the Underground and its ambient magic, but...

           He closed his eyes, letting his body relax, ignoring Undyne's stupid loud voice through the floor. He was home, his brother was happy, they had Frisk here...

           Some time later – a few minutes, or an hour – he jumped as the door banged shut downstairs. The boss monster wondered irritably if someone else had come in, or if they'd left, or what. Then, picking up at a random point where his mind had left off, he wondered whether his body felt as awful to Frisk as hers felt good to him. Was it like making out with a coat rack?

           The only thing that saved him from another five or six hours of tortured introspection was the smell of pancakes. Sans shook himself, sat up, thought of the living room, and took himself downstairs, where he was met with...no one. To his disappointment, the house was now empty, save for a single plate and a note on the table:

             SANS! YOUR GREAT BROTHER (ME) HAS KINDLY AGREED TO ALLOW YOU TO SLEEP IN LIKE THE SLOTHFUL SACK OF BONES YOU ARE WHILE WE ESCORT OUR DEAR

             Another set of handwriting, much less elegant and more emphatic, had scribbled out KRIS so hard that the paper was almost torn through, replacing it neatly with Frisk.

             FINE THEN OUR DEAR FRISK TO GRILLBY'S AS A CONVENIENT PLACE FROM WHICH TO FURTHER DISTRIBUTE PANCAKES. PLEASE PARTAKE OF THE DELICIOUS BREAKFAST PREPARED WITH LOVE BY YOUR BROTHER, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND CONSIDER JOINING U

             There was a trailed-off line where the S should have began, and a smear of ink as testament to a struggle for the pen before the other handwriting victoriously resumed,

             We're at Grillby's!!! (Much smaller:) see was that so hard

           NO ONE SAID IT WAS HARD, NYEH!! I WAS MERELY TRYING TO CONVE (smear)

           Why are you actually writing NYEH you damn goober

           WHY ARE YOU NOT

           oh my god (Much bigger:) SANS EAT YOUR PANCAKES

             Sigh. Sans obediently picked up a fork, then realized no one was around, folded the stack in half, and shoved it down his throat. He remembered another time with a fork and breakfast being crammed in his face; little did he know then...

           With his mouth still full, Sans abruptly stood up and gathered himself for to a shortcut to Grillby's—only for his magic to sputter and fizzle out. Dammit! Had he only gotten enough back to teleport into the living room?

           Well, Grillby's might not be very far, but after the past couple days, he was completely sick of walking. He could just wait a few more minutes for his magic to regenerate. It wasn't like he'd die if he didn't see her right this second. Right?

           He glanced at the fork again.

A moment later, he was closing the front door behind him, shuffling through the snow with his hands in his pockets.

           To his surprise, one of the wagons was parked outside the house, most of its contents sitting on the ground. Aaron and Ice Wolf were busy moving packages into the shed; the only things left in the wagon were the crates of vials, seedlings, and other items for Alphys. Sans caught Aaron's eye, and the merhorse flexed nervously at him before returning to work.

           Hm. Toriel must've told them to bring the wagons to Frisk in Snowdin, and then Undyne had gotten Pap to unlock the shed and made these guys unload all the gifts. Nice! That was one less thing to worry about.

           Ice Wolf was setting down one of the last packages and climbing back into the wagon. Sans watched in sudden apprehension as the wolf pulled out a crate and trotted down toward the river, raising it over his head to—

           It really wasn't Ice Wolf's fault. Apparently, he'd heard Frisk tell Undyne that the crates were all accounted for, and now they needed to go to Hotland; it was already his job to send things there by throwing them into the water, so he figured he might as well help with these, too. One flying tackle and a heated discussion later about the difference between chunks of ice and irreplaceable scientific materials, the wolf monster was directed to the Royal Guards' ferry, which could transport the crates without anything getting waterlogged or melted.

           Okay. That was one wagon safely disposed of. Time to follow the other one's tracks in the snow past the deserted librarby – heh, he'd never get tired of that – to Grillby's.

           Sure enough, the other wagon stood empty right outside the bar, which was absolutely packed. Sans could smell why: for the first time in months, Grillby was serving hot food. If Sans knew Frisk, no one would have to pay for it, either.

           Free pancakes or not, things were quite orderly. The monsters were waiting in a line stretching out the door and along the side of the building; the Royal Guard Captain could be heard directing traffic inside, and those without were politely ignoring Papyrus as he strode back and forth, instructing them to keep waiting. "SANS! THERE YOU ARE!" he said, cheerful as always. "IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU, NYEHH! I WASN'T SURE IF THE HUMAN IN MY HEAD WAS ENTIRELY TRUSTWORTHY, BUT IT SEEMS SHE WAS CORRECT AFTER ALL! I'M SO GLAD THAT YOU ARE BACK SAFELY!"

           "Yeah, I'm here," answered Sans, giving his brother a friendly nudge in passing. "An' speakin' of the human—"

           "AH-AH, BROTHER!" Papyrus flung his hands out to block the doorway. "YOU MUST WAIT WITH EVERYONE ELSE."

           Sans stared down at him. "What the crap, bro? I already ate. I just wanna get in ta—"

           "IT IS A DIRECT ORDER FROM UNDYNE! NO EXCEPTIONS!"

           "Well, you're bein' exceptionally dumb!" He tried to stoop to see in the door, but to no avail: there was no room between the monsters in line and those leaving. "Come on, Pap! All I want is—"

           A red-gloved finger stabbed up at him. "BACK IN LINE, SANS! NYEH-HEH-HEH!"

           And just like that, for one second, Sans was so irritated that he wanted to pick his brother up by the spine and toss him aside. It took far too long to remind himself that he loved Papyrus more than life itself, his brother was just being himself, and Sans shouldn't pick him up by the friggin' spine! What was wrong with him today?

           Sans shook himself, pulled a face, and started ambling toward the end of the line. The moment Pap's attention was elsewhere, though, the boss monster turned on his heel, speed-sneaked up to the doorway, tapped on a couple of shoulders, and said, "'Scuse me."

           Somehow, no one else seemed concerned that he was cutting in line. A duck, a wriggle and a side-shuffle later, Sans was in the bar, ignoring his brother's orders to come back that instant!

           There were so many monsters inside that they'd had to shove the rectangular tables against the wall. Undyne was seated at the high table near the back door, keeping her eye on the line as it moved toward the bar; Grillby had set up a griddle and was silently dispensing one pancake and one blob of hash browns to each monster—not much, but it was still human food, equivalent to a couple of good-sized meals. The stools at the end of the bar were laden with plates, forks, and napkins, but almost everyone was ignoring them and devouring their food on the spot.

           Where the hell was Frisk? Even at Sans' height, it took him a moment to locate her. But someone finally moved aside, and his SOUL leapt like an excited little dog at the sight of its favorite human. She was perched on a corner of the bar, tiny feet swinging, wearing her black cloak and a high-necked gown; an intrepid kid had wormed his way into her lap, and Frisk was petting his seahorse-shaped head as she listened to old Gerson. She said something that made the elderly tortoise chortle and whap the bar with his stick, and Sans tried to edge forward.

           "Hey!" barked Undyne. The entire place fell quiet as the Captain got down from her chair and stalked over to Sans. "You shouldn't be in here," she scolded him. "Does this look like a good place to just hang out right now? Huh?"

           The boss monster ignored her and glared at Gerson, who was occupying both barstools at that corner. Then he looked at Frisk, who was smiling at him, and he immediately forgot what he was mad about. He tried to think of something witty: "Uh." Shuffle. "Hi."

           "Ugh! I know the note said we'd be here, but I didn't mean for you to come right in and—are you listening?!" The fish monster had to sock him in the radius to get his attention. "Look, doofus, if you're gonna take up space, do it over there!" She pointed at the gramophone in the corner.

           Sans obediently trudged through the press of monsters and stationed himself near Frisk. Undyne followed him, nodding respectfully to Gerson. "So, boss. How was it, living in the lair of the enemy?" the Captain inquired, leaning against the bar. When he looked blank, she prompted, "How'd the humans treat you?"

