#rare ady face

[aduck8myshoes]

DULCINEA Was I cute?

[adiluv]

❥ 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐀𝐓 𝐌𝐄, 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐇𝐈𝐌. ˚⊹꒷

🎧୧・꒰summary—wc꒱ you're supposed to be his fan. not la signora's, not childe's, and definitely not il dottore's. 824 words.

💿୧・꒰warnings꒱ yandere character ꒰possessive behavior, petty scara꒱, idol/modern au, slightly suggestive at the end, reader is not traveler, lightly edited.

🎤୧・꒰adi moment꒱ inspired by these hcs! i don't think i'll be beating these scara lover allegations anytime soon, sadly... but anyway! scaramouche is honestly such a petty bastard imo, so i figured i'd mess around a bit with the idea! as always, hope you enjoy! ໒꒰ྀི ⁎ᵕ ᴗ ᵕ⁎꒱ྀི১

as a disclaimer, i don’t support yandere behavior in real life! please don’t interpret this post as justification for any of scaramouche’s actions.

Perhaps it was selfish of Scaramouche to be so terribly possessive over you, though months of correspondence with you had simply robbed him of the ability to care. A rare find, in his eyes, a bright light in an ocean of monotones. Being in an idol group with a whopping eleven other members certainly guaranteed that the attention of fans was finely split, and so he didn’t exactly see it wrong to be a bit more protective over the one that had eyes for him alone. 

Or, at the very least, the one that should’ve had eyes for him alone.

Although practically drowning beneath the heaps of other memorabilia you’d come decked out in, the Il Dottore themed lanyard that hung from your phone case was ultimately unable to escape his piercing gaze. He’d always hated the cocky bastard, despised his overly pompous boasting and inflamed ego—but never before had those feelings burnt inside him with such soul-splitting intensity. No, he simply couldn’t help but fume atop the stage as the concert carried on, barely visible glares and the slightest shoves casted towards the senior member.

You weren’t exempt, either. 

Was this what you’d wanted? To try and tear him apart with such an intense bout of jealousy? Forcing him—watching him struggle to keep his composure in front of the millions of fans that were watching him?

It was a stroke of luck he’d decided to become an idol, since he would’ve already bit his tongue off if he had the opportunity to keep his mouth closed.

Over the several months you’d known Scaramouche, invitations backstage had become the norm between the both of you—rare moments of alone time together with your body perfectly slotted within his arms and sweet nothings whispered in your ear. 

Naturally, it was the absence of this that drove your heart wild. 

Even worse was when another fan was granted the honor, personally escorted behind the curtains by the star as fans hounded the duo. 

‘He’d never done that for you,’ came the tiny, jealous voice within your mind—fingers clamping shut into fists as you attempted to rationalize the scene in front of you. It was true, of course, that a bodyguard had always been the one to lead you to his dressing room, a slap in the face considering the way he held their hand in front of everybody. Why, oh why, is some… random person getting better treatment?

The both of you were already well aware that this scene would be blowing up come tomorrow, countless articles, tweets, and tiktoks posted by the insignificant pest he’d picked out. And while his cheeks were absolutely straining from the falsified polite smile he wore, seeing the dejected look on your face certainly alleviated some of the burden. 

It wasn’t as though you even had the right to be angry with him—it’d just be silly considering this little stunt of yours—but there was something so horribly satisfying about watching you seething, all the same. How sweet! That little pout pulling down your lips, the crinkles forming in-between your furrowed eyebrows. Exactly what he’d been hoping for, pulling a random member of the audience along with him, and he was glad you decided not to disappoint twice in one night.

Maybe, if you’d chosen any of the other Harbingers to pull such a stunt with, he might’ve found it amusing. But showing up to his concert, with tickets that he paid for on your behalf, with merch of Il Dottore? Hah. Inexcusable, really—though it was ‘cute’ you had the gall. 

He was certain he’d already gone off on tangents about the man before, certain that he’d already emphasized that only he was worthy of your adoration. Why, then, would you carry through with such a thinly veiled betrayal?

He would not share you with that man.

But no matter..! While the audacity you had to toy with him was commendable in its own right, you weren’t the only one that could play at that game. And Scaramouche? He plays to win. For the sake of proving this point, he’s more than willing to allow you to leave empty-handed tonight, push himself through the agony of being without your touch for a bit longer.

As expected, tickets to the Harbinger’s next concert arrive in your mailbox the day after their latest venue is announced—though the two extra items attached are much more novel. A letter, handwritten by the idol himself, chiding you for this little ‘slip-up’ in your loyalties…  and a Scaramouche themed lanyard, orders attached to dispose of your current one immediately.

He’ll be keeping his eyes on his favorite fan.

You’re lucky that he’s being so generous, but even you should know that he has his limits. If you continue to act out, a more… hands-on punishment will be necessary to remind you of exactly who your love and attention belongs to.

But frankly? He doesn’t think he’d mind. ♡

i have a taglist, which you can sign up for here!

[masterjedilenawrites]

On this here February 1st, I'll be showing some love for the 21st Nova Corps, a unit lead by Marshal Commander Bacara and Jedi General Ki-Adi-Mundi. I couldn't find any other named clones from this unit outside of Bacara, and I haven't written for this guy before, so I'll do some headcanons just for him :)

The 21st Nova Corps

I did a quick dive on Wookiepedia first, and here were some things that stood out to me from what's apparently already been canonized:

The 21st Nova Corps has a reputation for being relentless and exceptionally conditioned/disciplined.

This is in large part due to Bacara having super high expectations, he will kick anyone who doesn't meet them out of the squad, even without Ki-Adi-Mundi's approval.

Actually described as being "at odds with" Mundi, though in another section was said to have a grudging respect for him.

Bacara utilizes aggressive tactics and is extremely strict. He ignores the recommended GAR practice for commanders to remain inconspicuous in battle, and instead chooses to lead his troops from the front.

He's described as a loner and stern. I saw somewhere he was besties with Neyo, too, and they developed combat techniques together.

With that foundation, here are some headcanons I have for him:

Doesn't talk much, but not because he's shy or emotionally constipated. He really only cares about war and rarely meets people who are interested in discussing the topic with as much passion.

Like seriously, he has no other hobbies or interests. Music? Never heard of it. Sports? Boring. Holo-films? Food? Knitting? Yeah no, he's already walking away from this conversation.

If he is comfortable with someone though, he can talk about battle strategies for daaaays.

Fucking hates milk.

Has a mind for improvement. Not quite a perfectionist, he just won't ever settle for "good enough" when something better is still achievable.

Thus, he's constantly working angles in his head, coming up with possible solutions, thinking outside the box. Even for common, everyday situations like getting out of traffic or folding the laundry.

Jason Bourne vibes.

Has one small tattoo on his foot, will never say what it is.

Natural at picking up languages. Fluent in Mando'a but can carry simple conversations in plenty of others. 

Spends his R&Rs pouring over wartime history/strategy books in the archives, with a beer.

If someone asked him on a date, he would straight-up say "why?" So confused.

He would be a pretty good partner, though, if he ever opened himself up romantically.

And if he could ever find someone who meets his high standards...

I also read that he was featured on a GAR campaign poster, and I firmly believe he secretly has a massive print of it taped to the back of his closet door.

Can not roll his tongue. Every other clone can and it pisses him off.

Has the best laugh you've ever heard in your life. He does use it occasionally, but very randomly. Not even his squad has been able to work out what exactly his sense of humor is.

His squad... All are just as intense and passionate as their commander. When they're not fighting, they're training to fight. There's no room for shenanigans or relaxing.

Other clones keep a respectful distance. They know the Nova Corps get sent to some pretty hardcore places.

Most of them have never set foot in 79s, or any bar for that matter.

Bacara goes every once in a while, because he does like a good beer, but he's very out of place. Just... kinda sits there... not doing anything...

He gets hit on a lot because he's smoking hot but has never taken anyone home. Not opposed to the idea of getting laid, but it would take a lot to catch his eye.

Eeeevery once in a while, when life gets a little too still and his thoughts wander past all the combat tactics and weapon factoids that are usually in the way, a deep and vulnerable feeling makes its way to the surface and almost cripples him: loneliness.

He has no idea what to do about it, so rather than face it like he would a charging battalion of droids, he instead pushes it right back down and moves on.

Okay but now I'm imagining Queer Eye showing up to help Bacara find some hobbies and a girlfriend 😂

Every Character Tag: @dangerousstrawberrypie, @justanothersadperson93, @arctrooper69, @sleepycreativewriter, @techie-bear, @theroguesully, @cw80831

Other Clones Tag: @kaijusplotch, @lucyysthings, @marvel-starwars-nerd, @severalseashellsbytheseashore (it won't let me tag you), @lackofhonor, @flowered-bicycles, @foodmoneyandcats, @mishakoon

✨Join A Tag List Here!✨

🌟 2024 Clone Battalion Series Master List | 🌙 Master List of Master Lists

[hereticpriest]

Mercy Chapter 3: Instincts

Rating: Explicit 18+

MDNI

Relationship: Obi-Wan Kenobi x Reader

To begin with, some warnings about this story: A/B/O Dynamics, Female Alpha, Male Omega, Some chapters may involve messing with the whole 'alphas are always dom and omegas are always sub' because I think nuance exists even in A/B/O dynamics, Fucking with the timeline (this is a blend of Canon, Legends, and original lore), Minimal use of Y/N (Explained in the first chapter), Reader is an alien species of my own creation and thus has a physical description, Familial bonds explored heavily, Clone rights explored heavily, Violence is more graphic than canon-typical however any graphic descriptions will be noted, AFAB reader, Not beta-read so I apologize for any mistakes.

