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theharddeck · 3 years ago

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out of the blue, clear sky (chapter one) // Jake Seresin x Reader

Pairing: hangman x fem!reader (no y/n)

Synopsis: what's a bit of state rivalry between pilots? You and Hangman see each other in a new light after a late night at a dive bar, and this started as a one shot, then suddenly it was 2k words of country karaoke, and now I want to write a fluffy love story

Warnings: 18+, minors please DNI -- this is a 5 chapter deal and this one is pretty PG, but it'll ratchet up to E in a later chapter, and I don't want to mislead anyone. In the interim, there's swearing, but yeah mostly flagging this because something smutty this way comes

Length: 3.2k

A/N: This is self-indulgent to the max, and payoff is late in coming, but I hope y’all enjoy it lol. I regret to inform you that Sold (The Grundy Country Auction Incident) is required listening before reading; it’s just important to note that it’s a fun/funny song, not a sultry one. Jake’s song is “Carried Away” by George Strait, also a delight, but that one is sweet.

tagging the usuals: @peakyrogers@winterrebel04 @blue-aconite and the folks who convinced me to post: @bioodforbiood @et-homephone

chapter one / chapter two / chapter three / chapter four / chapter five

Should you have been out this late, the night before you had drills in this morning? No.

Should you be taking anything anyone said at this hour seriously? No.

Were you all still going to be defensive when Bradley decided to be coastal elitist about something? Absolutely, yes.

“Man, we were having such a good night,” Fanboy muttered, as you, Bob, and Hangman were immediately up in arms.

“You can just say you don’t like when women have feelings, Bradford,” you said. (A grossly reductive accusation, to be sure, but if Rooster was going to generalize, you weren’t going to take the high road.)

Coyote snorted, taking another pull of his beer as Phoenix came back to the table, kicking her feet up on Bob’s lap.

“God, that felt good,” she sighed, holding out a hand and waiting for someone to put a drink into it. “Who’s next?”

“Presumably Hangman,” Bob said, handing her a glass, “to redeem the genre of country music.”

“Nah, I don’t sing,” Jake waved a hand airily, and you knew better than to look at him, but you did anyways.

Normally, you were sober enough to ignore any sorts of feelings that fluttered, unprovoked, in your stomach when you looked at Jake Seresin. He was a pilot like you, you were in the same detachment, it wasn’t going to be something you acted on, you were far from his type anyways…you had a million little rationalizations as to why a crush was impractical, but it persisted nonetheless.

Crushes were inconvenient like that.

This deep into the night, “normally” did not apply.

So you looked at him, sternly reminding yourself to not do anything so dramatic as let your breath catch, or pulse leap.

He didn’t seem nearly as deep in his cups as the rest of the group.

No, of course, he and Phoenix seemed to be the only ones whose eyes were still clear and faces weren’t flushed. In fact, he had the audacity to look as unfairly attractive as he did in the daytime in his uniform, even though you’d all been awake for close to twenty hours now. His blonde hair was mussed, and looked softer than normal, like he’d carded his fingers through it enough that any styling products had relinquished their hold, and it was a damn good look.

You frowned down at your drink, the deep umber liquid not seeming any lower, though you’d been nursing it for half an hour.

“It’s okay,” you said, to distract yourself, more than anything. “Texas doesn’t really count as Country, anyways.”

Mickey tittered, and you felt Jake’s eyes on you, but didn’t trust yourself to look up to meet them.

“Damn straight,” Jake huffed. “Texas was actually–”

“Its own country,” Reuben interrupted, longsuffering.

“For seven whole years,” Bradley continued, “an independent nation all of their own, called…”

“The Republic of Texas,” Javy lifted his glass. “And they were called Texians, actually, not Texans.”

The three of them clinked their glasses together in a cheers, and Jake held up his hands.

“Okay, okay,” he shrugged, nonplussed. “So, I’ve got a lot of state pride, sue me.”

“That’s okay,” Phoenix said, before winking almost imperceptibly at you. “Not like there’s any good country artists from Texas.”

Jake froze. “Okay, now, hang on–”

“Ah, you’re right,” you sighed, grateful for distraction of goading Hangman into singing. “Beyonce took all the musical talent, regardless of genre, and there’s no one left.”

Jake set his bottle down on the table. “That’s bold, coming from someone from Kentucky.”

“I can’t hear you over the sound of Kentucky-born legend Loretta Lynn,” you said calmly.

Jake sputtered. “Loretta–”

“Patty Loveless, too,” Bob said helpfully, and you didn’t know how he knew that, but you were grateful for the WSO’s encyclopedic memory. “And Chris Stapleton, if modern’s your thing.”

Jake gaped at the two of you, then held up a hand to count on his fingers. “Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks, George Strait–”

“Who?” you interrupted, innocently. Your dad had a George Strait cassette he’d played until the tape wore out, but Jake’s eyes widened almost comically.

“Please,” he asked, in the most serious tone you’d heard from him all night, “please, tell me you’re joking.”

Behind him, Reuben had a hand over his mouth, trying not to laugh, and you managed to keep your expression wide-eyed and blank, shrugging lightly.

Jake stared at you for a long moment, then he stood up, sharply.

“Cretins,” Jake declared, pointing at you, then around at the group. “All of you!”

And he huffed his way up to the stage.

Phoenix leaned back in her chair to hold out her hand to you, palm up, which you high fived unashamedly as Jake aggressively flipped through the song book.

He punched a code into the machine on the edge of the stage, then dragged a stool to the middle of the stage.

“Evening, everyone,” he said into a mic, and you rolled your eyes as every female spine in the bar straightened, looking towards the stage. It wasn’t lost on you that he’d turned his accent up, as well as donning an air of “aw, shucks,” humility as he settled onto the barstool.

A couple cat calls echoed around the bar, as contemplative guitar strings plucked over the sound system.

