#should I tag this as lesbian yet

[queen-of-the-weenies]

The Bandit Queen's Bride: The Marketplace (Part 2)

See, I promised :)

Also link to part 1

~~~

Jin stood from her spot on the cushion, making a mental note to buy a better one for the old man. Last thing she needed was him hurting his hip and whinging for days about how the cushion was to blame. He deserved better than that. The gold bits felt hot in her hand, begging to be spent, but she held herself in check. Patience, Jin… Patience…

Her eye caught on a flash of something shiny, drawing her attention across the market square. There, nearly drowned out by the crushing mass of bodies shuffling by, stood a woman with her auburn hair contained in a net of woven gold threads and diamonds, lending a sparkle to every minute movement of her head. It was the dazzling flash that had drawn Jin’s eye, but that was hardly the thing that rooted her in place.

No, what stopped her dead was that, as she peered over the sea of bodies milling about in a lazy shuffle, the woman looked back at her, and their eyes locked.

Maybe it was the heat from standing in the sun. Maybe it was the claustrophobic press of the crowd before her. Maybe it was the headache born from days of stress and hunger and sleeplessness. Whatever the reason, Jin found herself struck dumb by the eye contact. It lasted just a second--less than a second, truthfully.

But it was long enough.

She was barely aware of “Blessed fuckin’ stars” leaving her lips in a breathless tone. If she’d still had her wits about her, the Bandit Queen would have been mortified that her interest was so obvious. At least the only of her bandits who witnessed the lapse of composure was Gallum. Entranced, she began wading through the crowd toward the woman, who’d already turned away to examine the wares of the stall where she stood.

~

“See anything you like, miss?”

The merchant inquired with a hopeful voice, but the words bounced around in her head without fully processing. Mella stared blankly at the table, trying to appear interested despite having no idea what she was looking at. Her thoughts were racing, already replaying the split-second eye contact she’d made with the gorgeous stranger across the way. The woman’s hair was matted and dirty, the blonde edging closer to brown in color, and her clothes were quite shabby… But her eyes… The gaze she met was dark and wild, like an animal that wasn’t quite tame. Just thinking about those eyes sent a little shiver down her spine in spite of the heat.

The merchant cleared his through, the polite sound barely audible over the noise of the marketplace, but it succeeded in drawing her attention back to the present. Embarrassed by her own behavior, Mella plucked up the first thing she saw on the table, presenting it to the merchant. If she made a purchase, surely he wouldn’t care that she hadn’t said a word for nearly a minute.

“This, if you please.”

As the words left her lips, Mella cursed herself. She didn’t have her purse with her! Freidrech had insisted that she didn’t need it. Why would she, when he could buy whatever she wanted? Of course, that was before she slipped away, leaving him to argue with the manager of the restaurant where they’d eaten lunch. He was probably still there, the insipid boar.

“Ah, excellent choice, miss! This is my finest piece among a selection of fine pieces! The price is twelve gold bits, but for the pretty lady, a mere six bits is all I ask.”

Mella stared at the man, then at her hand. In her grasp was a necklace made of woven gold, and at the center hung a pendant in the shape of a scallop shell. The pendant was carved from some kind of glittering stone, catching the bright sunlight as it turned this way and that on the chain. Six gold bits was barely a fair price for something like this; she highly doubted he initially planned to sell it for twelve, given the competent craftsmanship and simplistic design. Not that it mattered. Mella had no money.

Just as she began to put it down, mouth opening to sheepishly explain that she had no money, an arm reached past her to drop six bits on the counter.

“She’ll have it.”

Mella shivered as the husky female voice brushed against her senses. Whoever had spoken stood right behind her, reaching around her to pay the merchant. The merchant was thanking the mystery woman while simultaneously tucking the bits into a lockbox. The arm retracted partly, the slender-fingered hand resting on Mella’s bicep. Heat approached the side of her head, and the same voice whispered in her ear,

“Beautiful girls deserve beautiful things… And you are by far the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in my life.”

~

Jin was in full maiden-wooing mode, forgetting about her promise to buy Gallum some cider, forgetting that they needed to scrape together as much money as possible, forgetting that she needed to not get tangled up in whatever political machinations a woman like this one would undoubtedly be involved with. The woman was only a bit shorter than her, so the Bandit Queen could whisper in her ear without bending at all, and she was rewarded with a tiny shiver in response. Had she not been touching the woman’s arm, she never would have known she reacted at all.