           Why was she asking this now, and what was that look she was giving him? ...Oh, fuck, that was right. She might have seen him on the floor in Frisk's room before he shortcut away, and was fishing for information. Ha. He didn't know whether Frisk had successfully denied it or not; better err on the side of being dickish about humans. "It sucked. They're dumb, they smell weird, an' they all stared at me like a friggin' zoo animal," he complained.

           Frisk shifted to look at him, and he quailed at her expression. "Excuse me," she said coldly. "Are you going to mention that you had your own room with a bed even bigger than you are, or how much food you had brought straight to you every single day? All you had to do in return was read and put things in bottles!"

           "Seriously?" Undyne punched one fist into her other hand. "Didn't you have to fight for your life against terrible odds, or steel your resolve and withstand all kinds of torture, or something?"

           "It was a feather bed with silk sheets," said Frisk, and Undyne made a retching sound.

           "Wah ha ha!" Gerson thumped the bar again. "If you ever need another apprentice, girlie, sign me up! Won't hear me complainin'!"

           "Me neither," said the kid on Frisk's lap. To Sans' absolute disgust, the seahorse's curved head was snugged up under her bosom, the cloak tucked in like a blanket. Her hood was down, and in the bar's overhead lights, he was reminded of that fateful moment where he'd seen her clearly for the first time, the delicate symmetry of her features and the beautiful red tones in her eyes...

           Sans didn't realize he was staring until Undyne coughed. "So all humans are gross and dumb, huh?" She scratched behind her right fin. "Well, if you had to get stuck with one, at least you wound up with Frisk. I mean, she's not that bad, right?"

           "Uh..." Fuckin' Undyne! Was she being sarcastic, or actually trying to figure out how he felt? If so, should he try to convince her that he wasn't interested in Frisk, or at least that he wasn't completely batshit in love with her?

           ...Crap. They were waiting for the next batch of pancakes to finish cooking, so the line had stalled, and now a bunch of other monsters were listening. All it would take was one idiot gossiping about Sans' interspecies love affair for it to get back to Asgore, who would lose what was left of his big dumb mind. Sans had to throw them off...but what could he even say?

           Double crap. He made the mistake of looking at Frisk, who had picked up a fork from the bar and—god damn it, she was looking back at him and tapping it against her lips! As if he needed a reminder that she was still stunningly beautiful, or to think more about kissing her. The seahorse was now asleep on her lap, completing the picture of a woman he couldn't hate any less.

           Sans gave himself a mental kick in the nuts: he had to say something before someone noticed him ogling her. "Well...it...coulda been worse," he said, turning his head dismissively, "but you should see what she does t'books. She folds the pages up like a damn kid!"

           "Oh, yes, I just loved having a ten-foot mother-in-law telling me what I could do with my own things," the human shot back. She turned to address the snickering monsters: "Not only did he get literally one hundred eighty square feet of bed to himself while I slept on the couch like a vagrant, he spent an hour in the tub every single night. I kept having to bang on the door and wake him up! And he has the nerve to complain about how I treated my books?"

           The snickering increased as Sans' skull grew warm. Was she playing along, or was she actually mad? Why didn't anything make sense anymore?! "Yeah, well, you snore" was all he could think to say.

           With unnerving speed, Gerson swung his stick up and around till it was pointing at Sans' sternum. "And how do you know that, sonny boy?" he demanded.

           That was a good question, and the others were eagerly awaiting his response. Sans didn't have the guts – ha – to look at Frisk, so he just shrugged. "I could hear it through two closed doors," he said casually.

           Their listeners chuckled, clearly buying it, but Undyne grinned wider. "Good thing he doesn't like humans. You never had to worry about him trying anything weird," she said loudly to Frisk, who was covering her face with one hand. The Captain glanced back at Sans. "Right? 'Cause you don't like humans?"

           "Right," said the boss monster. Just in case, he added, "'m not interested. They're too...uh...lumpy."

           "Lumpy?" Undyne repeated, voice cracking.

           "Lumpy," Frisk mumbled into her hand, and Sans bade a silent farewell to his chances of making it through the day alive.

           Gerson snorted. "Never you mind him, girl. I remember when you were even smaller, and you flirted with every monster you met—why doncha try it again? Promise I won't laugh this time!"

           The human raised her head long enough to say, "No, sir, but I think you'd fall asleep before we got anywhere interesting," and the monsters roared with laughter, all except Sans.

           "That's a fair point," Gerson admitted, once he'd recovered. "A doll like you shouldn't be stuck with a stinky old thing like me. Maybe one of these other fine specimens of monsterhood would suit ya better?"

           "Yeah, I'm a fine specimen!" someone called out, prompting more laughter, and cries of "Me too!" and "I'm not, but I'll learn!"

           "I don't think so," Undyne said flatly, to Sans' eternal gratitude. "Frisk has a lot of work to do, and she's not gonna be here that long. Anyone who messes with her on my watch is gonna be my new training dummy. Got it?"

           "Agreed," the giant skeleton muttered. "Don't want anybody interruptin' her bein' a perfect princess an' fixin' all the world's pr—"

           Tng went Frisk's palm on the bar, slamming the fork down and nearly startling Gerson onto the floor. "Don't call me that!"

           A moment of apprehensive silence, and then the line began moving again, the monsters whispering to each other and glancing over their shoulders. Well, it'd definitely worked, Sans thought, trying to get his SOUL moving again. No one would think anything was going on between them now. ...How was that little shit still asleep on her?

           "Okay, okay," said Undyne, chagrined. "Geez. You're one to talk, boss."

           "What's that supposed to mean?" Frisk asked suspiciously, saving him the trouble.

           Gerson gave three rapid thumps on the floor. "Very true, Miss Undyne! Very true. Here's an interesting fact for ya," he said to the priestess. "When it comes to sowin' their oats, your average monster's not in any hurry, but bosses? They're almost as determined as humans! Wah ha ha!"

           Frisk smiled weakly. "Ahh, I'm just funnin' with you. Don't worry about Sans," Gerson assured her. "Most folks don't know this, but romantically speaking, boss monsters ain't much of a threat to anyone. Sure, they've got that drive to have offspring, but they're too picky to do much about it." He waggled his stick in Sans' direction. "This fella's SOUL ain't interested in anybody weaker than he is. If he can't find another boss monster, he won't fix on anyone at all."

           Sans' mouth fell open, and clicked shut. "Wait. What?"

           The old tortoise cackled again. "Haven't you noticed, sonny?" he asked. "You're not interested in the ladies – or gents – 'cause none of 'em have enough magic to handle ya. Your SOUL can tell when you meet someone who might work out, and it ignores everybody else. It's instinct—keeps you from hurting a lesser monster by mistake. 'Course, the royals have each other, or at least they did, but..." His shrug was eloquent, almost pitying. "Not sure what to tell you, young skeleton. Hope you find a way to scratch that itch someday."

           "Are you serious? How do you know that? Why the hell didn't I know that?!" Sans was too angry to notice how red Frisk was, or how wide Undyne's eye had gotten. "D'ya know how much I've been worryin' about what'd happen if I—" He caught himself just in time. "—got really interested in someone? Yer tellin' me that just bein' interested means it's safe ta go for it?"

           "Wah ha! It sure would!" Thump thump. "Ya really didn’t know that? Didn't you get 'the talk' from Asgore or Toriel?"

           Sans shook his head. He'd never talked to the King about personal stuff, and Toriel knew how much he hated being a boss monster, so she hadn't brought it up. She certainly never told him what to expect if he did find a potential mate. Sans couldn't really blame her; how was she supposed to know he'd meet someone like Frisk?

           Gerson harrumphed at him. "Well, some of us remember how the King and Queen were before the Prince was born—couldn't keep their hands off each other! I had to have a talk with 'em about corrupting our youth with their bad example, and Asgore went on and on about how their SOULs couldn't help it! Poor Toriel wouldn't look me in the eye for a month afterwards!" He cackled yet again. "Not the sort of thing I'd go around repeating to just anyone, is it?"

           "Yeah, well, I wish you'd repeated it to me!"

           "How fascinating," said Frisk, tilting her head to feign curiosity. That wasn't fair: he knew she was faking, and it was still the cutest damn thing he'd ever seen. "So I don't have to worry about Sans bothering me?" she asked innocently.