“Notttt what I was expecting,” Coyote said under his breath, and Hangman cleared his throat before he started singing.

“I don’t take my whisky to extremes,” Jake sang, looking pointedly at the group of you, with the near empty bottle on the table, and Rooster flipped him off. “I don’t believe in chasing crazy dreams…”

As his voice ran around the bar, tables fell quiet, turning back to the stage. Hangman’s voice, normally more callous than decadent, seemed softer, and the simple lyrics of the song rang like a promise.

“My feet are planted firmly on the ground,” Jake crooned, and that really was the only word for it, an effortless spell none of you had been expecting, “but darlin’, when you come around…”

“Well shit,” Fanboy muttered to the group as Jake went all-in on the chorus, “how are we supposed to make fun of him when he’s actually good?”

Shit indeed.

Because he sounded like someone sweet who would promise forever to a girl on the way back from a Friday Night football game, someone who'd give you their jacket and get you home by 9pm. Some sound tech was conspiring against you, because they dimmed the lights in the bar, a soft spotlight falling onto Jake. And he should’ve looked worse like that, in the dramatic lighting, but it made his jaw seem sharper, his eyes brighter, and if you listened closely, you could hear the sound of every woman in this bar falling a little in love.

They cheered when he finished the chorus, and Hangman was eating it up, wiping his palms on his jeans, and pushing to his feet.

“This has backfired,” Phoenix mumbled, when Jake hopped off the stage, weaving his way through the tables, starting on the next verse.

“We have created a monster,” you agreed.

“No ‘we’ about it,” Javy muttered. “This is all you guys.”

And you supposed it was.

Jake was making his way over to your table, and you steeled yourself for his arrogance, but were still unprepared.

He smirked as he siddled over to Phoenix, and she rolled her eyes but when he held out a hand, she extended hers, and the rest of the audience squealed when he brushed a kiss over the edges of her knuckles.

You winced internally, why did he have to be so handsome?? He got away with stuff like this, and you couldn’t even be mad at him–

He turned to you.

It had to be the whisky, that’s why you felt the weight of his eyes so heavily. The green of them glittered in the spotlight, and a part of you was loyally muttering “asshole” but another part of you felt like giggling with the rest of the bar.

And then he walked towards you.

“I get carried away by the look, by the light in your eyes,” he sang, holding eye contact in a way that had to be indecent. You needed to look away so you could remember how to breathe, but you couldn’t back down, so you tilted your head and raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed.

Which, of course, he took as a challenge.

“Before I even realize the ride I’m on, baby, I’m long gone,” Jake sang, stepping closer.

He reached for your hand, and if Phoenix could do it, you could too–but he didn’t kiss your hand. No, he lifted it, prompting you to stand and spinning you, like prom. The spotlight had followed him, and you felt it brightening the air around you as he pulled you into it.

“I get carried away, nothing matters, but being with you,” he sang, and instead of letting you wilt back into your seat and out of the light, he dropped your hand around the back of his neck, between the ends of his hair and the top of his shirt, eyes smirking with the challenge, as he continued. “Like a feather flying high up in the sky, on a windy day, I get carried away.”

There was more of the song, you knew that.

But in another, very real sense, you were closer to Hangman than you ever remembered being, close enough to notice his green eyes had flecks of gold in them, and that he had the smallest indentations in the skin along the edges of his eyes, from where his face held the memory of past smiles. And now you knew what his hair felt like between your fingers, and that it wasn’t cologne, he just smelled good.

“I get carried away,” Jake repeated, stepping just a step closer to you, and maybe it made you a coward, but you took a step back. He smirked, victorious, and turned, letting your hand fall back to your side as the spotlight followed him back up to the stage.

Mickey opened his mouth and you glared at him. “Not a word, Fanboy.”

He closed his mouth with a snap, but the rest of the group looked entirely too amused for your comfort.

“Thank you, ladies and gents,” Jake was saying on the stage, dropping into a deep bow and putting the microphone back. “And, uh, Kentucky?”

You looked up at the stage, annoyed to find Jake’s eyes already on you, even through the glare of the spotlight.

“Would love,” he grinned, all teeth, “to see you top that.”

You heard Rooster chuckle, and that, more than anything, had you pushing out of your chair up to the stage.

Jake offered you a hand as you got closer, to help you up the steps and you glowered at him as you took it.

“Thanks, darlin’,” you muttered.

“Anytime, sugar,” he shot back, and you hated that his voice sounded way more unaffected than yours.

You were flipping through the songbook before you realized how impossible this was about to be.

Natasha had already trotted out the ‘fuck all men’ Carrie Underwood play, and Jake had taken the soft and sweet option; you had to do something different. Something in the ‘Chicken Fried’ vein would be funny, but it would also prove Bradley's point; Gretchen Wilson would do the trick, but she wasn’t from Kentucky…

Your eyes fell on a John Michael Montgomery song and you smiled to yourself.

Perfect.

“Hiya, folks,” you said cheerily, going for cutesy rather than borrowing Jake’s bashful routine. A couple girls were glaring at you, having seen Jake serenade you and misinterpreting that familiarity, but you ignored them.

“You’ve got this, babe!” Phoenix called, and you heard Payback and Fanboy clapping loudly.

You gave them a mock curtsy, and waited for the song to pick up.

And boy howdy, did it.

A banjo, loud and proud, curled through the bar and Bob’s eyes lit up, even as Jake’s jaw dropped.

If you could land this, it would be epic.

You heard recognition ripple through the room and someone in the front row started clapping along to the beat. You smiled at them gratefully as the fast tempo whirled around you.

“Well, I went down to the Grundy county auction,” you sang, at an auctioneer’s pace, hopping off the stage and wandering through the crowd like Jake had, “where I saw something I just had to have.”