Chapter Warnings: Frottage/dry humping/thigh grinding, more exposition, fantasizing about your friend, manipulation and discussion of violence. If you notice any missing warnings, please let me know!

Read on AO3

Masterlist - Part One - Part Two - Part Four

Chapter 3: Instincts

By the time you turned twenty-three, you had been going on missions without your Master for a couple of years, often paired up with other similarly aged Padawans or Jedi Knights. You were preparing for the trials at the advice of your Master, as the Council wanted you to take them a little earlier than normal - within the next year or so. You understood why - despite your blockers and your self-control, your Alpha nature was obvious to anyone who saw you. Even other Alphas that you encountered on missions had a habit of deferring to you, which often made your job easier as a diplomatic mediator. Your nature was tamed, but the Council wanted you to face the trials early, believing that that would help you further in your efforts to suppress the instincts that you battled every day.

The Council called for you while your Master was gone on a mission to Dac to help the Mon Calamari with an investigation, and you were pleasantly surprised to find Master Qui-Gon Jinn waiting for you by the entrance to the chambers. Since your old Master left the Order, Qui-Gon had been kind enough to meet with you when he had the time, rare as that was. You would have tea together, sometimes with Obi-Wan if he was around. Something felt very right when all of you were together, and you knew you weren’t the only one who felt it. The older man smiled warmly, placing a hand between your shoulder blades as he guided you through the doors.

“It appears we will be working together, young Padawan. I am pleased to have the chance.” He said as he led you in. The Council was in limited attendance today, though Masters Yoda, Mace Windu, Coleman Trebor, and Ki Adi Mundi were present. You knew many of the Masters were busy on their own missions right now - it was a busy year with many small outbreaks of violence. Master Windu offered a small smile at the sight of you both, and brought up a holo of a planet you hadn’t been to before he began speaking.

He explained that there was a bar on Daiyu in which a Twi’lek bounty hunter named Ros Bartim often collected work and rewards. He was known very well in this bar, and appeared to either know the owner or be one himself. Ros Bartim had information about an exclusive bounty that the Council heard involved an unknown senator on Coruscant. He’s looking for assistance on this job as he is known as a criminal on the Core worlds and can’t travel very easily there. According to Council intelligence, Ros Bartim is an Alpha who only respects Alphas, and won’t entreat with any other designation. He has a lot of respect for powerful Alphas especially, and has been known to gossip a little when loosened up with their presence. Your job was to get the details of the bounty from Ros Bartim, including the origin of the bounty, the reward, the target and the timeline.

You had been selected for this job not only because you were identified as an exceptionally powerful Alpha during your presentation and thereafter, but also because the Council believed that you would be able to follow the will of the Force and the Jedi Code while embracing your natural instincts. This was a huge show of trust, and you felt a hundred feet tall, bolstered by their belief in you.

“You will need to remove your scent blockers for this mission, young Padawan. You will need to listen to your instincts, and behave as an Alpha while retaining your presence of mind. Master Qui-Gon will masquerade as your pack-bonded Beta, and will help you keep your head even if the situation were to get difficult. We trust that you will get this job done without compromising yourself. We’ve sent the details of the mission to your datapad. May the Force be with you.” Master Windu dismissed you, and you bowed before leaving with Master Qui-Gon.

“You’ll need to shower. Pack your things, and I will meet you in one hour in your rooms.” The older Beta instructed, giving you a nod of his head before departing from your side. You put your robes through the laundry to remove the lingering sterile odor of the scent blockers you wore every day of your life as soon as you got through the door. It took you twenty minutes to shower thoroughly enough that you had removed all traces of the scent blockers you had worn, and another ten to pack your bag with necessities. Running entirely on instinct, you began to rub your chin against your cloak, scenting the fabric so it wouldn’t smell so clean and fresh.

“Ah, that’s a smart idea.” Master Qui-Gon commented idly from the doorway, and you looked up at him sharply, startled that you hadn’t noticed him in your distraction. It took you a second to blink back to reality and relax your posture.

“Hello Master Qui-Gon. I should… probably scent you before we go as well. If you’re to be…” You hesitated to say mine, even as the thought made your teeth ache.

“You will need to lean into your instincts for this mission, young Padawan. It may be uncomfortable, but I will not hold anything you need to do during this mission against you. I will need to follow your lead, as I am not as familiar with Alpha to Alpha dynamics. I trust you, Mercy. Do you trust me?” He asked, and you took a deep breath to calm yourself before nodding.

“I do trust you. You… You should refer to me as Alpha. I’ll have to call you my Beta. I apologize ahead of time for any displays of possessiveness - it will take me some time to lean into my instincts, and it will be better - easier - if I start now. Do you mind if I scent you?” You asked, and had to bite back a pleased chuff when he exposed his neck in offering. In the back of your mind, a chorus of your Alpha instincts roared with delight. He wants to be mine, wants to be mine. Big strong Jedi Beta wants to be mine. My pack. It was embarrassing how right it all felt. You’d long known that you were destined for a pack of your own, even if it wasn’t exactly in line with the Jedi Code.

His scent of petrichor, jasmine and frankincense met your nose as you leaned in to rub your chin and cheek against his scent glands, and you grasped at his back, arms around his broad torso. Strong hands closed around your waist, and you chuffed in response, earning yourself a muted purr that had your tail curling around your Beta’s hips. Once his natural scent had begun to blend with your own cinnamon, forest and vetiver, you finally forced yourself to pull back, tamping down on the instincts that drove you to fortify your claim. Two steps back, and Master Qui-Gon coughed quietly, smoothing out his robes as he looked you over.

“That took wisdom and restraint, young Padawan. The Council made a good choice assigning you to this mission.” He complimented you, and you offered him a smile in return.

“Thank you. We should go, before my scent causes a stir.” That drew a laugh from the Jedi Master, and he nodded, leading you out of the dormitories. Like you, Master Qui-Gon only had a small bag with him, and he let you know that you would be taking a small cruiser for this mission. A delighted trill greeted you as you approached the cruiser, and an unpainted astromech zoomed out in front of you. It looked similar to the R2 series, though it had a more complicated holoprojector and optical system than any astromech you’d ever seen.

“D41-Z3, huh? Daisy. Do you like that name?” You patted the top of the droid gently as it gave a happy trill, checking it over for any scuffs, “You need a paint job, Daisy, you’re too cute to be plain silver.”

“That will have to wait, Padawan. Come along.” Qui-Gon encouraged as he began to walk up the ramp into your cruiser. Daisy rolled over to the front of the cruiser and was swiftly loaded into the cockpit, while you followed your companion into the ship. The journey to Daiyu was long, but you spent most of it reading your favourite holonovel with Qui-Gon sitting beside you and pretending he wasn’t reading over your shoulder. The closeness helped temper the storm inside you ignited by your newly freed instincts.

As you neared your destination, you slipped into the fresher and changed into a pair of brown padded flight pants, a white undertunic, a black armoured vest and a dark brown flight jacket. Your lightsaber fit into one of the pouches on your belt, but you also strapped a blaster to your hip, the solid weight of it comfortable enough after all of the years of blaster training you’d had to go through. Qui-Gon met you in similar clothing a few minutes later, though his outfit was looser.

Daiyu was a mess of neon, a cluster of people whose scents were so varied it was almost overwhelming. Qui-Gon’s gentle hand on your shoulder was grounding, and you led the way to the bar via the directions on your wrist comm, projecting strength with your gait alone. You pushed the door open confidently, striding towards the bar while keeping your gaze fixed forwards. A human man bumped against Qui-Gon, and while the Beta didn’t seem perturbed, you let out a low, bone-chilling growl. The man froze, hackles raising at the challenge of a fellow Alpha, but his spine turned to jelly when you bore your teeth at him. Your ears were pressed back to your skull, tail looped around Qui-Gon’s waist possessively.

“Apologize.” You sneered, and the other Alpha dipped his head submissively.

“Sorry for bumping into you.” It was directed both to Qui-Gon, and the ground, but it was enough to relax you. Combined with the way that your Beta rubbed his wrist against yours, the posturing was over, and you turned your gaze back ahead to the bar. Qui-Gon ordered you both drinks, and you scouted the bar for threats, then remembered your purpose here and took a second look around for Ros Bartim. There was a green-skinned Twi’lek Alpha in the prime booth, the one you would have chosen if you were to be in his position, and you made eye contact shamelessly. You only looked away when he dipped his gaze, but you noticed an eager grin tugging at his lips first.

Qui-Gon handed you a mint-green, translucent drink, and you sipped it calmly as you surveyed the room, bringing his wrist up to your mouth so you could press a couple of possessive kisses to his scent gland. It sent waves of calm through you, and you chuffed quietly against his skin as the tension bled out of you. You had never felt so wired in your life - on edge and tense enough you were nearly grinding your teeth. The bartender caught your attention carefully, and you narrowed your eyes at him for a second before calming.

“Your attendance has been requested at a table, Alpha. If you wouldn’t mind, a valued client of ours would like to speak with you.”