           "Not unless you're a boss monster, too!" The tortoise had a hearty chuckle at that idea.

           No one really joined in, especially not Sans, who was remembering his own words to Alphys. "If humans had anythin' like boss monsters, she'd be one fer sure"...

           Suddenly, the little seahorse on Frisk's lap jerked awake, sitting up and rubbing his eyes with one long, hand-like fin. "Good morning," the priestess said kindly.

           He yawned a weird little yawn, and mumbled, "Good morning, Princess."

           Frisk stiffened. Sans resisted the urge to tie the kid in a knot as the human said, "No, dear. When Sans called me that, he was being sarcastic," with an inflection that made the skeleton wince. "I'm not actually a princess."

           Blink. "Oh." Blink. "I don't get it. Aren't you Chara? You were here before, and Lady Toriel said—oww!"

           Gerson had rapped the seahorse between the ears with his stick. "Pay attention, sprout," he said severely. "Chara died before you were even hatched. This here is Miss Frisk, you got that?"

           The little monster mumbled an apology, ears drooping. Grillby saved them all from further awkwardness by moving over and crackling something at Gerson, who nodded and leaned over to whisper to Undyne, who stood up in turn and stomped the floor for everyone's attention. "Two dozen pancakes left, and we're out of hash browns!" she called out. "Everyone who hasn't gotten theirs yet, count off! One! Two! Three—"

           Groaning arose as "Four," "Five," "Six" came down from the head of the line, ending in a triumphant "Twenty-four!" near the door.

           "What the hell," complained the twenty-fifth monster. "I didn't come all the way from Waterfall to get screwed again!"

           "You shouldn't have come to eat our food in the first place," Dogamy snapped.

           "Everyone was already lining up, and I was all the way at the back! So I came to get something for the kids—"

           "Well, you should've thought of that before you went and had another one," Faun cut in. "It's people like you who're the problem, making more mouths to feed instead of helping the rest of us!"

           "Oh, like you ever get your lazy carcass out to work the fields! I'm trying to keep our race from dying out, and you—"

           "No, you—"

           Someone shoved someone else, and in a flash, Undyne interposed herself between them. "Take it outside!" she ordered, addressing the angry latecomers as a whole. "Or, don't fight each other over something we can't control! Put some of that energy where it counts!"

           "Like where? Going out to look for food and getting captured by humans like her?"

           It was no use: more squabbles and counter-squabbles started breaking out, and within seconds, the place was in chaos. Sans moved in front of Frisk, knowing he couldn't trust himself to join the fray—he was already agitated, and it’d be too easy to kill someone by mistake. Undyne had no such qualms, and was dragging a couple of miscreants around in headlocks when an ear-splitting whistle brought everyone to their knees.

           The only exception was the child on Frisk's lap. The priestess had shielded his ears with one hand, and was lowering the other from her mouth. "There's more coming," she said into the pained silence, voice clear and steady. "Sans has arranged to pick up several hundred pounds of food, two days from now. We'll bring it straight back here, and every last one of you will have some, including your families." Frisk gave the room a slight smile. "If I'm lying, feel free to eat me instead."

           Before anyone else could speak, Gerson tapped the bar next to her. "Is it true that you're in talks to buy us that place on the river?" he asked.

           "Yes, and we can improve your existing farmland in the meantime," replied Frisk.

           Murmurs arose throughout the room, hope warring with skepticism. "Well," Gerson said slowly, "on behalf of the entire Underground, I've got to say—"

           "OH MY GOD!" Sans and Frisk both sighed as Papyrus waved from the doorway. "CAPTAIN UNDYNE! THE QUEEN IS HERE! SHE WANTS TO SEE KRIS RIGHT AWAY!"

           The crowd gasped, monsters hurrying to stand aside for Frisk; she waved away Sans' proffered hand, set the kid on the bar, and hopped down. "I'll be right there," she called to Papyrus, and walked out through the aisle, smiling at each monster in passing.

           That was what did the trick, Sans thought, along with Pap getting her name wrong—good reminders of the warm-hearted human they'd known and loved. The murmuring started right back up again, but now the thoughtful or hopeful voices were much louder, the pissy ones silent.

           The seahorse had floated down to the floor and was bobbing his way through the crowd. Watching him go, Sans wondered about Frisk's reaction to being called a princess. Not only should she be one, as far as he was concerned, she should be in line to rule the whole damn kingdom. Judging from her performance as High Priestess, she'd be damn good at it, much better than her scrawny little half-brother...

           Undyne had left right after Frisk, and the other monsters were filing out. When the place was nearly empty, Gerson muttered, "You've got to do better than that, son."

           The giant skeleton shook himself and scowled at the old man. "Whaddya mean? I didn't attack anyone. I was just makin' sure nobody went after Frisk."

           Another laugh, shorter and more cynical. "You're about three hundred years too young to play dumb with me, boy!" Gerson brandished the stick at him. "What I mean is, I don't blame you for bein' sweet on her, but you can't keep looking at her like that. For one thing, it's embarrassing! Wah ha ha!" Thu-thump. "More importantly," he said, sobering in an instant, "people 'round here have nothing to do but talk. No one's forgotten the whole mess with Chara, 'specially not His Majesty. Better not give him a reason to think history's gonna repeat itself."

           Sans tried to formulate a denial, and also several questions, but then the old tortoise banged his stick on the floor again, this time to assist himself in sliding off the barstools. "I'd tell you to leave her be," he grumbled, "but if your SOUL's made up its mind, I suppose there's no helping it." A gross, multi-part sniffle. "That little lady, strong enough to match a boss monster? Ha! Will wonders never cease?" He adjusted his pith helmet. "Well, feel free to come see me in Waterfall, the both of you—but not till tomorrow! This was plenty of excitement for one day! Wah ha!"

           "Hold up!" Sans protested as the tortoise started shambling toward the door. "What do you mean, 'the whole mess with'—"

           Right on cue, there was a cry of "BROTHER!" as Papyrus popped his head in. "BROTHER, COME AND SEE! KRISK HAS BROUGHT PUZZLES! THERE'S ONE FOR YOU, TOO!"

           Ah, the gifting had begun. Sans waved him away. "Tell 'er ta get started without me."

           "REALLY? IF YOU SAY SO... OH! HELLO, SIR GERSON! THE HUMAN SAID TO TELL YOU THAT SHE HAS PEANUT BRITTLE, NYEH-HEH!"

           "Ooooh," the elderly monster said, perking up. The moment Papyrus was gone, Gerson turned and rapped his stick on Sans' patella. "There you have it, boy! It's like my old mam always said: 'Gerson, if you ever find a girl who remembers how much an old fart like you loves his peanut brittle, you hang on to her, human or not!'"

           Sans highly doubted that Gerson's old mam had ever said that, but he wasn't in the mood to argue. In fact, he wasn't in the mood for much of anything. Instead, he turned to the bartender as Gerson gradually left. "Hey, Grillbs. I’ve got a few minutes—what's on tap today?"

           It was disgusting, he knew, but the simple fact was that Grillby had to stay in business somehow. When there was no food to serve, he could always sell drinks, and when there were no drinks, he had gotten creative—for example, the "mudslide" he slid down the bar to Sans was named for its primary ingredient and sprinkled with enough magic to…still taste like mud. But it was a drink!

           The bartender wandered over as Sans downed the whole thing at once, remembering too late that he could have just put his tongue away and avoided tasting it at all. Clearly, he needed to drink a little more and get his head on straight. The skeleton gestured for another, and when Grillby crackled at him, Sans just said, "Don't worry, Frisk'll pay my tab."

           The flames on Grillby's eyebrows rose higher, but he produced another mudslide and watched Sans gulp it down. "So," said the boss monster, "I kinda remember what happened with Chara, but my memory ain't what it used to be since everythin’ blew up in my face." He held his mug out. "Wanna tell me a little more 'bout ‘er?"

 ~

             "...and this is for you, too," said Frisk, placing another box in front of Toriel.

           The goat monster shook her head. "Goodness, child, you shouldn't have! How am I supposed to carry all this back with me?"