You’d upped your accent too, and it wasn’t smooth the way Jake’s was, but you knew it didn’t sound half bad in the tenor key.

“My mind told me I should proceed with caution,” you sang, getting closer to your table, and holding out a hand to Natasha, like Jake had, “but my heart said go ahead and place a bid on that.”

She stood, highly amused, and you twirled her into you so her back was pressed against the front of your body. Her hand slid up your legs as she put on a show, loyal like you knew she would be, and you could focus on the rapid fire lyrics as the bar cheered for Nat’s dancing skills.

"And I said, “Hey pretty lady, won't you give me a sign? I'd give anything to make you mine o' mine; I'll do your biddin' and be at your beck and call."

Natasha was laughing, you could feel her upper body shaking but she rolled her hips and you went with her and was Coyote miming throwing money at the two of you, so you leaned into it.

You finished the chorus in a rush, people whooped, the sultry mood Jake had said absolutely decimated by the ridiculous patter.

You spun Phoenix back out and she sank gracefully back into a seat as you walked around the group of your friends, their boots stomping supportively. As you sang the next verse, you avoided looking at Jake, knowing you needed to keep your momentum and circling back to kneel in front of Bob dramatically.

The sweet WSO blushed at the attention, and the bar whooped when you crooked a finger under his chin to tilt his face up to you, before pointing out his ‘ruby red lips, blonde hair, blue eyes’ that matched the line in chorus.

“If you know it, sing along,” you yelled into the mic before pointing it to the ceiling as you weaved your way back to the stage, relieved beyond belief when the rest of the inebriated crowd joined you in singing the last chorus.

It was a mercy, because you needed to breathe.

You stepped back up onto the stage, having caught your breath, and ending the song on a yodel that had everyone laughing. Were they in love with you—no. But they seemed entertained, and you’d take that; you bowed deeply as the bar cheered, blowing a smug kiss at Hangman when you came back up.

Which was a mistake.

Because the look on his face was something you hadn’t expected to see, an expression that wavered between respect and something you didn’t recognize, and you weren’t prepared to find out. A moment later, it was gone, chased away by a dimpled smile and the tipping of an imaginary hat as Jake broke his gaze away from you.

What the hell was that?

You fiddled with the mic, stepping down off the stage and nodding to a couple folks who lifted their drinks as you made your way back to the group. They cheered for you good naturedly, and gave another curtsy as you found your seat.

“Who knew she had pipes?” Payback teased, uncapping a fresh beer and passing it to you.

“Anything for the virtue of the Bluegrass state,” you demured, taking the beer gratefully.

Someone from another group was up on the stage, you heard a phone ring distantly, and the normal din of the bar creeped back in as the adrenaline seeped out of your system.

You were sure you were all going to regret this, in the morning.

Well, most of you.

Natasha still looked fine and Jake…

Jake wasn’t at the table.

You frowned slightly, trying to keep your expression neutral as you leaned forward in your seat, looking around the room to find the Texan. He wasn’t in your row, he wasn’t at the bar getting an order…

Your eyes found him by the bar’s entrance, holding his phone to his head with one hand, the other blocking his ear. He was pacing, and when he turned back towards the group of you, his forehead was wrinkled in an uncharacteristic frown.

His eyes met yours.

For the second time tonight, you read something in his face that you knew you hadn’t been meant to see.

Jake’s jaw tightened and he turned away, pacing again. When he got closer to the door, he reached for it, but a moment later, his hand was back by his ear, blocking out sound as he listened intently. You saw him start for the door again, but each time needed to pull back to listen more closely to whoever was on the other end of the line.

You didn’t plan to head towards him, but your feet had you halfway across the bar before you realized you weren’t in your row. As you got closer, you could feel the tension radiating off of him in waves, even if you couldn’t hear what he was saying.

When you opened the door for him, Jake’s gaze felt searching.

You held the heavy door, pressing yourself against the wall of the bar so Jake could go by. As he edged by you, his eyes flitted back to yours briefly.

“Thank you,” he mouthed, and he waited for your chin to dip in a nod of acknowledgement before he was turning, jogging towards his truck. You watched him struggle with his keys in the dim parking lot light, and then pinch the bridge of his nose as he realized he couldn’t drive, not like this. He turned towards the intersection, waving as a cab came into view.

“What was that about?”

You jumped at the question, surprised to find Bob standing next to you.

“I don’t know,” you said, uncertainly. A cab pulled up to the curb and Jake folded his long body into it, the phone still pressed to his ear.

You realized Bob was holding the door for you, having quietly leaned up against it to take some of the weight so you didn’t have to.

“We should probably head back, right?” you asked, and Bob nodded, slowly.

“Early morning, all that,” he agreed.

You drew in a quick breath, before smiling automatically, following Bob back inside. As you gathered your things, closed at your portion of the tab, and fielded compliments from strangers, you weren’t certain if it was the night air or the expression on Hangman’s face as he’d left so quickly that had you feeling suddenly sober.

Chapter Two

#jake hangman seresin x you #jake hangman seresin #hangman x reader #hangman x you #jake hangman seresin x reader #as always my tag list is v small so if you want to be on/off it lmk #how are we feeling about a chapter fic??? never posted on here instead of ao3 #so that's nervewracking #ahhhh pls tell me if you like it haha #misskielwrites

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valiant--art · 3 years ago

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Follower Meme

Lord Zovereign || The Fallen Assassin

Class: Deception Assassin

Weapons: Double-bladed Lightsaber; The Force

Selection Lines:

"I knew you couldn't stay away from me."

"Follow my lead and we'll rip through anything that bars our path."

"Still not strong enough to work alone? How...charming."

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

Dismissal Lines:

"Perfect timing; I was getting bored."

"You'll call me back soon enough."

"Try not to have too much fun without me."

Battle Lines:

"Finally, a fight worthy of ME."