You hummed like you were considering it, checking your wrist comm as if you had better things to do, before nodding at the bartender. He directed you to your target’s table, and you led Qui-Gon over, keeping him close as the music thumped away in your chest. There was an invisible barrier around the booth in question that was being projected by a small disc under the table, and if your innate danger sense hadn’t warned you of it first, the Force would have. You walked through regardless, and once inside, the sounds of the bar dulled as if rooms away.

“You look like a woman who knows her way around a blaster.” Ros Bartim greeted you, and you gestured for Qui-Gon to sit first, guarding him with your body. You sipped your drink before answering, voice lax and casual.

“You look like a man who knows better than to waste my precious time.” You replied, watching the effect that had on him. Smelling it too. A hint of tang overtook the spice of his scent, and Qui-Gon met your gaze briefly. He was an Alpha whose interest lay in other, stronger Alphas. Not necessarily an uncommon thing, but useful, in this instance.

“Of course. I have a job, you see.” Ros declared, gesturing to the bartender with two fingers out horizontally, swiped from left to right. It clearly meant something to the other man, as he immediately headed around the circular bar to the far side. You would be nervous, however you didn’t feel anything necessarily malicious from the other Alpha. More… mischievous. “I’m looking for a… business partner. Someone a little more mobile than I am. How are you enjoying Daiyu, by the way? D’you need help finding accomodations?”

Impatience flared within you. A low growl rose in your chest, and the other Alpha stiffened, pressing his back to his seat away from you. Qui-Gon calmly took your wrist in his strong grip, rubbing his chin over your scent gland while pressing your palm to his cheek, a display of possession that sent waves of calm through you. Your ears gave a delighted shiver, exposing you, though Qui-Gon only smiled fondly at you despite very obviously noticing.

“You’ve got a pretty devoted Beta. That’s a lucky thing… rare to find one so attuned to you.” Ros commented, and you chuffed at Qui-Gon approvingly before turning your attention to your target. Your hand fell low on your Beta’s thigh, unassuming but possessive.

“Tell me about the job. I’m not here for a social call.” You informed him while the bounty hunter grinned boldly at you.

“You could be, though.” He informed you, an offer in his voice. He seemed thoroughly disarmed, no longer looking for the trap and instead looking for a treat in your presence. He glanced briefly to the side, then smiled wider and sat back in his seat. The sweet scent of honeysuckle and pear reached your nose, and you watched as a pretty human woman approached in a slinky, shimmery dress of silver sparkle. Ros nodded to her as she climbed boldly into your lap, straddling one of your thighs so as to not obstruct your conversation.

“This is Lani. She’s been pinging my comm since you walked in the door wanting an introduction.” Ros informed you, and you placed a gentle hand on the Omega’s hip to keep her from falling as you adjusted in your seat.

“The pleasure is mine, little one.” You hummed to the sweet woman in your lap, the smell of tang sharp and demanding in your nose, “Tell me about the job. We’ll talk social calls when the work is done.”

Ros grinned widely, watching the Omega girl in your lap as she began to gently rock her hips, but he finally slid a puck across the table to you. You covered it with your hand, sliding it across the table to Qui-Gon. You weren’t stupid - the Omega was both a distraction, as well as a test of your composure and control. Her arousal was real, and she wasn’t drugged, but it was a convenience for Ros. It only made the bait more tempting. Thankfully, while the woman was beautiful, you were able to keep your composure - no Omega had ever affected you nearly as strongly as your Beta’s Padawan, and you doubted one ever would.  Qui-Gon stroking his thumb over your tail where it wrapped around his waist certainly helped your concentration, tuning you back into your surroundings instead of distracting you. Your ears flicked with irritation at the position you’d been put in.

“A… unique buyer wants the Corellian Senator out of the picture. It’s a high profile job, I know. It won’t be easy, but the pay is more than worth the effort. We’ll split the reward 40/60, since you’ll be doing most of the work. I can provide any weapons, transport or access that you need.” Ros explained, drumming his fingers against the table.

“Who commissioned the job?” You asked disinterestedly, bouncing your leg to the rapturous delight of the Omega in your lap. She preened under what she assumed was attention, grinding against your thigh eagerly, chasing her undoing. Frankly, while she was surely a lovely thing, you wanted her out of your lap and out of the way.

“They want the job to be private.” Ros replied, and you snorted.

“And I want to be a Queen. We don’t always get what we want. I’m not going to take a job with that much heat for someone who can’t put out.” You retorted, answering the Omega’s soft whimpers by rocking your thigh for her. Ros watched intently as she took her pleasure from you, and you could tell from the soft pulses in his signature that he was taking more pleasure in your composure than he was in the little Omega’s orgasm. You stroked her hip comfortingly as she trembled, panting for breath, her legs shaking. Your thigh was soaked. You had a brief flash of blue eyes pleading, a soft mouth lax with your affection, and pink cheeks dotted with freckles. You blinked it away.

“Okay, okay. So serious. I bet you’d be real pretty if you let loose, but if you’re gonna be a drag about it… Look, it’s a group of political extremists based on one of Corellia’s moons. The Iron Fists. They want to destabilize the Corellian government for… Stars knows what. A coo of some sort, I’m sure. Either way, they have the funds to bankroll this bounty easily.” Ros finally gave in, and you could tell he’d been dying to tell someone. Dying to brag about the bounty he’d picked up. His eyes lit up as he told you the details, and you hummed appropriately, acting as if it had caught your interest. The small reciprocation had the other Alpha grinning as he leaned back in his seat, at ease when he should have been anything but.

You almost felt bad for him. Almost.

~

Your form shimmered into view on the holotable in the council chambers, and Qui-Gon stood beside your spectral form, arms folded in his sleeves. He was aching to get back to his chambers, knowing despite his weaker Beta nose that the scent of Alpha clung heavily to his form. He needed a shower, and to do his laundry before his Padawan got back from his mission. He didn’t want to throw Obi-Wan’s hormones out of order - the young man had such careful control of his instincts, but something about you seemed to tilt him off kilter.

“Masters, I beg your forgiveness for not coming to the Council meeting. I do not think I would be presentable, and frankly, I wouldn’t want to subject you to how overwhelming my scent is right now. I humbly request time to recalibrate, and recentre myself in the ways of the Force.” You said politely, standing in the living area of your shared chambers with your Master. He was still gone, thankfully. Despite his filtration mask, you would hate to subject him to even the trace amount of your scent he might catch. It was pouring off of you like sweat in the desert sun, and a Beta could be bothered by that even with their weaker nose.

“Grant you this request, we do. Read your reports, we have, and impressed we are with your control.” Master Yoda said, and you felt your cheeks get hot at the praise and the reason for it. You could still smell the Omega’s slick on the flight pants you’d worn, sitting in the laundry waiting for your robes to join them.

“Thank you. I will spend my time in meditation, and return to duty once I have… settled.” You promised, and Master Windu gave you a respectful nod, knowing as you did how much you needed this time. Even now, you ached to have your Beta close to you, calming you. But Master Qui-Gon was not yours, and you could centre yourself without his aid, like it or not. You simply had to remember how, after 36 hours straight of playing the role of Alpha while you arrested the Iron Fists at the Council’s behest. You’d been running on instinct for days now, and even meditation on the cruiser ride home did not even begin to lift you out of it.

You closed the hololink and stripped out of your robes, throwing them into the laundry. Naked, you locked the door to your chambers and placed a keycode override on it to ensure that even the most adamant person would have difficulty getting in. You took the longest, most indulgent shower you’d had in years, scrubbing your skin raw until you finally felt clean. You practically drowned yourself in scent blocker, and opened the windows to let out any lingering scent in the air, then got dressed in only your undertunic and pants, sitting on the round meditation cushion in the centre of the living space.

And there you remained for the better part of seven days, only getting up to eat the meals delivered to your door, or visit the fresher. You decidedly did not think about the reason why the Omega on Daiyu didn’t truly tempt you, nor did you imagine said reason sprawled in your lap the way she had been, desperately rocking his hips into your strong thigh, making the same soft whimpers. By the end of the week, you almost believed yourself.

~

“Master, did you get a new cologne?” Obi-Wan Kenobi asked as he walked into the chambers he shared with Qui-Gon. The man in question was standing in the fresher, changing into his casual robes that he often wore between missions. The bounty hunter disguise and his nicer set of robes were piled in the laundry closet haphazardly, as if he’d stripped in a hurry and tossed them on his way to the fresher. It smelt of crackling campfires and lush forests, of roiling waves and aged leather, of cinnamon and vetiver. It smelt right. It smelt like home. Obi-Wan breathed in deeply, a soft sigh rolling from his lips at the instant relaxation that settled across his shoulders.

“Ah, no, my young Padawan. Let me put my robes in the wash. I’ve just returned from my mission with Mercy.” Qui-Gon explained, and Obi-Wan understood very suddenly. He eyed the robes in the laundry room, pupils dilating. He wanted those robes. They smelled like the comfort of his Master and the warmth of home - like his Alpha. They belonged in his bed.

Qui-Gon placed a soothing hand on Obi-Wan’s shoulder, guiding him away from the laundry room. Once he felt relatively sure that the young man wouldn’t try to get past him, Qui-Gon put his clothes directly into the wash, starting it before Obi-Wan could protest. The older of the two opened the window, then grabbed a scent-blocking air freshener to spray the chambers, ignoring the soft whine of protest from his Padawan. The younger man accepted an extra dose of heat blockers with a bit of a pout that he’d forever deny, then joined his Master for their normal post-mission ritual of tea and idle conversation about missions, temple going-ons, and whatever philosophy question Qui-Gon happened to be pondering at the time.