           "Make Sans do it," Undyne suggested, to general approval.

           They had decided to tackle the gift distribution in stages, starting with Papyrus, Undyne, and Toriel, and were opening them in the skeleton brothers' living room. Papyrus was happily occupied with his first gift, an interlocking ring puzzle; he'd declined to open anything else yet, ostensibly to wait for his brother, but mostly out of impatience to get the rings apart.

           "Speaking of which, where is Sans?" asked Toriel. Papyrus was already muttering to himself, the rings clicking as he began tugging harder.

           "Who knows, Your Majesty?" Undyne had only a few boxes by her feet, and was doing her best not to look at them too hard until everything had been doled out. She brightened as Frisk set two more down for her. "Is that all of 'em?"

           "That's all for everyone here." Frisk picked up the very last package, straining a little to lift it, and took it to the back room. When she returned, she said, "You can open them now, Lady Toriel, or wait until you get home. Since we're staying so close by, Undyne, I think you can go ahea—"

           The Captain had already ripped open her first box and tossed the lid aside. She paused and squinted at an array of bottles nestled in white cotton. "What's all this?"

           "There's regular moisturizer, waterproof moisturizer, burn ointment, treatment for scale rot, an antiseptic for small cuts, and armor polish," Frisk explained, pointing to each in turn. "I infused everything myself, except the polish."

           "Thanks! I hope you don't expect me to remember all that," Undyne commented, bending to grab the next box and catching herself mid-rip. "Oh. Uh, sorry, Your Majesty. Your turn."

           Toriel smiled. "Please go ahead, Captain. I—"

           The box was already wide open. "Whoa!" It was a set of the "history books" Undyne had admired on the humans' last visit—the most action-filled comics Frisk could find, much more violent than the story-driven ones Alphys liked. She grabbed the top one and flipped through it gleefully. "Ha ha! I can't believe it! Are those his guts?"

           "NYEHHH!" Meanwhile, Papyrus was now reduced to banging the rings on the arm of the couch. "HUMAN! I DO NOT WISH TO ALARM YOU, BUT IT SEEMS THAT YOU HAVE BEEN SOLD A DEFECTIVE PUZZLE!" He gave the rings a final shake and threw them on the floor, then plunked himself down on the couch, arms grumpily folded.

           Undyne glanced up from her comic and snickered. Papyrus looked very hurt until his friend bent to pick up the separated rings, holding them over her head like spoils of war. "See, Pap? You gave it your all, and look what happened!" She threw the rings back on the floor and caught his arms to pull him up for a triumphant noogie. "I knew you had it in you!"

           "Y-YES, OF COURSE! THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN CONQUER ANY PUZZLE! N-NYEH-HEH-HEH! ...PLEASE STOP CELEBRATING MY GREAT VICTORY!"

           "I believe I'll open something now," Toriel murmured, leaving Papyrus to extricate himself. She unwrapped the paper on the top box, peeked inside, and immediately gave a squeal of joy. "Oh, my goodness! My child, how did you—" She clasped her hands. "Are those real vanilla beans?! And—"

           "I didn't know the exact recipe, so I got every pie ingredient I could think of," Frisk said, grinning at Toriel's excitement. She slid out the bottom box in the stack. "Check these next, please. I couldn't remember if you needed salted and unsalted butter, so I got both."

           "Yes, I do! But..." The boss monster pulled out tall jars of milk, buttermilk, and heavy cream, then looked at her narrowly. "I don't wish to be rude, but how long have you been transporting these? I know the weather is cold, but won't they have spoiled by now?"

           "Not on my watch," declared Frisk. "I used a few preservatives—if you put a little in the jar beforehand, it keeps the contents fresh for up to a week without affecting the flavor."

           "Seriously?" Even Undyne was interested. "That's pretty neat. Is this the kind of stuff you've been teaching Sans?"

           "Yes, it is. He knows how to make preservatives, medicine, fertilizer—I brought the recipes and ingredients for those, too. You'll be able to save a huge amount of magic using them."

           "I see," Toriel said slowly. She smiled, almost a grimace, as she put the jars away. "It may not have been under the best circumstances, but I am very thankful that he met you again, my child. His life has very hard since...since the accident, and I have not been as supportive as I could have. Spending time with a wonderful friend like you must have been such a relief to him."

           "Don't be so hard on yourself, Majesty. You had a lot of problems, too," protested Undyne.

           "Yes, but I..." Toriel was definitely grimacing now. "I suppose you're right, Captain. Still, I am very glad to know that he has been in Frisk's care."

           Frisk was fighting another blush. Her neck still itched from the healing spell the innkeeper had given her for the “crick” in her neck before they checked out that morning. "I hope I’ve helped. I know what it's like to lose someone, and to feel alone. I've missed you all so much," she said truthfully. "I just wish it was safe for some of you to come back with us for a visit."

           Toriel's golden gaze sharpened. "With 'us,' my child? What do you mean?"

           "Sans is gonna escort her home," Undyne said quickly. "Also, she wants bring some of our stuff back with her to show off, but she doesn't know how it all works. The humans are kinda used to Sans by now, so we figured he might as well tag along."

           "That does sound like a good idea," Toriel agreed, and Frisk caught Undyne's eye for a grateful moment. "Would you like to open something else now, Papyrus?"

           "HM?" The skeleton was playing with the rings again, figuring out how to lock them back together. "NO, THANK YOU, LADY TORIEL. I'LL WAIT FOR SANS. WHERE IS HE?"

           Undyne was already tearing open another box, unasked. "Oh, no way! Are these targets?!"

           "Of course! They look like wood, but it's actually metal." Frisk got up to look out the window. Where was Sans?

           "Who knows? Maybe he found a lady friend," Undyne said absently, flicking the metal discs to test their sturdiness.

           "That's not a nice thing to say, Undyne," Toriel reproved her.

           For half an irate second, Frisk thought Toriel was angry on her behalf. Then her brain caught up, and she turned to ask, "Why? Because there aren't any other boss monsters?"

           "Exactly," said the former Queen, "and a lesser monster would not suit him. It's honestly a bit cruel to suggest that he—"

           "WHAT ABOUT A HUMAN?" Papyrus asked without looking up.

           Pause. "A human?" Toriel repeated as Undyne and Frisk glanced at each other in alarm.

           "YES. HUMANS ARE PLENTIFUL, AND SOME OF THEM HAVE MAGIC! COULDN'T SANS BORROW ONE? FOR EXAMPLE, FRISK IS VERY—"

           "No."

           Everyone froze at the vehemence in Toriel's voice. The boss monster breathed in, and out, almost baring her teeth. "I...excuse me. I need to check that this is everything necessary for a pie."

           Undyne let the targets slide off her lap as Toriel took her boxes to the kitchen. "What's the matter with you, Papyrus?" the Captain hissed. "Why’d you have to go and bring up humans? Don't you remember what happened with Chara?"

           The skeleton's brow creased. "JUST THAT THE HUMAN PRINCESS WENT TO LIVE WITH OTHER HUMANS...WHEN WAS IT AGAIN?"

           "A little over…what, twenty years ago? I guess you were probably just a kid, but still…" Undyne saw how intently Frisk was listening, and sighed. The Captain checked the kitchen, where Toriel was occupied with moving things around and muttering to herself, then beckoned them closer. "Okay, here’s the short version. A bunch of humans came to see the King," she said quietly. "They were here for a couple weeks, and Chara got really depressed after they left. The King wound up sending her off to marry one of the guys she'd met—didn’t you learn this in history class, Pap?"

           Papyrus still looked blank, and the fish monster sighed in exasperation. "Anyway, she came right back here 'cause the marriage didn't work out, not sure why. Asgore had a huge fight with Asriel and the Queen about whether Chara should stay here or go marry another human. He made her leave again, but she never got married to anyone, and she didn't come back until the visit where everyone blew up."

           "OH." Papyrus looked at the reconnected rings in his hand. "WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH SANS MARRYING A HUMAN?"