"You'd think they'd learn after the first dozen down, mm?"

"Don't be shy; beg."

"See how quickly they fall before us!"

(Laughter) "Don't think you can run from me!"

Exiting Battle:

(Sigh) "They really could have put up more of a fight."

"What a rush."

"I hope that dispelled any lingering doubts about my skill."

"No survivors. Good."

KO’d/Low Health:

"Don't you dare leave me behind!"

"This isn't- this isn't how it's supposed to go-!"

(Weak cough) "Ungh...there's blood pooling inside the mask..."

Resurrected:

"...I've had better performances."

"Don't expect me to thank you."

"This never happened."

"All part of the plan. ...What? Don't look at me like that."

Misc. Click Lines:

"Let's go."

"Hands off."

"Do you count your kills? You should."

"No, you can't take the helmet off. Pretend it's fused to my face or something."

"So were you never taught that it's rude to stare, or do you just not care?"

"You'd tell me if you were planning to betray me, wouldn't you? Common courtesy and all that."

"Never thought I'd miss a Dromund Kaas party, but this place is dull enough to make them look like prime time entertainment."

(Rare) "It's...nice having someone to fight beside again." (Pause) "Just don't make it weird."

Planet-Specific Lines:

(Korriban) "Home. I didn't miss it."

(Korriban) "Would you like a tour? I know these tombs like the back of my hand- I could even point out the exact places where I got to kick my fellows in the teeth."

(Dromund Kaas) "Remind me to see if my apartment evicted me yet."

(Dromund Kaas) "For all that the rain and the muck makes it difficult to do my job here, it's really fun to find workarounds. Adds a challenge."

(Tattooine) "Oh yes, bring the man in all black to the desert planet."

(Tattooine) "I knew you wanted to get rid of me. I didn't think you'd be so rude about it though; dying of heatstroke isn't a good way to go."

(Nar Shadaa) "I still can't tell if this place is hideously gaudy or the most captivating planet I've been to."

(Alderaan) "If you really can't deal with the nobles, hand them to me. I know how to deal with their types."

Additional Stuff

Favorite Gifts: Luxury ♥♥♥ / Trophy ♥♥ / Weapon ♥, Courting ♥, Imperial Memorabilia ♥

Gift Lines:

[Like] "...Huh. It's not bad, actually."

[Like; Courting Specific] "Did you really...? HAH! Oh, that's cute."

[Favorite] "Could do something nice with this."

[Love] "How did you-? I mean this is- ...thank you."

Likes: A dark sense of humor, violence, revenge, indulgence, questioning authority, personal gain.

Dislikes: Working with nobility, the greater good, adherence to rules and regulations, showing mercy, blindly being pro/anti-Imperial/Republic.

Bonus

Zovereign's recruitment is self initiated. He seeks out the PC and claims that a temporary alliance will serve both their interests, though he refuses to elaborate on his point. He initially presents himself as a completely irreverent, self serving man with a taste only for furthering his 'entertainment,' however he chooses to define that word in the moment. Loud, talkative, brash, and unequivocally cruel, he seems to delight in painting himself as the antagonist no matter the circumstances.

And while he's certainly all those things and more, at high approval, the PC will begin to catch him with his (metaphorical) mask down. He slips up, eschews antagonism for the more subtle trappings of camaraderie, and begins to allow some details about himself to be known. He offers to show the PC just how many instruments he's been trained to play, or perhaps they'd rather he teach them to dance...? Ah, and of course there are the stories he tells, reframed from 'I'm only saying this to piss you off ♥' to something more amicable- though no less gruesome. He likes the gory details. While he'll never delve too deep- the mask never comes off, nor does he make mention of his species, his family, or his true name- he does grow to consider the PC a companion, if not a friend.

Zovereign has flirt options available to all PCs, and picking them will, unfortunately, fill him with a disgusting amount of self satisfaction. He reciprocates easily, but ends up brushing aside any genuine romantic or sexual offers with nonchalant dismissal.

#swtor #follower meme #OC: Zovereign #Sith Pureblood #Sith Inquisitor #reign: ill never let anyone know my species ever <3 #me who needs to tag this: lol sorry king

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mypoisonedvine · 5 years ago

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Perks of the Job | dark!Boba Fett x reader x (soft)dark!Din Djarin

summary: the only thing worse than one bounty hunter on your trail is two. the only thing worse than a bounty hunter who wants to abuse you is a bounty hunter who wants to make you into a lesson for his makeshift apprentice. the only thing worse than a villain is a villain who thinks he’s a hero.

word count: 5.8k

warnings: smut (noncon, including vaginal, oral m receiving, anal, and dp… so you know, basically everything), a specific kink of mine which I have dubbed "no, not there!" or NNT for short (betcha can guess what that means), din catching feelings lowkey, hair pulling, choking, bondage, forced begging, all the good stuff

Boba had proven to be unendingly useful in bounty missions, even if he was a little bit rough around the edges and slightly more ‘shoot first ask questions later’ in his attack style. Still, Din was grateful for his aid and was happy to tag along when Boba explained he was tracking a target to Florrum— just a smuggler, wanted by the New Republic for trafficking death sticks all across the Outer Rim, nothing too serious or high-profile.

Turned out Din was less useful than he wanted to be, because only Boba was able to get into the club he’d traced your beacon to, so Din was instead left to wait on Slave I and try not to get into any trouble in the meantime.

After less than an hour of resting his eyes in the cockpit, he heard Boba’s voice come in through the comms system. “Target acquired,” he rasped, and Din instantly noticed the distant sounds of struggle and the destruction he must have left in his wake. “Be ready to take off when we board.”

Din leaned forward to hold down the blue button; “Roger,” he replied quickly as he kept an eye on the camera feed of the loading platform, opening and extending it so the hunter and his bounty could board easily. The man appeared on the visual soon after, dragging a woman by the scruff of her neck.