The woman turned her head just enough to see Jin from the corner of her beautiful blue eye. The town was big enough to have a few lesser noble families residing there during the summer months; the redhead beauty was dressed in the fine clothes and jewels of a noble daughter. Maybe Jin would be getting lucky in more ways than one today.

“Excuse me, miss, but you’re in my personal space. Did no one teach you that it’s impolite to lay hands on a stranger?”

Jin relinquished her contact on the woman’s arm and took half a step back, nearly bumping into someone walking by. The redhead turned to look fully at her, lifting a hand to shade her eyes from the sun. White silk glove, long enough to tuck under the mid-forearm length of her dress sleeve, which was edged with lace. Oh yes, this woman was definitely a noble…

“Pardon me, miss. Didn’t mean to offend.”

The woman scoffed. “Perhaps, but offense was taken nonetheless. That being said… Perhaps we shall call it even, seeing as you’ve already purchased me a gift.”

Jin felt a grin spread over her lips. The woman’s words were delivered with a sharp voice, but the way she was avoiding eye contact belied how flustered she really was. She was not the first woman to react with polite hostility to the Bandit Queen’s advances; she would probably fall just as hard and easily as the others.

“Please, dear lady, allow me to make up for my indiscretion with another gesture. Let me to buy you a drink to quench your thirst. The sun is hot today, and a beauty like you should be kept cool in the shade.”

The woman seemed to consider the offer. Her lips parted slightly, and Jin’s gaze fell to them, admiring the shape of them… Imagining what it would be like to kiss them… To hear the desperate gasps and cries for mercy that the Bandit Queen would wring out while her own lips trailed down the soft curve of her neck and shoulder…

“There you are, my lady! You vanished while I was distracted.”

The sound of a man’s voice shattered the daydream filling Jin’s head. The redhead stepped quickly away, then around her to be greeted by a man with a handsome face and a suit of such bright white silk that he was blinding in the sunlight. This was a man who demanded attention with his very presence, and Jin hated him immediately.

~

I’m going to lose my mind, Mella thought to herself. The strange woman was so close, grinning at her as if she found the entire situation amusing. At first, Mella had been too sidetracked by her bold demeanor to notice anything else… But the sound of Freidrech’s voice cut through the fog in her mind. She stepped past the woman to intercept him, hoping to distract him from noticing how close a total stranger had been to her just seconds ago.

“Freidrech, it’s about time you stopped fussing over the lunch bill and joined me. I was beginning to think you’d gone and forgotten about me.”

Freidrech huffed and took her hand, lifting it to press his lips against the silk-gloved fingers. “Nonsense, my lady,” he said with a slight smile. “You leave too great an impression to ever be forgotten.”

His gaze slid past Mella’s face to look past her, and for a second, she worried that he would pick another pointless, petty fight with someone he saw as beneath him. But he did not. He released her hand, chin lifting and his arm offered out for her to hold onto.

“Come, my lady. We have an appointment to keep with Lord and Lady Volet. It would be a shame to disappoint them.”

She reached out, sliding a hand around his arm, and allowed herself to be pulled away from the market stall. She knew that looking back was a terrible idea--surely the stranger had taken the hint and moved on to the next pretty woman to flirt with.

Still, as Freidrech blathered on about how important it was to impress Lord Volet, Mella found herself glancing over her shoulder… And meeting the gaze of her approacher, just as dark and strange as the first glance, watching her intently as the distance between them grew. In her other hand, hastily tucked into the pocket of her dress, she clutched the scallop shell necklace tightly.

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[eudico-my-beloved]

Capt ish and g outis are the two top dmg dealers (mostly) and my only lv 40 units so far so i think they should share a pipe and kiss (feat. the rest of my Leveled and Usable So Far units)

[aria-greenhoodie]

HEY DO YOU GUYS EVER THINK ABOUT HOW ABIGALE BLACKWING, A VERY INDEPENDENT INVENTRESS, SUDDENLY WENT AND MARRIED A RICH MAN (implied to be a Northwest) AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF THE ANTI-CIPHER SOCIETY? DO YOU EVER THINK MAYBE THAT MARRIAGE WAS OUT OF A DESPERATE NEED FOR SAFTEY FROM BEING INSTITUTIONALIZED? DO YOU EVER THINK MAYBE ABIGALE FEELS SHE TRADED AN ASYLUM FOR FREEDOM OVER HER LIFE? HOW SHE’S STILL TRAPPED IN A CAGE BUT IN A DIFFERENT WAY? DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT THAT!? BECAUSE I DO!