           There went Frisk's face again. "Because," mumbled Undyne, "as far as everyone is concerned, it all happened because a human got too involved with monsters—an adult human,” she clarified, nodding at Frisk. “The whole problem with Chara was that there was no one here for her to pair off with. Monsters can always figure out a way to combine their magic if they really want to have kids, but she didn't have any magic at all, so it wouldn’t have worked. Besides, humans barely even live sixty years. Asgore thought it'd cause too much heartache if she stayed."

           Papyrus digested this information for a moment, then said at least part of what Frisk was thinking: "DIDN'T IT CAUSE A LOT MORE HEARTACHE TO SEND HER AWAY? THIS WAS HER HOME, AND THEY WERE HER FAMILY, EVEN IF SHE COULDN’T GET MARRIED."

           "That's exactly what Asriel and Toriel thought, and they never forgave him for it. Then both Chara and Asriel wound up dead, and Asgore blamed every single thing on the humans. Then Toriel stood up in front of everyone and said it was his own damn fault for throwing their child out like a dog, twice, and here we are now."

           Frisk shivered. Those were Chara's words from the day Frisk hid in the living room and overheard those terrible things. As a child, she hadn't understood why Chara seemed to hate her kind, loving parents so much. Poor Princess, Frisk thought bitterly, digging her nails into her leg. "Papyrus," she said aloud, "check your gray box. It's not a puzzle."

           A moment later, Toriel looked up at a strange sound, like air hissing out of a broken pipe. She finished re-packing the pie ingredients and turned to see Papyrus holding up a bundle of dry pasta, some ground beef, various herbs, and a bag of fresh tomatoes. His sockets were the size of salad plates, and he was making a noise that could best be described as a pre-scream.

           "Hey, would you look at that, Pap! You haven't made spaghetti in years! What have you done?" Undyne said through gritted teeth, ending with a glare at Frisk.

           As expected, Papyrus paid no attention. He had just enough presence of mind to set the box down gently before he exploded into a rapturous, unbroken "THANK YOOOOU" that lasted at least two straight minutes, starting with a huge hug-and-twirl for Frisk, then Undyne as she rescued the human, and finally ending in the kitchen with "LADY TORIEL!!! LOOK!!!!"

           "That is wonderful, Papyrus, but…oh, dear! Look at the time," Toriel exclaimed. "Ladies, may I expect you at my house tonight, around eight o’clock? I'll have a pie waiting!"

           Frisk bit back her reflexive protest about Sans. "What about the rest of your gifts?" she asked instead.

           Toriel smiled at her. "We can come back here tomorrow, of course! After all, I missed seeing Sans today. We don't need to stay cooped up in the Ruins for your entire visit!"

           "AND IT MAY BE POSSIBLE THAT I WILL HAVE LEFTOVER SPAGHETTI FOR YOU, LADY TORIEL!" added Papyrus. "NOT THAT I EXPECT IT TO GO UNEATEN, NYEH! I WILL MERELY BE SURE TO MAKE ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE. I WOULD HATE FOR YOU TO MISS THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF CULINARY PERFECTION!"

           "Yes, of course," the former Queen said kindly, eye twitching only a little.

           The priestess hesitated, and Undyne stepped in again: "We'll see what happens this afternoon, Your Majesty. We've got a lot more stuff to give out, and Alphys wants to see Frisk, too. I don't know how late we'll be back here tonight, and it's a long walk to the Ruins—"

           "That's what Sans is for!" Toriel said gaily, and Frisk felt a twinge of irritation. "If I come across him," the boss monster continued, gathering up the boxes of ingredients, "I will be sure to send him straight here. Until then, my child, please enjoy your stay. I'll see you this evening!"

           There was no way out of it, so Frisk smiled and nodded and waited for the door to close before she said, "Dammit."

           Undyne shrugged sympathetically. "It's a mom thing. Mine was the same way."

           Frisk bent to pick up handfuls of packing paper. "So was mine," she muttered.

           The Captain waited for more, but Frisk went on grabbing and folding up paper until it became apparent that that was all. Undyne shrugged, glanced at her unopened boxes, and shrugged again, reaching for the comics. "Just put it outside," she advised as Frisk looked around for a larger trashcan. The human sighed, draping her cloak over her shoulders as she opened the door.

           Papyrus was puttering around the kitchen in sheer bliss. Out of habit, Undyne got up to supervise, and they were soon embroiled in a deathmatch against the tomatoes and noodles. "Higher! HIGHER!" the Captain yelled. "Remember! You have to break your foes' fighting spirit! Hear their cries of defeat and smell their agony!"

           The skeleton clanged the wooden spoon harder against the sides of the pot. "Yes! I hear it!" he exclaimed.

           "Yes! Good! You—" Undyne stopped. "Wait. I hear it, too." She went to the door, through which came a distinctive, high-pitched sound. "Oh," she said in disgust. "What the hell is he doing here?" The fish monster reached for the doorknob. "Close your ears, Pap."

           Papyrus blinked, spoon still poised for a mortal blow. "But I don't have—"

           Undyne opened the door, and the skeleton dropped the spoon into the sauce mixture as a shrill mechanical voice cut through the air: "I simply can't believe it! My little beauty grew into such a real beauty! What a sight for sore eyes amidst all these...these monsters!"

           "Shut up, tin man," snapped the Royal Guard Captain, coming onto the porch. "I—oh! Hey, Alphys! Where did you guys come from?"

           "From a place with manners." Mettaton adjusted his fur stole and swept back his fringe of real black hair. "That awful skeleton said my little beauty was here, so I came all this way—"

           "Do you know where Sans is?" demanded Frisk, who was still recovering from the shock of going to take out the garbage and encountering Mettaton instead.

           "Y-yes," said the scientist, coming up behind the automaton. "He came to see me in a p-panic because he forgot how to teleport home. I hope he's still sleeping back in the l-lab."

           Frisk stood stock-still. “He forgot…?”

“Pffffahahahaha!" The fish monster slammed her fist into the side of the house. "Oh my God! I knew I should have dragged him out of Grillby's when I had the chance! He was drunk, wasn't he?"

           Alphys just sighed. Frisk growled under her breath, which made Undyne laugh even harder. "He..." She choked back a sob. "He was right here, and he walked all the way to...to..."

           Pause. "I think he t-took the ferry," Alphys said, and moved back as the Captain collapsed into a snorting heap.

           Oh, for God's sake, Sans! "Never mind. It's wonderful to see you again, Mettaton!" she said with unfeigned enthusiasm, shaking the automaton's still-pearly-gloved hand. His arms were much less floppy now, his body more streamlined, face smoothly outlined with tiny gemstones. Before he could launch into any further praise, the human moved aside and took Alphys' clawed hand. "And thank you so much for coming all the way here, Doctor. It means a lot to me."

           There was that shy, scaly smile. "Th-thank you, um, Frisk. I'm r-really glad you're here." She chuckled nervously. "This is going to t-take some getting used to. But...you are v-very p-pretty."

           Frisk smiled wider, and bent to give the scientist a hug. “Thank you,” she said in Alphys’ ear. “I’ve really missed you.”

The scientist mumbled something, then yelped as Undyne suddenly scooped them both up. "You know what else? This lady brought a buttload of presents for everyone,” she announced, setting them down on the porch. “Go on in while I grab your stuff!"

           "I..." It was no use pointing out that the living room was about a third of the size required to open all the additional gifts, especially Mettaton's: Undyne was already charging toward the shed. "Yes, please, come in," said Frisk, leading the way inside. It would pass the time till Sans got back, she thought ruefully.

 ~

             It wasn't his fault. Grillby had talked, and Sans had drank mudslides, and then Sans didn't know where he was anymore.

           Everything was a blur for a while after that. He had no explanation for why he kept walking back and forth past his house, or how he wound up on the ferry, or how long he'd been lying outside the lab when Mettaton's rib-prodding woke him up. Sans had made it inside and found some nice cool floor to collapse on, and nothing else happened for a while.

           Then a horrible, oozing feeling of dread crept over him, starting at the top of his cranium and trickling down till it hit his SOUL. He twisted to look upward at a familiar little pair of feet. The demon-child was suddenly peering down into his face, waving merrily, whispering, “Good to be back.”