It was you, with your hands tied behind your back and your mouth restrained by a makeshift gag. You were putting up quite a fight, but not nearly enough to stop a man as ruthless as Fett. The second the two of you were inside, Din triggered the loading platform to return to its upright resting place as he started the engines, the ship’s gyroscopic insides tilting against the lift-off sequence. He turned his attention away from the screen as he saw Boba toss you to the ground, focusing instead on his task of exiting the atmosphere and getting the ship into hyperspace so you could be returned to those who sought you.

Hyperspace was quieter, which meant he could hear the sounds of your resistance more easily even with you in another part of the ship entirely. Wondering what all the fuss was about (and, secretly, a bit curious about this feisty young woman Fett had captured), Din made his way out of the cockpit and towards the cargo bay where Boba was wrestling with you.

It didn’t really seem like a fight, in the traditional sense of the word, since a fight implies two opposing forces— it seemed more like you were giving everything you had to try to wrench out of his grip (and go where?, Din was forced to wonder, we’re in hyperspace) while your captor was merely humoring you by not immediately knocking you out and freezing you in carbonite.

Your desperate grunts and whines were muffled by your gag, screeching to a halt as Boba used one hand to hold your torso and pull your back against his chest, the other gripping your jaw tightly. “Stop fighting, little girl,” he hissed, “you’re just going to get yourself hurt.” That deep commanding voice enough to intimidate even Din; thankfully, Din was on Fett’s good side, for the moment, and was pretty sure his own ‘bounty hunter voice’ (as he referred to it only in his own head) was at least 80% as scary.

You made this little motion like you were considering disobeying his instruction, but your rebellion was quelled by a gloved fist tangling into and subsequently tugging your hair. You winced, but relaxed a bit as you gave in to the reality that you’d been bested.

Din didn’t understand what was happening when Boba bent your bound-and-gagged form over a console, but he knew it couldn’t be good: not with the way tears were pouring down your face and soaking the cloth tied through your mouth, not with the way you struggled underneath his grip in your hair and on the back of your tunic.

“What are you doing,” Din asked, although it didn’t come out quite like a question without that uptick at the end, his voice firm and steady and deep even as his heart started to race.

“What do you think I’m doing? I’m taking my bonus,” Boba answered plainly, kicking your flailing legs apart to slot his body between them.

Boba must have seen the younger man’s confusion, even through his helmet, because he took a pause from his work to look back at Din.

“You can fuck ‘em before you chuck ‘em, you know,” Boba informed him, like it was obvious— like this was open secret that he was amazed he hadn’t already acted on. Truly, the thought hadn’t really crossed Din’s mind before. His upbringing had been devoid of any sexual education, even to the point of drawing a clear line between right and wrong. Then again, right and wrong were always a blurry mix in his mind as a bounty hunter: instead of that dichotomy, he was taught that there was the Code and nothing else. And the Code didn’t have anything to say about this, specifically, even as guilt and fear tingled up his spine along with the sickly addictive feeling burning in his gut— arousal, as he realized with a little gasp.

Fett leaned down to push his helmet against your ear, as if you’d be able to hear him any clearer even though the helmet’s modulator made it all sound mostly the same anyway. “Don’t try to fight me,” he insisted again. “Just stay still and keep your mouth shut.”

After a shaky breath, you nodded a little, and Boba sat back up, letting go of you with both of his hands— Din was pretty surprised to see you actually stay still, clearly the threat had gotten to you. Fear, as the Mandalorian had learned many times, was a much more powerful tool of control than force. Boba had you beat in both regards.

There was a little grunt from the man behind you as he reached down to fiddle with his trousers, finding the belt and opening which he reached into. From where he was standing, Din couldn’t really see what exactly his travel companion was doing, but even he wasn’t so naive not to figure it out.

A harsh, cracked sound spilled from your mouth, muffled through the gag, as Boba roughly pulled your trousers down and slid his cock between your legs, teasing you— taunting you. It wasn’t enough to violate you, apparently; he had to degrade you, siphon every drop of terror as he reminded you what was happening. You shook your head, and even though your words were objectively unintelligible, it was apparent to Din that you were pleading with your captor to stop.

Din got the sense that he should leave, but his feet were welded to the floor. His eyes were trained on you, shaking and breathing unsteadily where you were bent over and your head was turned to the side to press on the cold metal. You closed your eyes tightly, and Din recognized the expression as ‘bracing for impact,’ although in your case, it wasn’t that you were about to be impacted but impaled. Of course this couldn’t be right, Din knew enough to know that, in fact he was pretty sure it was illegal on some planets, but they weren’t on any planet right now, and Din had done things that are illegal on every planet. Maybe this really was normal bounty-hunting fare, and he was just too inexperienced to realize that. Maybe this was a relic of how hunters operated in Boba’s time; and Din, of course, had a lot of respect for tradition.

Maybe, more than anything, Din had lost track of the part of himself that cared if it was right or wrong, overpowered by a much more primal part of himself that had been chained and suppressed for far too long. The funny thing about monsters is that they get hungrier the longer you keep them caged up.

The way your fists clenched and shook as you were forced to take the hunter’s cock inside you, the way your teeth ground together and a hiss leaked out from between them, the way you whimpered and cried and he could see the shiver run up your spine… Din was obsessed with it, and his chest burned with a foreign emotion that could be described as jealousy, but that wouldn’t explain all of it. It was more than that, indescribable even to someone much more fluent in the language of feelings than Din was.

You sobbed quietly as your body went limp underneath his tight grip on the back of your tunic, just between your shoulder blades. He was already moving his hips quickly, chasing the pleasure he stole from your body. Din could see that he was hurting you, pain unmistakable in the way your expression twisted, even as the rest of your body seemed to have resigned itself.