[hastalavistabyebye]

The Keychain, Part 1

The 21st Nova Corps were rarely deployed in inhabited regions. It was even less frequent for them to be able to stop in any city they would pass by. This campaign in the Ringlite system hadn’t been an exception until now. 

It had started three months ago. Three months during which they had been fighting against the Separatists, planet after planet, without a break. It has been one of their longest campaigns yet. 

But they were slowly getting to the end of it. One more month and the System should be back under the Republic’s control. It was a good thing, every trooper was starting to tire at this point. 

The 21st was known to be one of the most disciplined and no-nonsense battalions. Even then, the troops were getting especially calm and quiet, these days. The only noticeable incidents were from oversight mistakes born from too repetitive tasks, at worst. No rousing each other, no lighthearted antics during intermittent respites. No jabs nor laughter could be heard in the campement. All of them were saving their energy for fighting, they didn't have the force for not much of anything else, anymore.

In the face of this growing durasteel wall of exhaustion, Ki-Adi Mundi chose to take a break in a small shopping town their basement was close to, before setting off for the next planet and the next fights. It won't replace a proper leave break, but it would still get his men’s mind out of the conflict for just a little bit of time. After all, a handful of days of rest was still much better than none at all. The droids will wait.

Tellingly, Bacara didn't even protest his express interdiction to do any kind of work, physical or mental, for the entirety of those few rotations. It really was time for this campaign to end if even his Commander was seizing the occasion to rest. 

With the help of the Force, they might even be able to finally pull out of the Outer Rim for a proper leave, when they’d be over, here. They most likely wouldn't make it to the Core, but the Middle Rim would already be a welcomed change of air. The Jedi surely hoped for this much, and he knew all his troops were feeling the same. 

-

Bacara had found himself wandering into the city’s market. He had agreed to take these few days of complete rest because he knew it would help make his mind clearer for the end of this campaign. 

A few hours ago, he finally had been able to send a check-in on the CCs chat and browse the comms he had received since he had last been able to check. Mostly his training batch being their insufferable selfs. They had already planned to make a comm call in the evening, now that he had a small respite. Ponds had also sent him a holo recording of one of his Shinies having a staring contest with a big, bright pink toad for a few minutes before the toad jumped at the kid’s face, who in turn fell backwards with a yelp. Bacara hadn’t been able to hold back a smile at the sight. 

The market was lively. This city wasn’t much bigger than a simple village really, but there were still a lot of people milling around. Merchants were selling all kinds of things, jewelry, everyday ustensiles, textiles. A few were hassling the crowd, loudly promoting the quality of their articles. He had passed a few of his troops tasting the local’s food with various levels of success, a few stands away. On one side of the market’s square, a woman was twisting colorful strings of wool in a young boy’s hair. Bacara knew he would find a few of his siblings with similar hairdressing at the end of the day. 

Next to him, three persons were enthusiastically showing each other little handmade trinkets, trying to find the perfect one for each other. It drew his attention to the display, full of pendants, keychains, lockets, earrings and other ornaments, in various materials, all looking like little animals’ heads. 

His attention was catched on one corner of the stand. Without thinking about it, he reached lightly for the little keychain adorned with some sort of reptile or amphibian’s pendant, he wasn't sure. It was made of a simple braided leather rope to which hung a small, triangular head with two big black pearls for the eyes, carved in a deep purple-blue shaded crystal dotted with vivid yellow inclusions that mimicked scales. 

“It’s a salamander. An amphibian common to our forests.” The voice of the seller surprised him, making him retract his hand from where he was brushing the crystal with the tip of his fingers. Good thing none of his brothers was there to make fun of his lack of attention. “Our myths often depict them as protective spirits, even if they always like a little bit of mischief.”

The graying woman smiled at him, knowingly, before reaching for the keychain. 

“The stone comes from the next System over. We call it fincree, the best translation would be “changing precious” I believe. It’s a sort of obsidian you see, it has the same translucent colors that change with the light, even if it’s not exactly glass,” she explained while lightly moving the crystal from side to side, to make the bluer reflections hide the more purplish ones. “The yellow inclusions is what makes it precious. It’s both crystal and stone because of them, see ? It’s a strong stone, one that anchors its owner, keeps them whole and guides them where their soul calls.”

Before Bacara could react, still a bit too focused on the charm, she took his hand and placed the keychain in it, closing his fingers around it and keeping them in place with both of her hands. 

“It’s for you, young soldier. Take it.”

He didn't have the heart to refuse, the stone cool and heavy in his fist, grounding. He was resigning himself to dig a few credits from his belt pouch when she stopped him again with a laugh. 

“None of that, soldier. It’s already yours. It’s a gift isn't it ? Let's keep it that way, then.” She smiled with that knowing glint in her brown eyes shining even brighter than before. She patted his fist sympathetically and then noticeably turned away to her next clients. 

Bacara observed the little trinket in his hand for a few instants more, brushing his thumb lightly over the surface to feel the smooth glassy surface alternate with the rougher spots of yellow. He safely stored it in one of his pouches before going back to his exploration of the market. 

The keychain would stay safe there until he could give it to its rightful owner. 

Part 2

[ontherocks21]

Someday I'll Write It:

Lady Vader Part VIII

They rarely ever convened like this.

For starters, it was far too dangerous.  When several of the Rebellion’s leader - Obi-Wan, Mace, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Luminara, Plo Koon, Yoda, Anakin to mention a few - gathered in one location, they lit up the Force like a brilliant homing beacon.  Detection was only a matter of when.

For another, there was always something elsewhere in the galaxy that required at least someone’s attention. But exploding planets required a certain demanding urgency, regardless of the other fires burning or the increased risks those by merely being in attendance. 

Anxiously rubbing at her swollen and stretched skin, Padmé listens to the intense chatter around her.  Pregnancy had not bestowed her with any ethereal gifts, but her belly, for once not shrouded by heavy cloaks and voluminous gowns, buzzes with the powerful presences and nervous energies in the room.  It’s a futile attempt at relief, by now, she’s learned this feeling isn’t an itch that can be scratched away.

Everyone present is committing treason.  Well… from a certain point of view.

Even Bail discussing with Mon how to best aid the Chandrilan refugees scattered amongst the stars is guilty; after all, humanitarian efforts for the destroyed world had recently been classified as criminal acts against the Empire.  Despite Anakin’s recent warning to keep quiet, Padmé had tried offering Naboo’s experience and assistance with the displaced.  Mon, still grieving from the annihilative atrocity, had declined in unfathomable fashion.

“Do not think offering your home world will absolve your husband’s decision.  Chandrila may be gone but those left will always remember.”

Leaving Bail to speak on her behalf, she retreats to the other side of the room.  With her friends now considering her foe, Padmé sits alone, trying to ignore isolation’s chilling company.

Worriedly, Anakin watches her move, scowling in her direction though not directly at her, his displeasure at whatever his brethren discuss in hushed whispers painted as clear as daybreak across his face.  Her ears perk up, eager for something to distract her from her misery, though she tries her best not to be obvious about eavesdropping.  The remaining Jedi take up her husband’s lead, eyes turning to regard her at the sudden lull in their conversation.  What she manages to overhear does nothing to relieve her growing angst.

“Either way, we are running out of time.”

The way Obi-Wan says it - weary and resigned, the way Anakin glowers darkly at his former master’s words, and the way regret graces the myriad of their faces leave no doubt that the reason behind their ominously approaching deadline lies solely with Lady Vader.

Image Credit: Eli Hyder

[kingdomhate]

First Glance (Part Eight)

Nothing so far had been easy for you, training to take the trials, dealing with the many eyes that starred you down whenever you entered a room, the stress what becoming too much. You had to work to earn back the trust you apparently so viciously ripped away from the entire Jedi Order.

And what did that mean? Stop socializing with Anakin. As Windu put it, Anakin is "In need of his Jedi trainings", whatever that meant. So as difficult as the challenge lay ahead, you had to continue being loyal and trustworthy to the Order, Republic and yourself, to become a successful Jedi. Easier said than done. But, Anakin? He was, in simple terms devastated by not being able to speak or see you anymore. On the rare occasions he did, there was always someone there to stop him from acting out and charging at you to pull you into a well-deserved hug.

That said, you could imagine the look on Anakin's face as he realized you were in this meeting with him. He could sneak glances and possibly even think about you in a way that did not seem too painful. "Anakin, this meeting is to discuss how we will be reacting to the movement in which the Separatists have made, as well as Senator Amidala's move to assist us." Obi-Wan informs his eager padawan, Anakin nods at his words, knowing he will be gazing at you the entire time as if you were hypnotic. "I understand, Master." Anakin reassures his Master emptily. Obi-Wan nods and leads the pair inside. In the Temple, there are multiple standard Council chairs and a table in the center of the room, on which is displaying the map of the Galactic Republic.