Anyway uhhhh Click for Quality.

[cressthebest]

i didn’t realize how much i missed southern literature until i was taking a class on it. it has reawakened the deep urge to read the Muted webtoon again for the fourth time.

it’s a completed, 125 chapter fictional webtoon set in new orleans, louisiana featuring a sapphic polyamorous protagonist. the story has family lines of different types of magic

for marauders fans, it gives noble and most ancient house of black vibes

[catgirlkirigiri]

Hey guys is it cool to draw your webkinz as furries. Doesn't matter I'm doing it anyway

[shatteredclay]

stargazing

the night is bleak

when you don’t look close

the stars seem so far away

when you don’t know

the grass is cold

and damp for a while

until you lay for some time

and you let yourself smile

if you let go of it all

things start to look up

then you’ll find

all the galaxies hidden above

you’ll find life in that grass,

and for all that you know

you’ll find within the darkness,

a soft hidden glow

take me back to the night

where i laid down with you

you were unknown to me

though we’d met before too

but my lips pulled you up

and your arms pulled me down

and for a brief moment

our lost souls were found

i eat all of my words now,

and surely keep them down

my words just cause trouble

they never land sound

you know why i do

because you’ve felt their bite

and they aren’t calm darkness

like that of the night

the coldness of dew

sticks to the sleeves of my shirt

and the sparkles above

burn you red, and still hurt

in the moment our lives

intertwined perfectly

but now, in this moment

they’re nowhere to be seen

you landed on some planet

far far away

and i blasted into

a nebula’s wave

after time, it turned easy

to float in this space

though once before i thought

i’d merely become waste

but now, i know that i’ll land somewhere new…

now, it is easy to enjoy the night’s view.

[ominous-feychild]

Me, making Oska 3 years ago: "NOOOO!!! I can't make him hot, do you know how often people will use that as an excuse if he is??? 'If evil, why hot?'???"

Me, working on the villain for RFtA: *sips tea and ominously leans back in my chair as I purposely dial the "hotness" meter past its max setting*

[maulfucker]

Ok so. OC thoughts about Order 66.

Verred and Kuru are with Latros on Coruscant when the order comes out. Verred leaves Kuru with Latros and runs to the Jedi Temple to see what's going on and help people escape. She doesn't come back.

Latros takes Kuru and escapes Coruscant before ships start to get pulled over and checked for hidden jedi

Master Apos was with the younglings, and that's another reason for Verred to go to the temple: to try to help her master one last time

Dji survives by letting its ship get blown up and hiding in the debris until the clones got tired of searching for a corpse. No one ever remembers givins can survive in vacuum.

When he's sure the clones have left he sends a distress signal and hopes for the best. It gets rescued by the Da'ali twins, and asks to stay with them until it can find one of its people

(It doesn't know yet what happened to master Apos and Verred and pretty much every other member of their lineage. He suspects, but he doesn't know.)

The three of them eventually track down and find Kuru (and Latros) so Dji can reunite with the only other survivor of their little family.

Latros and the twins are both bounty hunters, and Dji is a great pilot, so they're like. hey why go our separate ways. why not become a crew.

So in my mind they become something kinda like the Ghost crew from Rebels but with two ships, three pilots, and a decade earlier

bonus thought. Latros is a kinda acquaintance of Maul (he worked for him on occasion before the Siege of Mandalore) and I think it would be very funny for them to meet him, considering the crew is composed of two jedi (bad thoughts on Maul) two mandalorians (complex thoughts on Maul) and Latros (no thoughts whatsoever)

[technicolorxsn]

thinking abt him......

[unrestrainedbalderdash]

NOOO WHY'S THERE BI LESBIAN EXCLUSION IN THE ORIENTED AROACE TAG.

[darling-little-sidenotes]

Love is just

knowing you exist

gave me the energy

to make breakfast this morning

[hows-itgoagain]

was drawing zakitama and gave tama normal human ears without thinking and didn’t realize until i’d lined it so like. fuck it we ball girl!zaki x human!tama is what we’re going with now

[jaxypaxyhaxy]

There are two wolves inside of me, one wants a relationship like DeeDee and Callie Davis and the other wants a relationship like Ethan and Andy

[falinscloaca]

the eternal temptation to pull a ‘men dni’ on main (i.e. here) even though that makes literally 0 sense