Din wished, against every instinct of justice still firing wildly in the back of his mind, that he was hurting you like that, and not his companion. Although, he also fancied himself noble enough that, given the opportunity, he would treat you fairer than Boba would. And he was right, but then again, to be less cruel than Boba Fett takes little chivalry.

Your cries were sharp, loud enough at times to echo around the ship’s interior, other times completely silent as the brutality of Boba’s movements knocked the wind out of your lungs.

“Take her mouth,” Boba offered, “it’ll be a good way to shut her up.”

Din’s head was spinning as he tried to process that. It was like his body was moving on pure instinct as he stepped closer, his trousers getting tighter as you looked up at him. Your eyes were pleading for something: mercy, presumably, but he felt helpless to do anything but obey Boba’s order. It was an order, right? He had to do it.

A gloved finger tucked under your gag and pulled it out of your mouth, the fabric falling around your neck as you licked your dry and cracked lips.

“Please,” you whispered.

He kept one hand weaved into your hair as the other opened his pants, his cock bouncing free the moment it was given any space to do so. He held it at the base tightly, afraid it would all end too soon if he didn’t.

“Please, don’t do this,” you insisted, whimpering a little as he rubbed his cock around your lips, smearing the clear precum over your cheek.

The hand he’d tangled into your hair moved to grip your jaw, forcing your mouth open, and he gently pushed his cock inside— barely enough to rub his cock on your tongue, to feel the humid moisture of your breathing. You didn’t close your lips until he pushed his cock deeper, enveloping him in the silky skin of your mouth as he tried to keep his cool. How it felt was one thing, but how it looked was another entirely— your lips stretching over his girth, your cheeks bulging where the head of his cock pressed against the inside, your eyes blinking up at him as they brimmed with fresh tears. He hadn’t even been creative enough to imagine something like this those few times he’d gotten himself off with his hand, those few times basic biological need overcame confusion and naivete and ineptitude. Now it was going to be the thing he thought about every time, which was why he was doing his best to commit it to memory now.

Every groan and whimper that Boba forced you to make was vibrating through his cock, making Din sigh shakily and hold your head with both hands.

“Maker,” Din whispered as his head fell back, even though he didn’t believe in the Maker. At least, he hadn’t before.

“Good, isn’t it?” Boba encouraged, his voice tinted with the curl of a grin. Din couldn’t imagine what Boba was getting out of sharing his spoils with him, but he wasn’t one to question the nature of a gift when it felt like this, like your hot, wet tongue massaging the underside of his cock.

“Yes,” Din agreed hoarsely.

You yelped around his length when Boba brought a gloved hand down to smack your rear, the sound almost as erotic as the way your flesh rippled and shook with his aggressive touch. “Go on, suck him harder, give ‘im a real show,” Boba instructed to you darkly. You whimpered but did as he’d said, hollowing your cheeks and creating the most wonderful pressure as you sucked on Din’s swollen head.

Boba shed himself of his right glove, tossing it aside to palm at where your flesh had turned red in the shape of his hand already. Din shivered as he watched Boba’s thumb move inward— he couldn’t see where it was, but he had a pretty good idea based on the way your entire body tensed up, a weak whimper of confusion echoing around Din’s cock.

Instinct told him to take his cock out of your mouth, even if the idea of not feeling you for a moment was unpleasant in so many ways. Still, he figured he needed to hear whatever it was you had to say.

“Don’t,” you pleaded with Boba. “Not that.”

“Bet you’ll like it,” Boba assured, and he must have pushed in to the first knuckle because your whole body jolted forward, running from the sensation as you winced. “Relax,” Boba instructed firmly.

“Stop,” you whimpered, and Din’s heart twisted to see you in pain.

“Do what he says,” Din suggested— not a command, just his best proposal of a solution. In situations of inequitable experience, Din deferred to Boba liberally; certainly, Boba knew more about this than he did, even if that was a very low bar.

“Please, make him stop,” you whispered to him, more of a conversation than the two of you had had before. He was almost tempted to honor your request, even if he would never consider standing up to Boba, but his body was pulsing with need and it overrode any sense of decency left.

“I’m sorry,” was his only consolation as he pushed into your mouth again, and though it wasn’t a lie, it wasn’t very useful to you, either.

He held your neck as he pushed himself deeper, his sense of shame deteriorating in favor of pleasure. It was embarrassing enough to be doing this at all, let alone with Boba right there, watching him— well, Boba didn’t really seem to be watching him, too preoccupied with watching you squirm beneath him, but still, he could see it and that was a fact Din preferred to ignore. He imagined instead that this was a private, intimate moment the way it ought to be, the way that he had deduced these activities were usually conducted. He also imagined that you wanted to do this to him, that you were on your knees willingly as opposed to bent over a table by force. It was so easy to picture you wanting it, begging for it, even. Let me do this for you, I want to taste you, I want to make you feel good, you would offer as you knelt down, and he would still feel guilty for it but he wouldn’t stop you, either. Din hadn’t previously allowed himself to fantasize about having a companion of that nature, but as he indulged himself in his imagination now, he decided you would be unendingly generous: with your time, with your love, with your body. In return he would protect you… from exactly the sort of thing he was subjecting you to right now.

Renewed guilt seared through his chest as reality hit: you’d never care about him, you hated him, he could see that clearly in the way you looked up at him while he used your mouth. And he didn’t blame you for it at all, although he wished you would appreciate that it was Boba’s idea in the first place and that his crime was far worse than Din’s. Fett seemed to get off on your reluctance, relish and savor it, while it was just a compromise to Din.

You closed your eyes with a little sigh through your nose, relaxing your mouth further for him to thrust his hips forward into. He realized that you were trying to relax like Boba had told you, and for good reason— Fett had replaced his thumb for two fingers, and Din was almost curious enough to lean forward and try to get a glimpse of your puckered hole opening up to him. You looked pretty with your eyes fallen shut, those eyelashes delicately resting on your cheeks, but it wasn’t as good as being able to gaze right at you.