           And then it was gone. It stayed gone, too—no more fear, no nightmares, nothing. That was a relief, but a really weird one. The thing probably hadn’t even been there; it was just the mudslide talking…

The next time Sans awoke, he was alone, and any lingering apprehensions vanished as he looked at the clock. It was already late afternoon, heading into the evening. Shit! Where was Alphys? Where was Frisk?!

           ...Right. She was in Snowdin. Okay.

           Where was Snowdin?!

           Think, think. Snowdin: he lived there. It had his house. Sans took stock of his magic, which was doing well, and his mental capabilities, which could probably direct his teleportation now without getting him encased in solid rock or dropping him hundreds of feet from the cavern ceiling. The giant skeleton concentrated, and a moment later, he was back on the floor in his own room.

           An odd smell was drifting up from the kitchen almost directly below. Dammit, he'd told Frisk not to actually get any spaghetti stuff! Oh, well, Pap sounded pretty happy. Where was everyone else?

           A faint thud on the side of the house answered that question; Undyne was outside, laughing her ass off. Not long after, the front door crashed open and more voices flooded the house. To his surprise, he heard Mettaton and maybe a little of Alphys before Undyne and Papyrus drowned her out. There was Frisk, too, directing things—how the hell were they going to fit everyone inside?

           The answer seemed to be a combination of Papyrus sitting on the stairs and Undyne smushing up against Alphys on the couch. Sans wished Undyne would hurry up and ask her out already; Al could use some non-fictional companionship, and the house could use a little less time with Undyne in it.

           Should he at least come out and say hi, even if he had to stay upstairs and lean over the railing? But he didn't feel like talking to everyone, or making them feel like they had to find room for him. Besides, for all he knew, Frisk was still mad at him, just because he'd been a stupid jerk in front of people and then disappeared without warning for half the day...

           No, better stay where he was for now, safe in his room, listening to them have fun as Undyne brought the presents in, and not feeling jealous or lonely at all.

           Mettaton went first, because he was Mettaton. He also had the bulkiest set of gifts, including several bolts of very expensive silk; the automaton was so overjoyed that he promised to have his tailors make a couple of things for Frisk, too, and loan her some of his new hair accessories. Sans just hoped he wasn't going to make her wear the literal paint she'd bought for his face!

           Did she even own any makeup? He'd never seen her wear more than a tiny bit. Come to think of it, he'd never seen her wear anything fancier than that dumb, sexy purple dress for All Souls Day.

           There was more mechanical jubilation from downstairs, this time over the sets of dance steps and sheet music. Now MTT was proposing a grand fete after the next shipment of food arrived and Frisk's measurements had been taken, perhaps toward the end of her visit. After all, she still couldn’t be sure that Asgore was willing to make peace between the two kingdoms, and whether the dance would be a celebration or a permanent send-off; more importantly, they couldn’t start planning till the caterers knew exactly what they'd be working with.

           Sans smirked into the darkness. A party, huh? As long as it didn't remind anyone of the farewell gala thirteen-ish years ago, then whatever, Frisk would love it; he'd be careful not to stare too hard if she got dressed up. He'd seen plenty of fancy ladies at the castle, and he was sure he could handle the sight of any—

           Cries of dismay came through the floorboards. The boss monster was ready to zip downstairs and start busting heads, but the furor died right down, and he soon pieced together what'd happened: Papyrus had come over to admire something with a plate of spaghetti in his hand, only to trip over...probably nothing, and Frisk had thrown herself between the silk on Mettaton’s lap and the flying arc of tomato sauce.

           The good news was that Mettaton was offering to take her laundry back with him, including a stain treatment for her sacrificed dress; the bad news was that she didn't have anything clean to wear in the meantime. There was a moment of silence as they tried to figure out what to do, with Mettaton's entourage all the way off in Hotland and the shops already closed for the day.

           Alphys spoke, and after another quiet moment, Papyrus yelled something, his footsteps tramping excitedly up the stairs, Frish right behind him. They clattered around for a minute in Pap’s room, probably the closet; then she headed to the bathroom at the end of the hall, Sans trying not to tense up as she walked by.

           He must have made some kind of noise, because now Papyrus was knocking on his door. "BROTHER? IS THAT YOU? IF THAT IS YOU, COME OUT THIS INSTANT! WE HAVE ALL BEEN CONCERNED ABOUT YOU AND YOUR TENDENCY TO DISAPPEAR FOR LONG PERIODS WITHOUT BEING HERE!"

           Sans cringed. Of course Pap would be worried about him not coming back! Feeling like a complete ass, the boss monster got up slowly, yawning wide and rubbing his sockets as he opened the door. "Hey, bro," he mumbled. "Sorry 'bout that. I just thought I'd get some rest, didn't know I was gonna fall asleep."

           "HMPH." Papyrus didn't just make the sound; he always had to say "hummff." "COME DOWNSTAIRS AND SAY HELLO TO OUR GUESTS. AND SPAGHETTI!! THE GREATEST GUEST OF ALL!!"

           Oh, for God's sake, Frisk! Why had she—no, there was no use crying about it now. He couldn’t count on giving it away to anyone, either: even the starvingest monster remembered what Pap’s cooking was like. "Whoa, really? Lemme see," Sans said with enough enthusiasm to make Papyrus race downstairs to the kitchen.

The boss monster came out and paused at the head of the stairs. There was a small table in the corner at the foot of the staircase; he lifted it up and set it down next to him in the hallway, then zipped himself down to sit in the now-free space. God, he hated being huge. "Hey, guys," he said, pulling his legs up to his ribcage.

           "What do you mean, 'hey, guys'?!" Undyne was glad for the excuse to put down her spaghetti, though it was difficult to find room for it on the floor. "What the hell have you been doing, besides being drunk and stupid?" She tried to stay angry, but a smirk kept showing through. "Did you seriously go all the way to the lab because you couldn't find your house?"

           A beat of silence. "Yes?" hazarded Sans.

           The only thing that saved Undyne from another attack of the giggles was the bathroom door opening upstairs. "Is that you, Sans?" called Frisk.

           His SOUL went pitter-patter again. "Yeah, I'm back. Couldn't stay away from Pap's spaghetti," he replied, earning a soft “NYEHH” from the kitchen.

           "I dunno, this might not be the right batch for you," Undyne said, loud enough for Frisk to hear. "The sauce is, uh, good, but it’s..." Snort. "It's..." Cough. "It's really lumpy."

           More silence. It took Sans a second to remember why he wanted to punch her for saying that, and then fucking Papyrus had to add,  “LUMPS ARE ESSENTIAL FOR PROPER FLAVOR!”

It was quiet upstairs; then Undyne snickered, and Frisk burst out laughing, the sound echoing down the stairwell and setting Undyne off again until both women were near tears.

           "Private jokes are for children, darling," Mettaton informed Undyne, nudging his own plate away with his foot.

           "You're for children," she mumbled, and Mettaton rolled his crystalline eyes.

           “WELL?” A moment of crisis united them again: Papyrus was in the kitchen doorway, looking expectant. Alphys bravely twirled up an entire forkful and crammed it in her mouth, moving her cheeks to fake a smile.

They all fell respectfully silent as Papyrus went back to the kitchen, Undyne grabbing a glass of water for Alphys to help wash it down. "Oh, d-dear. Well, getting back to your idea, M-Mettaton," the scientist wheezed, "we should r-really ask His Majesty b-before we have any big events like that."

           Mettaton clicked at her. "Oh, Alphys, it won't be anything excessive! Just a band, a few tables, every single monster in the Underground dressed in their absolute best—"

           "Like this?" Frisk asked wryly, coming down the last step.

           Sans had angled himself to face the others, and he stayed that way long enough to see their reactions first. For some reason, Mettaton looked as if he’d swallowed a bug. “Really, darling?” the automaton asked distastefully. “It’s like wrapping a star sapphire in toilet paper.”

Papyrus, on the other hand, was absolutely delighted: "AH HA! I KNEW IT WOULD FIT YOU, HUMAN! SANS, LOOK AT WHAT I'VE HAD IN MY CLOSET ALL THESE YEARS, JUST IN CASE, NYEH-HEH!"

           "I l-like it. If w-we ever had a costume party, that w-would be perfect," Alphys remarked, adjusting her glasses.