"Ah, Master Kenobi and young Skywalker. If you'd take a seat." Advises Ki-Adi-Mundi. Nodding, Obi-Wan and Anakin take seats directly beside one another. A moment later, you and your Master, Windu arrive, Yoda glances at you before glaring at Anakin, as if warning the two of you to be on your best behavior. As everyone is seated, Plo Koon wastes no time starting the meeting. "What shall we make of this move by the newly formed Separatist Droid Army?" "Well, our best course of action is to endorse and welcome Senator Amidala's attempts at help, correct?" Chimes in Kit Fisto. "No. We are Jedi, the keepers of peace in the galaxy, we should be able to round up armies that have fought with us before and stand our ground as the protectors of the galaxy." Replies Ki-Adi-Mundi firmly.

As this is said, the rest of the Council decide to interject to share their own opinions, of course this is a lengthy process in itself that requires heavy listening. You, sitting up and actively listening to what is being said and taking it into consideration in your own head decide to speak up. "Isn't it possible that we can use the clones Master Kenobi came across on Kamino?" All of the Masters paused and began murmuring amongst their neighbors what they think. Sitting back in your chair, you wait for them to arrive at a clear conclusion, and scanning the room for agreeance, your eyes meet Anakin's. He was gazing at you the entire time. Anakin's blue eyes, as ocean like as ever act as a mirror in which you could always see what he thought of you while looking at yourself, most oftenly you find yourself slipping into the vast sea of the crystal blue eyes that are Anakin's. He flashes you a toothy and gleeful smile, and as quick as the moment was in reality, was how quick you looked away.

You loathed the fact you couldn't speak, look or be alone with him, but you loathed how you were throwing away those many years of discipline for a simple fellow padawan. Sure you guys are friends, close ones at that, but what has been constantly drilled into your head since you started as a padawan at age eight? Never form attachments. And here you are, going off to different planets with this boy, this padawan, what does that say about you? That either you were forgetting everything at the blink of an eye because of someone who showed you attention or that you weren't listening to anything that has been taught to you.

Seeing you dart your gaze away from him, it hurt Anakin but also made him feel like an idiot. Ever since just a few weeks ago when you both came back from your adventures in Tatooine, Anakin has thought of you constantly, day and night. The feeling of slowly and surely but oh so madly attaching to you, it made him feel exhilarated because now he had something worth fighting for, something without a price tag. To him, you were worth more than any gemstone or precious metal, you had never ending beauty and never ending value to him. Never has he ever felt so good in his life. But being away from you, it felt like constant torture and agony, as if someone were endlessly stabbing or burning him. A feeling he never wanted to feel.

The meeting ended in your favor, as the Council had agreed to use the clone army on Kamino as their own against the Separatists. Walking out with your master, you caught a glimpse of Obi-Wan and Anakin talking, from the looks of it, Obi-Wan was speaking in a serious manner, probably scolding Anakin because of his (obvious) staring at you the entire meeting.

That same night, you found yourself restless but, tired because of the sheer amount of the ridiculous amounts of training in which you had to undergo, but restless because Anakin kept invading your mind as if he owned it. With a heavy groan, you flip onto your side in your bed, eyes darting around the room in an attempt to make them droopy and even more exhausted and you find yourself focusing on the figure of Anakin in your window, half illuminated in the twilight and dark. "Y\N..."

.

.

.

Tags:

@sweetcheesecakesblog

@haydenpookiebear

(Lmk if you wanna be taken off or added to my taglist!)

Note: This was supposed to come out yesterday, but I was too busy with my studies, sorry. Part nine out sometime tomorrow.

[bloodandrunes]

RO reactions to a physically affectionate and tactile MC? (For the mystery RO that's only in private before her situation is sorted out lol don't wanna get her and my MC killed)

Awww, this was cute! For the sake of simplicity, I’ll go with all of these being in private, not just the mystery ro.

Aariz is absolutely thrilled. He himself is the most tactile of the ROs, and he’ll take as much physical affection as you’re willing to give him. He drinks up every instance of it like wine and shows you an equal amount in return.

Dalia is more complicated because while she’s touch-starved, there are times when she really can’t stand being touched at all. On the times she’s open to it, it’ll be a giant cuddle fest (don’t ever say that to her face though) and she’ll soak up your affection. On the times she needs her space, she’ll tell you so with a gentle touch of her hand and the expectation that you’ll respect that boundary.

Adys loves it, but depending on the type of touch you’ll have to work around his bad leg, which makes him self-conscious. Sometimes, he just doesn’t tell you he’s hurting, grits his teeth, and pushed through it. Which he always ends up paying for later, but can’t quite bring himself to regret.

Ralys enjoys physical affection from time to time, but she doesn’t really get the need to be as tactile as you. That being said, it makes you happy, and so she tolerates it. She lets you slot your arms around her waist and place your chin on her shoulder, let’s you press your face into her neck and pepper kisses across her cheek, and watches you smile. It costs her nothing and means everything to you, so why not let you continue?

Idar is smug. He enjoys physical touch well enough, but the fact that you reach out to him constantly strokes his ego. He returns your embraces with genuine affection, of course, but the knowledge that he is so wanted, so coveted by his lover makes his chest puff out with pride.

Zara makes it her mission to find what makes you happiest. She experiments, trailing kisses along your shoulder and stroking her thumb along the back of your hand, trailing her lips along the inside of your wrist and settling her hands at your waist. When she finds the spots that make you smile the brightest, she hyper focuses on them and works to make you melt. And when you inevitably do, she’s unbearably satisfied with herself.

??? doesn’t mind it. She actually quite enjoys it. Genuine physical touch, not a part of the circus that is court, is rare to come by, and so when you offer it? She leaps on the chance. The fact that you touch her because you want her, not because of something she can offer, is a marvel. A precious treasure that she will always value.

[sarandipitywrites]

find the word

thanks for the tag, @kaiusvnoir! go read their (amazing, incredibly vivid) snippets here.

i'll be searching my WIPs for waist, relief, wish, and rotate.

i'll tag @starlit-hopes-and-dreams, @ember-writer, and @oh-no-another-idea (no pressure!) and leave an open tag for anyone else interested. your words will be squeeze, phantom, threat, and violet.

now, on to the excerpts:

Waist - from Dead Roots, Dark Water

He took Jak’s hand in his. He looked down at Jak — he didn’t have any quips prepared about mutual destruction, but that’d never stopped him before, and it wouldn’t— The words died before they could leave his tongue. Because Jak had that look on his face. “Oh no. No. Don’t you dare—” Jak squeezed Daxter’s hand tight and pulled him in, arms locking around his waist like a vice. And he threw them both over the edge.

Relief - from Dead Roots, Dark Water

Jak's arm screamed. He shifted and wriggled under the blanket, movements small and stilted so as not to wake Daxter. He smashed his phantom arm under his body, under the pillow. He jammed his empty port into the mattress. Nothing. No change, no relief. Just electric, tingling pain. Jak moaned and sank his teeth into his thumb. Adis'd had phantom sensations. Not that he'd told Jak as much. But it'd been obvious. The way he'd rub at his stump, especially in the colder months, or work his fingers into the air where his hand had once been. Sometimes Adis would even reach for something with his amputated hand, like he'd forgotten it was gone at all. Jak hadn't been watching Adis. It'd just been obvious.

Wish - from The Art of Empty Space

Murtagh hummed and angled his head. His sandy brown hair blazed with the reflection of the sun's last light. "You're not quite a beauty, it's true — not with those blemishes, those teeth. But you're loyal. That's a rare quality in a husband. And you'll only be moreso when Phi is under my care, receiving the best treatment you could wish for." Quick as a lash, Lienzo seized Murtagh by the shoulders and shoved him into the surf. The yelp and the splash were all he needed to hear. He was gone by the time Murtagh's yelps became words, almost out of earshot when the words became threats. He didn't understand them. Didn't care.

Rotate - from Dead Roots, Dark Water

A corolla of green and blue and violet bloomed across his forearm. At its pistil, his skin bruised to old lavender. Jak clenched his fist, rotated his wrist. Radius and ulna twisted under skin and muscle. Smooth, painless. Sufficient. The bruising would be ugly, sore. But it would fade. Not worth the eco. It was low. Too low. An absence that picked at his insides, scraped at his bones. He hadn't been this empty of green since— He needed to move. Needed to take off his boots, his greaves. Needed to change his sweat-soaked undershirt, wash the blood from his hand. Heavy. His body had never felt so heavy. That wasn't something he could fix. Not if he used all the eco in his cells, down to the last flux.

[aduck8myshoes]

I realized this pic of me trying on my new Dulcinea cosplay cardigan is right next to a pic in my camera roll that also works as a Dulcinea cosplay lol

[blackswaneuroparedux]

There are two phases of enjoyment in journeying through an unknown country - the eager phase of wondering interest in every detail, and the relaxed phase when one feels no longer an observer of the exotic, but a participator in the rhythm of daily life.

- Dervla Murphy

There are few better literary gatherings than the Immrama Travel Writing festival in Lismore, County Waterford. Huddled quietly on the banks of the River Blackwater at the base of the Knockmealdown Mountains, Lismore is a scenic enough spot but on the face of it an unlikely magnet for the global travel writing community. Yet for two decades a string of stellar travellers including Michael Palin, Jan Morris, Paul Theroux, Kate Adie, Ranulph Fiennes, Terry Waite and Pico Iyer have made pilgrimages to this small rural town three hours south-west of Dublin to share their stories.

What draws notable itinerants from around the world to this rural backwater on the fringe of Europe is the special status it holds for writers and lovers of travel literature. Lismore was the hometown of the remarkable Dervla Murphy, who died on 22 May 2022 at the age of 90.