“Don’t close your eyes,” Din instructed quickly. When they opened again, he saw your stare dart around his helmet, seeking somewhere to latch onto. “Right here,” he clarified, releasing one hand from your throat to tap on the tinted visor. When you looked at where he had told you to, it was almost like you were really looking him in the eyes— although, truthfully, he was sort of glad that you couldn’t because he was sure you would find more there than he wanted you to see. It would be impossible to hide his nervousness, his inexperience, his fear if it weren’t for the beskar in the way. Even now, your bright eyes threatened to pierce right through him.

“You’re gonna come, aren’t you, girl?” Boba rasped, the closest Din had ever heard him to beaming with pride.

You shook your head against the intrusion in your mouth, and Din pulled out to give you a chance to talk. (Perhaps it also served the secondary purpose of delaying Din’s orgasm, which he had been holding back for so long now as he found himself oddly insecure about his stamina, but that’s neither here nor there.) “No,” you denied, but your voice was wavering as your eyes darted to the floor.

“She’s lying,” Din announced.

“I know,” Boba replied. “I can feel it— on the inside,” he hissed, and Din wasn’t sure if he was addressing him or you but it made a jolt of electricity shoot up his spine either way. You seemed to react strongly to that, too, although any verbal reaction was lost to him shoving his cock into your mouth one last time— yes, this time he had no intentions of stopping until he pumped his come right into your throat.

It was all happening so much faster than he intended, due in part to your moans shooting right down through his shaft to his balls, which grew tight with his impending release. He’d never felt anything like this— he hadn’t realized before that it would feel different when it wasn’t his hand. I mean, of course everything before the orgasm would feel different, but he imagined that the peak itself was the same. That assumption was beyond inaccurate— he’d never fucked his own hand the way he was fucking your throat, he’d never moaned the way you were making him moan now, he’d never tightened his fists like he was now, and even if he had, it wouldn’t have meant choking you and hearing all your cries come to a sudden halt.

Without your noises it was only the slapping of flesh and the occasional filtered breath through a helmet. He missed your moans, and yet he relished his power to take them away so suddenly.

He could feel the shape of his own cock through the thick skin of your throat, bulging into his hand, accentuated by your pulse just nearby. He could feel you fighting for air. He understood now why Boba had more fun with this than he did with hookers in cantinas— your helplessness was his power. Your weakness was his strength. And Din had never felt so strong.

He relaxed his grip to give you a chance to swallow as he came, pumping into your throat, grunting with each pulse of his cock filling your mouth.

Suddenly the sensation felt like it would become too much, forcing Din to pull his cock out of you and step back. At the same time, Fett stepped back too, which was odd because Din was pretty sure he hadn't finished: if he had, he was a lot more subtle about it than Din was.

“You want your turn, don’t you?” Boba addressed Din, making the latter feel awkwardly exposed.

“I thought this was my turn,” Din answered.

“With her pussy,” Boba clarified, and Din was sure that he had managed to blush hard enough that it was somehow visible through the helmet.

"And you?" Din asked, not wanting to impose.

"I'll be attending to… another matter," Boba explained with that audible smirk in his tone, and Din had a few ideas of what that could mean, all of which caused him to swallow thickly as Fett grabbed you and pulled you up to stand before unceremoniously dropping you to the floor. Din joined you there, not quite sure what he should be doing but figuring he should get on with it as the other man knelt down behind you.

Pulling you onto his lap, you spread your legs to straddle him in an unexpected show of submission which Din thoroughly appreciated. One arm held you up while the other grasped his cock, still hard and hopefully not too sensitive so he could actually do this— he could actually fuck you. It felt unreal; it felt beyond real, hyperreal as he started to slide his cock through the soaked and swollen intricacies of your sex. You must have come like Fett said you would, otherwise he couldn't imagine how you'd become so wet… he could even see it glistening on the inside of your thighs.

When he found the opening he was looking for, all Din had to do was lower you down onto him, gasping slightly as he watched and felt you sink down onto and around him, a little grunt coming out of you as your hips met his.

It was lucky that he’d already come once, in your mouth, because otherwise he would’ve lost it right then and there— you were so warm inside, soaked thoroughly such that his movements were smooth and easy as he instantly started to fuck you, groaning at how perfectly your body accepted him.

“Slow down,” Boba grunted, “I need to get in.”

You cried and shivered as the other man pushed into your available entrance, your head falling exhaustedly onto Din’s shoulder. He looked down at your face, then, and brushed your hair away so he could see it better, peeling strands from where they had been stuck to your forehead and neck by the thin layer of sweat that covered you. He wanted to comfort you, to promise that the pain would ease soon, but he couldn’t really think of anything to say; so, he just held you tight as he began to move within you again, and saw the other hunter do the same.

He made a conscious effort to not look at Boba’s cock, for fear of comparing it to his own. It was disturbing enough to be able to feel it, slightly, through the thin barrier your body provided. How inconceivable that Din had woken up a virgin and would fall asleep tonight with the memory of this lodged in his mind forever. In one day of sexual activity he’d gotten more done than many would in a lifetime, and yet he still lacked the most common things: love, passion, consent… perhaps someday he’d find those, even if it could never be from you.

Not worried anymore about an attempt to fight or flee, Din reached back and untied your wrists from each other, hoping he wouldn't get scolded for it by Fett who thankfully remained silent aside from his own restrained sounds of pleasure. You clung to him instantly, your freshly-freed hands clutching at his back, and he decided to interpret it as a token of affection even if he knew that was a bit of a stretch. If nothing else, maybe you recognized him as the lesser of two evils.