           Undyne snorted. "Yeah, except he didn’t look like that up top!"

           Sans had no idea what to expect when he turned his head. He’d just been imagining Frisk in a ruffly ballgown, and it occurred to him much later that if she’d come downstairs wearing something really fancy or weird, he’d have been fine. But she wasn’t, and he wasn’t.

           Frisk was wearing his old clothes. The blue hooded jacket, the white shirt, the black pants with white stripes—there they were, wrenchingly familiar and yet very different. For one thing, they were a bit too small on her; the pants reached the tops of her knees, while the shirt just barely covered her midsection. She wasn’t a lot taller now than he’d been before the accident, but as Undyne had immediately noticed, Frisk was filling it out far better than Sans ever had.

           Her perfect figure notwithstanding, it also hit him that she was wearing the most shoddy, unfashionable, lazily masculine clothes possible – hence Mettaton’s distress – and she still looked like a princess.

           "SPEECHLESS AT MY FORETHOUGHT, EH, BROTHER?" Papyrus had puffed his own chest out. "THE CLOTHING YOU WORE TO THE GALA MAY HAVE BEEN DESTROYED, BUT I HAD A SECOND, SECRET SET HIDDEN AWAY! DID YOU NEVER WONDER HOW I ALWAYS WASHED YOUR CLOTHES SO QUICKLY WHEN YOU WERE IN THE SHOWER?"

           Sans tried to say "Sort of," or literally anything else, but too many things were crowding his mind, starting with nostalgia, and amazement that he'd ever been that small, with some bemusement that she was still so tiny. But that outfit also represented everything he used to be, everything he wanted back and couldn't have...and Frisk, who he was supposed to pretend he didn't want.

           That was plenty of emotional crap to work through, and it wasn’t even his biggest problem. When Sans tried looking down to get ahold of himself, he found himself staring at the one thing that fit her perfectly.

           “YES, I EVEN PRESERVED YOUR SOCKS FOR POSTERITY!” boasted Papyrus. “I HAVE ALLOWED YOU TO KEEP THAT GIANT PILE IN YOUR ROOM, EXCEPT OF COURSE FOR THE ONES I MADE INTO SOCK PUPPETS. BUT THOSE THAT I SAVED AS REGULAR SOCKS HAVE BEEN AWAITING THE DAY WHEN SOMEONE COULD WEAR THEM AGAIN!”

           Sans made a noise. It could have been a disagreeable noise, or a polite one, or anything in between. He didn’t know, or care, because her feet were right there, and his dumb old socks had somehow become the most erotic thing imaginable—and he could imagine a lot of things. Sure, her feet had always been cute to look at because they were so small, but so was the rest of her. Those stupid goddamn socks were…more cute. A lot more.

           Not for the first time, he thought of last night, smelling and hearing and touching, and wondered what’d happen if they ever got around to that stuff again with more lights on. He could handle seeing her, or everything else at once, and literally no combination thereof.

           Frisk was looking at him, wine-colored eyes wide with puzzlement. “Sans?” She raised one foot to scratch her other calf. “Are you—”

Noooope nope— The only thing Sans could do to keep from tackling her in front of everyone was yell, “Be right back!” and take a shortcut to the first place he could think of.

 ~

             There was stunned silence in his aftermath. Alphys gave a faint, heartbroken moan of “Oh, c-c-c’mon, he was right at the best part!”

           “My, my,” Mettaton said slowly. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was being…amorous.”

           “Nope, no way, he’s just weird,” Undyne muttered. “He probably doesn’t have a thing for feet at all. …Geez, did you guys see the way he was staring?! What’s wrong with him?”

           Frisk was beet-red. “Well, dinner was absolutely delicious!” she chirped. “Thank you, Papyrus! So, Alphys! Why don’t you open your gifts now?!”

By unspoken consent, they turned to watch Alphys pick up her first box, passing their plates back for Frisk to discreetly scrape back into the pot and shove back into the refrigerator. Luckily, Papyrus wasn’t paying much attention; he was still staring at the foot of the stairs where his brother had been. “HOW STRANGE,” he muttered. “I REALLY THOUGHT HE’D LIKE THE SOCKS.”

 ~

             One hour later, the clock struck eight, and Asgore jerked upright, staring blearily into the semi-darkness. Only the kitchen light was on; the fireplace was down to the last embers. The King of monsters retrieved his cold tea, threw it into the grate, and got up to put the mug in the sink.

           A sound at the front door made him look up; a heavy knock made him scowl and raise his voice a little more than necessary. “Yes? Can it wait till morning?” he asked brusquely.

           “I don’t think ya should, Yer Majesty,” said a familiar voice.

           Asgore’s scowl deepened until he was nearly snarling. With great effort, he said, “One moment, Sans,” and tossed the mug into the kitchen, ignoring the sound of ceramic breaking. He took his time crossing the living room, and was in no hurry to unlock or open the door. “Good evening,” he eventually greeted the other boss monster.

           Sans was a couple of steps down, putting him and the King on eye level. “Evenin’,” he replied. “Sorry ta be here so close to bedtime, but I owe someone a favor.”

           Asgore raised an eyebrow. “A favor? What do y—”

           “Dreemurr.”

           The King stood as though he’d been changed to stone: not even his eyes moved as Toriel emerged from behind the leafless black tree in the courtyard. She nodded grimly, folding her hands. “I am here to say something to you about Frisk. Anything you say in return will be a waste of breath.”

No reaction. She nodded again and took another step forward, voice flat, eyes cold and hard. “You’ve allowed Frisk to be here, but I know you, Your Majesty. You’ll let the rest of her visit pass without so much as a word to her, and you will let her go home empty-handed, hoping Stephin will forbid her to come again and save you further discomfort. Never mind the possibility of procuring food for your people and freeing our kindred from slavery, unless you—”

           “Tori,” grunted Sans. “Leave ‘im alone. Get to the point.”

           Asgore glanced at him in surprise. Toriel ground her teeth, but after a moment, she said calmly, “You are right, my friend. I will be brief: I wish to inform His Majesty that if any harm befalls Frisk for any reason while she is here, there will be consequences…and that if His Majesty does not meet with her in a diplomatic capacity before she returns to the humans, I will do so.”

           Both men started. “You can’t do that,” the King protested. “When you left here—”

           Sans braced himself, and sure enough, Tori drew herself up till she seemed about thirty feet tall. “Do not tell me what I cannot do, Dreemurr!” she thundered. “When I left here, I ceased to be Queen, but I have not ceased to be me! You will not take another child from me, and I will not allow you to deprive our people of their last hope because you are too proud to admit your own incompetence! Do you understand?”

           One more long, frozen instant. Asgore took a deep breath…

           He slammed the door shut.

           Sans coughed theatrically. “So. That…that happened.”

           Toriel’s eyes closed. “Take us to Snowdin, please” was all she said.

           Sans complied, letting her come up and lay a furry hand on his arm before he whisked them through space and onto the porch of his house.

           “Thank you, my friend,” said Toriel. She gave him a tired smile. “I am so sorry. You wanted someone to talk to, and I made you take me straight to that close-minded, selfish—” The former Queen shook herself. “I…don’t suppose that whatever you wanted to talk about can be discussed in a minute or so? I’d like to collect the girls and head home now. If you want to stop by tomorrow—”

           “Nah, the timing’s my fault. Don’t worry, it’s a short thing,” Sans said absently. He glanced at the door, wondering if everyone was still there, then ceasing to wonder as he heard several different voices at once and also some clanking. It sounded like they were playing charades. “It’s more of a thing I’d like ya to think over so we can talk about it later. And don’t tell anyone. Please.”

           Toriel nodded pleasantly. “Of course, Sans. What is troubling you?”

           Sans grabbed the doorknob, said, “I’m in love with a human,” and opened the door to boisterous greetings of “Sans!” “Where have you been, punk?!” and “SANS! THANK GOODNESS! QUICK, HELP ME EXPRESS THE CONCEPT OF ‘SUMMER RAINDROPS’!”