Here are six must-read books by one of Ireland’s greatest travel writers and explorers. They are all in print and currently available from Eland Publishing, one of my favourite publishing houses of travel writers and explorers, past and present.

1. Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle (1965) Dervla’s debut recounts an epic ride to India. Setting out from Lismore in 1963, she travelled via Europe, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan on her trusty bicycle, named Roz, facing 50ft snowdrifts in the Turkish highlands and some punishing pedalling through the heat of the Himalayan summer.

2. Where the Indus Is Young (1977) A vivid travelogue detailing Dervla’s somewhat extreme winter hiking trip through Baltistan, in the northern Kashmir region, battling temperatures that dipped to minus 20C. She was accompanied by her daughter, Rachel, then aged six; the only person Dervla ever deigned to travel with.

3. A Place Apart (1978) At the height of the Troubles, aiming to put aside the sectarian loyalties that might have come from her own family connections to the IRA, Dervla cycled to Northern Ireland to try to unpick the situation, creating a travelogue that features revealing interviews and exchanges with locals on both sides of the divide.

4. Wheels Within Wheels (1979) In the autobiography that followed seven travel books, Dervla notes: “Even at 16, I had a strong premonition that I would never marry. Possibly the predictability of the average marriage put me off; it was the antithesis of my ideal unplanned existence - travelling, writing, not knowing what was going to happen next year or next month or even next week.”

5. Through Siberia by Accident (2006) Due to a painful leg injury, Dervla had to rethink her planned trip to Ussuriland, a Russian outpost free of anything remotely touristic, to explore the vast territories of Siberia instead. There she found humbling hospitality and generosity from local hosts during a journey of self-discovery and contradiction - human warmth and kindness against a bleak, unforgiving backdrop.

6. A Month by the Sea: Encounters in Gaza (2013) Over the summer of 2011, in her 80th year, Dervla spent a month in the Gaza Strip in Palestine. Described by Irish novelist Colm Tóibín as a “a wake-up call to the world”, Dervla’s determination to understand how Arab Palestinians and Israeli Jews might find resolution gives voice to those rarely heard in the region and offers a unique insight into a place shaped by isolation.

[jamieanovels]

Find the word!

tagged by both @aohendo & @late-to-the-fandom so i'm doing them both in one post lolol

my words: earth, mud, stone, stick, ground, sight, cake, subtle, tongue

your words: face, rise, terror, mind, question

tagging some of my most recent followers: @emersonjydestein @eccaiia @alnaperera @moonscribbler and anyone who would like to play!! open tag~

all of my excerpts are from tea cow with the exception of one word that i couldn't find in it lol

Earth

Ruby’s blood ran cold. For a moment, fury at her sister swept through her like an indomitable current, rising in the tight space of her chest until it bottlenecked. Why on Earth would she tell their mother any of this? Wang Yaling was not even close to Ruby’s list of contingency plans for any emergency; in fact, Ruby had contingency plans for interactions with her. Her hands balled into fists. This was a nightmare scenario. How could Belle have done this to her?

Right on schedule, her phone started vibrating and Ruby flinched, dropping it back on the couch where it skittered a bit.

Mud

The man frowned. “Is it at least…nice?”

“It’s shit.” Ruby shook off her legs, cleaned out the mud from between her toes, and snatched her work pants from the half-moon boulder. “You can’t go for a swim or anything because of whatever machinery’s down there. All you can see is white concrete, water, and a bunch of signs from ecological organizations asking to defund it.” She paused. “It’d be better if it just weren’t there. Unless you’re a kid, I guess. They go there to make out.”

“That’s an idea. Perhaps I will schedule a visit, then.”

Stone

“I told him about it, of course.” Yaling took a long swig of her wine. “But not before I refused his first three calls. You weren’t home yet—what was the point of him being here if he couldn’t see you like he asked? But after Meimei called and told me about your…ah…situation, I thought it could be a rare opportunity.”

“You’re not helping your case,” Ruby muttered, but her mother paid her no heed.

“What’s that saying you Americans use? Kill a bird and get two stones? Kill a stone—?”

Stick

“You’re not going to go out there and listen? Apparently, for the fans, it’s much better live.”

“You don’t need me to stick around?”

“I told you, just meet me back here after the show. If I can’t find you, I’ll sell your shit at the next marketplace.”

“Oh.” Ruby let out a surprised laugh. “Nice.”

Ground

“Mother, we were just talking, and it was only about work—wait—!” She was halfway out of bed, toes just off the ground, but her mother was already closing the door behind her. Fists balled, Ruby strode to the door, paused in front of it, and then shouted, “We’re BUSINESS PARTNERS!!”

Mason blinked. “We are?”

“Don’t make me regret it.”

Sight

“Go faster, and it starts screaming and cranking and doing all sorts of wild shite,” Adi explained from the driver’s seat, as if this was a completely ordinary thing to describe.

“I see,” Ruby said stiffly as the car behind them, even in the slow lane, blared its horn at them. The cacophony lasted for several minutes before the Volvo finally gave up and passed them in a red blur. Ruby thought she caught sight of a middle finger somewhere in the mix and ducked her head in shame.

Cake (not found in tea cow; this excerpt is from emergence, my 2021 nano project)

Society’s little lab rats, Quin’s voice echoed in her ears. He was always so much more bitter about the way they were treated than she was. It had never particularly bothered her, as long as she ate well, slept well, fought well. The Society’s praise for her actions had only ever been the icing on the cake; it had never been necessary. She just did what she was told, and expected to be paid handsomely in return.

Subtle

“Thank you,” mumbled Mason to the glass counter.

“He’s just shy,” Uncle Diego told the grizzled man. The two exchanged subtle glances before Uncle Diego added, “He loves this store. His family lives in Eldham Park, ‘else I’d be bringing him in every week. Isn’t that right, little man?”

“Yes, sir.”

Tongue

“I hear you’re called Ruby.” The man beamed as the crowd roared in assent. He then added, as a tongue-in-cheek aside with an accompanying wink, “I’m Tony.”

This solicited a boisterous laugh from the show-goers. A couple people waved their signs and conspicuous floral banners. It was something Ruby should have known, had she bothered to put the face behind the song to memory, but she never had.

[nocturnalswarehouse]

Chapter 12 - Sunrise

Fic Series: At Long Last

Pairing: Brynjolf x Female Dovahkiin|Dragonborn (Adranelle Rolaine)

Premise: Eight years after being declared the Dragonborn, and three years after Alduin is defeated, Adranelle (Adi) Rolaine finds herself back in Riften to help Brynjolf with the Thieves Guild’s reputation.

Masterlist

Taglist: @thequeenofthewinter, @oblivions-dawn

Word count: 832

A/N: For this chapter, you're welcome and I'm not sorry XD enjoy! Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist :)

Brynjolf woke up right before sunrise to find Adi’s sleeping form curled up next to him. He savoured the quiet moment, smiling to himself as he moved her hair from her face. Adi’s chest rose and fell with each breath; she looked peaceful as she slept. It was rare to see the assassin like this, especially lately. She wasn’t jaded like most of the Guild, but something had changed her during their time apart. Something she wasn’t telling him. 

“Lass,” he shook her lightly in an attempt to wake her up.

“Five more minutes,” she grumbled, shifting, so she faced the window. 

“But I want to show you something,” Brynjolf insisted, moving to spoon her. 

“Did you really wake me up before the sun even rose?” 

“Maybe.”

“Try again in an hour,” Adi grumbled. “Or five. Preferably five.” 

“If you get up now, I’ll make you a big breakfast when we get back.”

“And if I don’t?” 

“We’ll jump right into work.”

“I hate you.” 

“I know.” 

Adi begrudgingly got up and changed out of her nightgown and into a basic dress. Brynjolf did the same, the Nord fully awake and already cracking jokes. His friend wasn’t having any of it but followed him as he led them to the outskirts of Riften.

“Why are we here?” Adi yawned. They stopped at a hill, and Bryn pulled Adi down with him to sit on the grass. 

“Just look,” Brynjolf put his arm around Adi, and she snuggled into him. The half-Breton fought to stay awake, waiting for whatever it was Brynjolf wanted her to watch. Neither of them talked, listening to the sounds of the Rift waking up around them. As the sun rose, the sole reason Brynjolf dragged Adi out of bed, the sky was littered with orange, pink, and yellow. 

Adi looked up at Brynjolf and gave him a tired smile. “Alright, this was worth it.”

“I knew you’d enjoy it,” he said. Brynjolf’s attention shifted to Adi, and he used his free arm to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. Pulling her closer to him, Brynjolf planted a kiss on her forehead and cupped her cheek. 

“Bryn…” She could feel her face burning but couldn’t seem to look away from the thief. His green eyes held a look of sincerity rather than mischief. His smile was gentle and kind, contrasting the usual roguish smirk. The butterflies in her stomach - all too familiar now - came back and seemed to be more active than before. 

“Yes?” the remaining space between them was closing painstakingly slowly. Adi’s breath caught in her throat, the thought of Brynjolf’s lips on hers increasing the nerves. 

“What the hell are you two doing out here?” a gruff voice sounded from the road.

Startled, Adi and Brynjolf broke apart like they were teens getting caught by a parent. Mercer approached them, his sneer ever apparent and arms crossed. Brynjolf let go of Adi and stood up, helping her up once he was stable. “How was the job?”