[daftunderground]

The Lost Letter

Shooting target

Niragi

I wake up to the sound of the games alarm. I'm lying in a dead end. I get up expecting to feel hellish pain after being burned alive, but it doesn't, so I inspect my body and see some burnt parts completely healed. I don't know what day it is, nor how long I have seen, much less how I got here. But I don't have much time to think about the answers.

I get up and run towards the arena before a laser goes over my head.

Nothing has changed in this fucking world, and when I walk in the door and grab the last cell phone that is missing, someone screams in total alarm:

_How can you be alive? And perfectly fine? We saw you burn on the beach !!!!!

Of course, I would recognize that voice. I smile and start walking towards him while I put my cell phone in my pocket.

_ Did you miss it? - I hold your chin and lean over licking your lobe while I whisper: _I missed you too.

I don't even have to be surprised when Arisu pulls his pathetic girlfriend away from me. I'm ready to put you in her place when that piranha's robotic voice starts explaining the rules.

Registration is closed. At the time of the game, there are six participants. The game will start now. Game: Target shooting. Objective: Transfer the targets to the dummies at the end of the shed safely.

Snitch. You must be kidding me. I cross the hall and open the door to a giant shed. In the left corner next to the door there is a table with target shooting posters and nothing else. I squeeze my temples and let out a frustrated growl. It is obvious that I already know what will happen. When we run happy and carefree, we will be shot by the other three imbeciles in the game. The useless Arisu has just realized the same thing and verbalizes my thinking. Perhaps he is not so useless after all.

           Probably if I disarm a sniper, I will be able to kill everyone, get all the posters and restart the game. That is the plan and it will do. I see a container in the right corner and run over there, and it's obvious that that pathetic little couple is following me. I turn to them and say:

_ Do you two have nothing better to do?

_ You cannot win this game without working as a team. We have to hang six posters on the mannequins, and we only have three, supposing that the other three are with the snipers, we will have to fight and remove the posters from them - says Arisu, already starting to despair.

_ Oh yeah? Well, I'm going to disarm the first armed idiot in this game and I'm going to kill everyone! Including you! - I laugh at saying that. At the same time, a bullet goes through the metal container. Damn it, I ended up revealing our position. I get up and run in a zigzag pattern until I find the next container. This shit shed is huge and getting to the end of it in the middle of an unarmed shootout is going to suck. I don't even have to look to the side to know that my shadows are already there. Great. I take a deep breath not to strangle these two immediately and try to think of something.

Mirai

I wake up feeling something heavy in my chest. I feel around with my eyes closed until I find the thing in my chest. It is full of forms and I can assume that it is some kind of weapon. When I open my eyes, I see a sniper rifle. When I sit down, next to me I find a bag full of ammunition, more than enough to carry out a massacre. I hear the sound of a game about to start. With a shiver down my spine, I get up and run over there.

I arrive in an empty room. Obviously, no one has arrived yet. I grab a cell phone and enter the door of a shed without being interested in the game. I am very relieved to know that I will not have to chase innocents with a rifle. But by the name of the game, someone else will.

I never understood why they just won't let me die. Several games over the years since I got here. And I always wake up again after some experience that must surely extinguish my life.

I climb the metal stairs and reach a set of walkways at the top of the shed. Certainly the group of people running down there did not realize that the game could be played from up here.

I see movement on my left and raise the gun, only to find Chishiya and his girlfriend Kuina, or at least I imagine she is her girlfriend, but judging by how much he protects her, she certainly has some kind of value to him.

_ It did not occur to me that you could be here. This is not your Chishiya type of game. You must be very desperate, your visa is expiring, I imagine? - I ask trying to be friendly, I would not like to be your enemy, this guy is certainly very dangerous. I met him a long time ago in a game, and I know he finds it very strange that I am still alive, even after mysteriously disappearing from the middle of the game.

_ No, I just came to ask a favor. Help those guys down there to survive. They are part of my plan to get out of here and I need them whole - he says in an unnatural tone quiet. I can feel the silent threat in his words and something tells me that he knows too much and refusing his whims can put me in obvious danger. I know he has more people with him, and it certainly wouldn't be difficult for him to torture me and elicit answers.

_ And how could I keep your friends safe? - I ask nodding. And I notice when I wrinkle my nose when I say the word "friends".

_ Easy. Give your rifle to the guy in the black shirt. Then you can do whatever you want - He replies with a smile on his lips.I raise my eyebrow, but I already know that I lost the argument that I could start here. I pull my poster out of my pocket and toss it to Kuina.

_ Do your part - I say and walk away. I make three quick shots at the three individuals with the horse mask, and I don't even have to check if I got it right. I go down the stairs after two more masked men and aim at my head. I know from experience that these army guys could survive any shot, except in the head. I don't know what they give them and I don't think it's even better to try to find out.I walk silently over to where Chishiya's friends are hiding and begin to question their IQ, from where I am just a few meters away, I can see the faded pants of a boy in a bun. They don't know how to hide and talk too loudly for someone who is running away from someone.Nobody said I need to be kind. I press the barrel of the gun against the face of the guy Chishiya ordered the gun to, and I wonder if he'll be able to disarm me and prove that my theory about him being a failure is wrong. His colleagues look at me with great dread in their eyes. I start laughing, and kick the guy in my sights. I throw the rifle in his lap. And he gets up with a look that makes me regret accepting to help Chishiya.

Niragi

When we start to hear footsteps approaching we start to despair. The shed has nothing but obstacles placed in various places, as if they wanted us to run around until we were hit by a shot.We heard three shots.

_ Did you find someone? - Arisu asks.

_Só They are shooting at anything. I would do that too, probably the most desperate person would run away thinking they've been discovered - I cast a suggestive look in his direction. I see your face change from desperate to terrified in seconds. And I don't understand why until I feel something cold on the back of my neck. A weapon, I see automatically. I swallow hard already knowing that I'm going to die.I feel something heavy hit me, and I am thrown at those idiots, I sit down immediately and I barely have time to understand what hit me when a rifle falls in my lap. I look up for the bad joke. And what a joke, when I look up at a tall woman, with curves that make Usagi look pathetic, she is standing with her arms crossed assessing the three of us. Who does she think she is? I get up, aiming the gun at her.

_Are you going to shoot someone who just helped you? For Chishiya's friends you are very ungrateful - she exclaims.

_ Did Chishiya send you? How? - Arisu asks behind me.I roll my eyes. I prepare to kill this stranger, but a movement at the beginning of the shed makes me turn. More than twenty armed horse guys start to enter the shed! 

_WOOO HOOOO - I scream and fire a few shots into the air, before running to a more favorable position. The nameless girl shouts instructions to those cowards and crouches beside me with a bag full of ammunition.

_ Were you planning a massacre ? I'm sorry to ruin her plans, but there aren't many people left in this world for you to kill - I lick my lips imagining that maybe I should have fun with her before I kill her later. She is running in the middle of the shooting with what appear to be huge knives, if I graze her, it might be harder for her to resist later, I smile as I look at her hips.

Mirai

I take down my thirtieth horse when the robotic voice announces the end of the game. I think of the delay they took to hang all the targets. I am walking to the end of the shed and I know that I am being followed closely by Niragi. I found out her name after her many cries of ecstasy and self-recognition. This guy is not normal. Although I hate her behavior, I find her ecstatic state extremely sexy. I squeeze my temples, I can only be going crazy. A bullet wound that grazed me is throbbing a little and I can swear that the boy following me knows this.I stop in front of Chishiya, Kuina and her friends who have not yet introduced themselves. As if reading my thoughts, Chishiya says:

_These are Arisu and Usagi. They play here for a while - He points to both and says - This is Mirai, we played a game together once - He holds up not one, but six suit cards Spades _It seems that we weren't playing for a card after all. I suspected that at the beginning of the game when they didn't tell us what we were playing for.

_Of course, clear - I hear Niragi's disdainful voice very close to my ear. He wraps an arm around me holding the gun and slowly slides it from my neck to my navel, gluing my body to his with the gesture. My knees threaten to give in to the realization that he is aroused. His tongue goes down the lobe of my ear and I notice a piercing there. Pressing the gun against my stomach in a hoarse voice he says:

_ And then kitten? Where did you get so many weapons?