“It went fine.” Mercer shrugged, sending a quick glare to Adi. “I need to speak with both of you in Riftweald. I have a job I need you to do.” 

They followed him quietly back to Rifweald Manor, the distance between them now feeling cold. It wasn’t until they were sat around the dining table, and Brynjolf was bent over the cooking pot, that Mercer started to speak. 

"I've consulted my contacts regarding the information you recovered from Goldenglow Estate, but no one can identify that symbol," Mercer spoke to Adi, taking a more professional tone. 

“I found the same marking at Honningbrew Meadery.” She admitted. The symbol was clearly significant. If anything, Adi wanted to know who was behind all this. 

“It would seem our adversary is attempting to take us apart indirectly by angering Maven Black-Briar.” the Breton noted. He seemed almost impressed. “Very clever.”

“You admire them?” 

“They're well-funded, and they've been able to avoid identification for years,” Mercer explained.  “I'm impressed it reached this point. Just don't mistake my admiration for complacency; our nemesis is going to pay dearly.”

“How can we make them pay?” Adi asked. She glanced at Brynjolf, who was surprisingly quiet throughout the whole conversation. 

“Even after all their posturing and planning, they've made a mistake.” Mercer pointed out. “The parchment you recovered mentions a ‘Gajul-Lei.’ According to my sources, that's an old alias used by one of our contacts. His real name is Gulum-Ei. Slimy bastard.”

“Where do we begin?” Brynjolf finally spoke, setting down three plates piled high with food.

 "Gulum-Ei is our inside man at the East Empire Company in Solitude.” Mercer directed that more to Adi than Brynjolf. “I'm betting he acted as a go-between for the sale of Goldenglow Estate and that he can finger our buyer. Get out there, shake him down and see what you come up with. Adi, if you have any questions, Brynjolf can tell you while you’re on the way.”

[bambioleo]

well well didnt the both of us fuck up this is a terrible thing we did of god

so for context 2 of my friends I’ve known ever since I was in senior kindergarten and them in junior kindergarten I’m only 2/4 months older than them so we became friends very fast and our families were and still are friends yea? so um though we were never in the same class at school we still met like atleast once a week and basically did most things together and to make things easy I’ll just tell their names so one guy is named gautam (who we call ambadi) and the other is called govind (who we call just that or maybe sometimes appu) and we had a group the three of us and we’d talk not quite a lot but still we’d talk and the amount of times we’ve called each other or texted each other is not proportional to the strength of our bond cause we did spend like 10 years together with no concept of phones or whatever so we’ve always spent time face to face yea? and then I started senior year and they started junior year and at the time after they both finished sophomore year Govind’s parents decided to move back to india cause they got job offers there and since it was like a good time they took him to India and it was just me and gautum here and we did talk in our group chat for a while but we eventually stopped doing that cause it just wasn’t us to talk over text (I don’t know why it was but the three of us + adi were always together) and then we’d just call each other every few weeks or months and cause we did know that I was in senior year therefore I had so much to deal with and they had just transferred into junior year so it was hard on them too so we left it at that and very rarely called each other but we never like lost the bond we’re just not good at talking online with each other and our parents woulds sometimes call so we could also talk and stuff and the thing was within our little group consisting of us three and adi me and adi were more close and govind and gautam were more close cause we happened to be in the same class pairwise so I and adi even though adi is currently in India and I’m here we still talk a lot and I was in the pretext that they were talking and keeping touch as well like I could obviously go see gautam whenever cause we’re literally neighbors but that was not the case with govind and it was a little tricky with him cause his parents are both teachers and super strict ones at that and they didn’t encourage the idea of us texting but those two always found ways to talk to each other and then I recently saw gautam again and we picked up conversation right where we left off it was not awkward at all and we were talking about govind and I said I need to talk to him but I could only call and have a super long convo after my exam and he said he hasn’t talked to govind either in a long time like they don’t keep in touch anymore and that’s when we both realized that us three (me, gautam and adi) we thought that one of us is keeping in touch with govind but we didn’t and now govind won’t talk to any of us cause he might’ve thought we’re purposefully ignoring him so us three have been a little concerned for the past couple days and it’s not like we can go to his house if we wanted to like before so that’s all the more trickier and this seems a terrible way to somehow lose a friend who’s been friends with you for like 14/15 years

so we’ve decided all three of us in the span of the next month we will call and talk to him adi is already in india and he said his uni gave him holidays for the next 2 weeks so maybe he’ll go see govind and us two will do something and we’re hoping he doesn’t completely hate us and will talk

[scrapsofabookthatdoesntexist]

The Elaris Chronicles,

Volume One

Chapter One:

Goodbyes, The President, and a Carriage

AN: Hello lovelies!!!

this is a rough draft of a story I hope to publish someday. I'm going to try to release a new chapter every week, so please stay tuned!

(P.S. It's totally ok to reblog!!! Also, Comments are my lifeblood. Please, tell me what you think)

Two weeks. It had only been two weeks.

It had all started the day of my 15th birthday.

I had woken up, and went outside to get the mail. I had absent-mindedly sifted through it, knowing nothing was for me. I rarely got letters.

But then I saw it. Wedged in between an ad for a new carriage and the rent bill, was a letter with my name on it.

And it was from Markfellow School.

I ran back inside, almost slamming into my mother, who was carrying a fresh batch of bread for the bakery.

"What's got you wide-eyed and bushy tailed? Most of the time you and Alan walk around here like zombies at this time."

I excitedly held up the letter, too out of breath to speak.

My mom gasped. "Did you open it?"

"I can't, what if it says no?"

My mom chuckled. "Adi, have you looked in the mirror this morning?"

I shook my head. "Why?"

"Just go look."

I did as she said. "What the f-"

"Adi, language!"

"Sorry mom!" I said, and turned back to my reflection. My normally black hair was now many shades of blue, purple, and pink.

"They didn't mention any purples or pinks?"

"Yes, but they also said that every elemental is different. Maybe it's just rare?"

I shrugged. Either way I guess I better open that letter. "

I picked it up off the table, opened it, and started to read.

"Dear Miss Sankati,

We are writing to inform you that, should you wish it, in one week's time we will have a carriage to pick you up and bring you to the school campus.

Most likely you have already done your research on our school, and we hope that you will accept our invitation.

We look forward to seeing you in our halls.

Sincerely,

Headmaster, Cephas Markfellow".

Mom shrieked excitedly. " They accepted you!"

"I know!" I said, rereading the letter just to make sure it was real. "Oh! I have to write a response!"

"What is going on?" My dad asked, coming out of his and mom's room. "I thought some sort of shrieking monkeys had broken into our house."

"Dad!" I flew over to him and waved the letter in front of his face. "I got accepted!"

Dad smiled. "Good for you. When do you leave?"

"Next week. Oh, I'm so excited."

"Hip hip Hooray, no more annoying baby sister!"

"Shut up, Alan. You know you'll miss me."

"Yeah right, short stack." Alan said, pulling out the nickname he knew I hated.

"You can't call me that anymore. You've only got four inches on me, last I checked."

"Still shorter, still a short stack."

I punched him.

"Owww. I really regret teaching you that."

And now, here I was, about to get on a carriage. My bags packed and ready to go. Mom couldn't stop crying.

"Mom, I'll be back on holidays."

"I know." She sobbed. "It just feels like it was just yesterday when we adopted you, and now here you are going off to a big fancy school."

"Your mother and I are proud of you, Adrika."

"Thanks, dad."

Just then, the carriage pulled up. A man stepped out of it. He was tall and thin, with a face that looked older than he probably was. A green waistcoat peeked out from the collar of his long brown overcoat, and he wore matching brown dress pants.

I recognized him instantly. Who wouldn't recognize the president, after seeing his face on everything your whole life?

He bowed at the waist. "Cephas Markfellow, at your service."

My mom went pale. "Your uh, Presidency! We weren't expecting you to come yourself! If we had known I could have-"

"That's quite alright, Mrs. Sankati." He looked at me. "You must be Adrika!"

I couldn't speak, so I just nodded.

"Marvelous!" He picked up my bags and strapped them to the carriage. "Ready to go?"

"Just let me say goodbye first." I turned back to my mom and dad, and held my arms out for a hug.

"Do us proud, sweetheart."

"I will, Dad."

I turned to get in.

"Hey short stack!"

I turned around. "Alan? I thought you had your blacksmith apprenticeship!"

"You think I'd let you leave without saying goodbye?" Alan said, hugging me. "And remember, Mom and Dad will always love me more."

"Yeah, right. I'm adopted remember? They chose me. They're stuck with you." I stuck my tongue out at him and hopped in.

"Hey!"

I laughed and gave him the middle finger.

He gave one back, and I just caught my mother's horrified face as the carriage pulled off.

The President laughed. "I have a feeling you're going to be a bit mischievous."

In all honesty, I had forgotten he was there.

I blushed, glancing down. Surely this was no way to behave in front of the President, for fuck's sake.

I glanced up at the President, then looked away quickly when he caught my gaze.

He laughed. "You can look at me, y'know. I'm not going to send you to jail for being curious."

I smiled.

"There we go! A genuine smile! Please. It's nice that you have a good relationship with your brother. My siblings and I, well, I wish we were close like that. And a little mischief is good for the soul, I always say." He winked. I noticed his eyes were a startling shade of green, the only evidence that he himself was an Elemental as well.

"But I'm sure you have questions. Go ahead, ask away. I'm all yours for an entire hour."

Actually, I did have a few questions. "Well, first off, could you maybe tell me what my element is? The pamphlet didn't exactly say anything about pink and purple markings."

"Yes... I had a feeling you would ask. The truth is, Adrika, your element is a bit more... exotic than the main four. In all honesty, it is why I was the one to escort you."

"So you're saying my element isn't one of the four in the pamphlet? How is that possible? What other elements are there?"

"Well yes, but also no. You are what's referred to as a Cosmic Elemental. It's an extremely rare element, so much so that you mat be the only Elemental who has it. Because of it's rarity, not much is known about it, but we will do our very best to teach you what we do know, along with your standard Elemental training."

"So I'm the only one?"

"To our knowledge, yes."

"Wow." I bit my lip. "Why me?"

"The Gods have their ways. The only one who knows the answer to that question would be Mira himself."

"Will that affect my training?"

"Only slightly. It will not be an issue."

"Oh. Okay." I wasn't sure what else to say. What do you say when speaking with someone who is basically royalty?

He pulled out a book and a pair of reading glasses, and I decided to look out the window.

The rolling green farmland passing by made my eyes feel heavy, and before I knew it, I began to drift off.

I might as well sleep now.

After all, today starts a grand new adventure.

Taglist

@stressedsnake

(If you would like to be added to the taglist, please let me know)

[bitchfitch]

So many of these I want to send but i shall restrain myself to One (and since i love all your characters i'm going to let you choose who you're doing this for LMAO) ❤️‍🔥

the hardest part was figuring out who would be the funniest to do this with, but eventually I settled on the capitalism boys.

Walking home alone was rarely the best idea in this city, walking home alone at night through the creepy park because youre a little drunk and can't be fucked to go the long way around? Genuinely a terrible idea.

That thought did cross Adi's mind, he did think this was a horrible idea, but his shoe choice for the night had been less than stellar and his phone died an hour ago and it was starting to get a whole lot colder than his short dress/ cute pull over combo could really handle. So, Yes this was a bad decision, but it was necessary due to all the Other bad decisions he's made in the last six or so hours.

Walking the well maintained paths had actually been quite relaxing, it gave him time to sober up a little, and to enjoy the quiet, clear night. Right up until he heard sobbing and smelled smoke.

Now, A smart man would ignore that. A smart man Wouldn't walk towards that particular sensory experience like the victim in a particularly shitty police procedural episode (god he was even in the 'whore who had it coming' uniform from those shows, what was He Thinking), but smart men also didn't get in these situations.

"Hey?" Adi called, carefully stepping off the concrete sidewalk and onto one of the packed dirt paths that lead out to the small campsites that filled this portion of the park, "Is someone there?"

"Wha-" The man who had been crouched next to it shot up, stumbling before catching himself, "Hey, hi, uhm- nothing to see here?" he tried to brush it off, putting on a painfully fake smile that was almost completely hidden by his unkept mustache and beard. His tail wa sticker between his legs, his ears pinned back and even in the low light Adi could see that his face was streaked with tears.

"Hi. Are you like, sure about that?" Adi pointed to the fire and the half empty box beside it, "'Cause I don't think burning stuff is like, Allowed around here? Just normal camp fires last time I checked?"

"Well... I won't tell if you don't?" He shrugged, laughing nervously as he stepped in front of the box. He was wearing a nice pair of trousers, shiny shoes, and a fancy waistcoat over a plain colored dress shirt, definitely didn't look the type to be doing something like this.

"Yeah, whatcha burning?" He narrowed his eyes, "I won't tell on you but I kinda need to know if I should like, run or something."

"Oh, no it's nothing... nothing too devious, funny story about it really, but I'd hate to keep you up so..." he trailed off, not so subtly asking that Adi leave him and his burning be.

"Spill it then, I'm freezing, and you have a fire," Adi stepped up beside it, plopping down on one of the logs beside the fire pit. Adi hadn't even realized exactly how cold he was before the warmth of the fire chased it away.

The strange man looked between him and the path, shifting his weight from foot to foot before settling down on the log accross from Adi.

"You first? I mean, I was here first and you just showed up, so I think that's fair, Right?" for such a weird guy, he did have a cute, doofy little smile.

"Yeah, fair enough. I'm Adi, I was out enjoying myself, realized my friends phone was dead and I didn't want to go home with anyone if I couldn't text them where I was, so I started heading home before I could get drunk enough to ignore that intuition. Decided to walk there because It's way too expensive to call a ride right now and then I met a weird crying guy in the woods," he didn't quite trust the guy enough to say it was his phone that was dead, and not his friends, but it was a decent enough lie in his opinion.

"I'm Eadwulf, uh... Well, My fiance cheated on me, and I thought he was on a 'buisness trip'" his nose scrunched up at the words, "Turns out hes off on some beach banging a man half our age. And I found out because said man thought it would be cute to interrupt the video call we were having. Turns out he didn't know John was engaged to me and was just as furious to learn it as I was when I found out John was Married to him," he scrubbed his hands over his face as he finished his story,

"Fuck, I'm so sorry," Adi didn't know what else to say, "I'm guessing that his?" he points to the box,

"Yeah- fuck I can't believe I'm doing this-" he looks at the burning junk Adi couldn't even begin to identify anymore, "He's a shit head who's never stepping foot in my home again but this is a step to far isn't it?"

"No, no, Absolutely not. In fact, it's no where near too far, it's not even far Enough," Adi stood from his log, "You want to go a bit further? Because I know Just the thing,"

"Going to tell me first?"

"We're just going to take a picture. Make it look like you got over that piece of shit Real quick." he sat his purse beside Eadwulf and straddled his lap facing him, "Hold still,"

"Rodger that," Eadwulf had gone stiff under him as soon as he's sat down, so really he didn't need to ask.

Adi pulled the small pack of make up wipes he kept in his purse and carefully wiped the tear tracks from Eadwulf's face. He reached around him to let his hair out of the messy half bun Eadwulf had it in so Adi could run his fingers through his hair, tousling it up in a deliberately messy way. Adi sat back to admire his work, it was good but Eadwulf needed more, this was far too tasteful, he decided. Adi undid the first few buttons on Eadwulf's shirt, and got him to take off his waistcoat entirely with a little bit of persuasion.

He sat back again, this time to pull his lipstick out, quickly reappling it before smudging it with his finger just enough to be obvious but not enough to look fake. He considered wiping the excess on his finger off onto the collar of Eadwulf's shirt but the wine red would definitely leave a stain the poor guy didn't deserve, so instead he just wiped it on his own thigh.

"Can I borrow your phone? Just need to take the picture and then we'll be done," Adi didn't miss the way Eadwulf jumped out of a daze when he spoke. He wasn't stupid, even if he did prefer to act like he was, he knew what kind of effect he must be having on him right now, but that was a necessary sacrifice if it meant getting back at this random strangers shitty ex.

Eadwulf was quick about it, fumbling his phone out of his pocket and opening his camera app and switching to the front camera with only a little difficulty before handing it over.

Adi took it, held it at selfie distance, pursing his lips as he picked out the best pose for them in his head.

"We can't do anything about those red eyes so just-" Adi paused and guided Eadwulf to lean his head against his shoulder, making sure his eyes would be hidden behind his head and neck, "Yeah just like that, Hands on my hips and try and look like you're having a whole lot more fun with me than you ever did with him," Adi instructed before taking his own pose.

He leaned forward, arching his back and fisting his free hand in Eadwulf's shirt. It took him a moment to find the exact right combination of smug, sloshed, and horny to accomplish what he needed it to.

He took the picture, and then decided that it wasn't good enough, snapping a few more before leaning back again and saying "Sorry, just gotta, Real quick" and pressing a messy kiss right below Eadwulf's ear to leave a very obvious lipstick mark, "Perfect,"

Eadwulf's jaw had dropped, probably so he could protest what had just happened, but Adi got back into place and the photo taken at just the right moment to make it look like he was gasping.

"All done!" Adi was actually a little proud of his work as he got off Eadwulf's lap and sat beside him instead, "Look, It's perfect right? Just send that to him and I guarantee he'll be soooo jealous,"

"Y-yeah," Eadwulf had to swallow hard, "Definitely," he fussed around in his messaging app for a moment while Adi went ahead and grabbed his purse to get another make-up wipe for Eadwulf.

"Glad to be of help," Adi knew he must look like the cat who got the canary, but he couldn't help it, that was just too much fun. Messing with a kinda cute guy while also getting a jab in in someone else's relationship drama? Truly a fantastic end to the night.

"So... Uhm, you said you were walking home, uhm, would you maybe like a ride there? My cars not far and I feel I owe you especially since I'm going to be asking one more favor,"

"Yeah, and what's that?" Adi briefly wondered if he had truly lost his mind for even considering getting in a car with a strange arsonist he met out in the woods, but hey, he's made a Lot of bad decisions tonight and they've all been pretty fun so far. So, what was one more bad decision to cap it all off?

"Can I get your number? I mean- I'll drive you home either way- Or to somewhere else I- I promise I'm not trying to be weird," He babbled out.

"Sure, but if you're willing to drive me anywhere, your place might be a bit more fun," What was two more bad decisions to cap it all off anyways?