He opted to take credit for the way your moans were different from before; even in his wildest fantasies could he not convince himself that he was better at this than Boba was, but he could swing at the idea that you preferred him because you were meant for him. It was probably more outlandish, yes, but it was so easy to believe that you were made to be his when you felt so good around him. Din hadn’t even known anything could feel this good.

Something Boba had said earlier gained clearer meaning when Din felt your inner walls seize up and shift around him. Trying not to be too loud, he resorted to coping with the feeling by gripping your waist tightly. The idea that he could leave bruises on your skin excited him more than he would have anticipated (if, of course, he had anticipated any of this).

Another tug on your hair from Boba wrenched your head back. "Gonna come," he grunted at you lowly, "in this tight little ass. You want it?"

"Please," you whispered, not quite sounding enthusiastic but managing to give him whatever he was looking for, apparently, as another choked noise signalled his release. Your body reacted strongly to that, clenching down hard on Din's cock.

"You like it," Din posited. "I can feel it," he reminded you when you tried to deny it with a shake of your head, "from the inside."

Boba took his time pulling out, the most peculiar sensation that made Din shudder a bit. As tight as you were when you were full in that way, Din preferred having you to himself.

"I'll be in the fresher," Boba announced as he stood up and tucked himself back into his uniform, looking so composed in a way Din envied; he was sure, somehow, that he looked a complete mess even with the armor covering him. "I'll leave you to your fun. Don't take too long."

“I— I won’t last much longer,” Din stammered, wondering immediately if it was too much information.

“Not inside,” you begged suddenly.

Boba chuckled a little as he left, and Din wondered if it was what he said or what you said that made him laugh. The thought was forgotten as the hunter left, and he suddenly felt a wave of nerves wash over him— the way he always felt when he was alone with a pretty girl. Not that he'd ever been alone with a pretty girl quite like this.

Not sure what to say, he opted to just not say anything as he held you tight and bucked his hips up into you. You wouldn't let him off that easy, apparently, as you reiterated yourself: "You can't come inside, please don't—"

"This isn't a negotiation," Din reminded you firmly.

He was too close to imagine stopping now, anyway; the snug grip of your insides was too good to be ignored, his body was incapable of slowing down as he fucked you deeper and faster than ever. He noticed which angle of his hips made you moan loudest, hoping to feel you come around him just like Boba had.

“Come for me,” he instructed, hearing an impression of Fett in his own voice as he tried to come across as dominating, “I wanna feel it.”

You shivered a little, whimpering into the crook of his neck before he lifted you by the jaw to look at your face. You looked exhausted, eyes blown wide and dark, lips swollen and bitten red, hair tangled and unruly from being used essentially as reigns.

“Can you do that? Can you come?” he pressed, grinding his hips up into yours and watching you whine at the sensation of being filled so deeply. You nodded, but that wasn’t enough for him. “Say it.”

“Yes,” you answered, “I’ll— I’ll come.”

“Good,” he praised plainly, doing his best to hold himself back until he got his chance to feel you reach your peak.

Your head fell back as your hands weakly tugged at his shoulders, and Din hoped that tearing your tunic down the front to grope your breasts would speed things along for you. He hadn’t taken off his gloves, but even so he relished the weight of them in his palms, curiously pinching at a hardened nipple which made you flex around him again.

“Are you close,” he asked, losing that intonation of a question again, focusing instead on trying not to sound exasperated.

“Yes,” you hissed, “I’m gonna— fuck,” you interrupted yourself.

You were moving a bit on your own now, instead of him holding you still and letting you limply take it like a ragdoll— no, you were rocking your hips in time with him, pushing down against him. You wanted it, obviously, and Din was more than happy to give it to you. He slammed into you with each thrust, held you down so you couldn’t squirm, groaned when he felt your body pulse around him. A new surge of wetness gushed between your bodies, your broken cry echoed right against his ear— if this wasn’t a dead giveaway that you were coming, he wasn’t sure what was. Unable to hold back anymore as you sobbed and shivered on top of him, he finally released into you, everything building up so fast only to snap in a moment, an embarrassingly weak moan slipping from his lips.

He was sure he had never been so exhausted, but it was the most incredible feeling as well. A little tear fell down your cheek— from terror, maybe, or disgust, or even pleasure… he had no real way to tell.

As he began to catch his breath, he wondered if he should say something; and, if he should, what that would be. Thankfully, he felt the lurch of the ship leaving hyperspace— the weight of gravity sinking a little heavier as you slumped down on top of him.

He picked you up and set you down on the floor, standing as he delicately stuffed his cock back into his trousers. “Looks like he’ll bring you in soon,” Din mumbled, but you didn’t really seem to care much, just laying on the floor and staring into nothingness. He watched his seed leak out of you and onto the steel, making a mental note to clean that up later, hoping you weren’t too angry with him for disobeying your request that he finish elsewhere. “You’ll need a new tunic,” he noticed as he realized it was probably less than ideal to bring in a target who had been so obviously violated. “I’ll bring you something to cover yourself with,” he decided.

Heading for his sack to search for an old cape or blanket that you could wear, he passed by the cockpit where Boba was steering the ship.

“I’m keeping the reward,” Boba interjected suddenly without turning back to look towards him, making Din stop walking, “since I was generous enough to share the… fringe benefits.”

“Of course,” Din nodded, not having expected a share of the bounty in the first place since all he’d done was keep lookout during the actual hunt. He was ready to walk away, but Boba spoke again as he turned the captain’s chair and faced Din, finally.

“Did you do what she asked?” Boba pressed.

“What?” Din choked, taking a moment to remember what he was even talking about— when you asked him not to come inside, apparently. “Oh, um, no.” His face warmed beneath the beskar as Fett chuckled to himself.

“Good,” he nodded. “Never take commands from a target, or a whore.”

Din shuffled nervously but said nothing, considering he had no idea how to respond to that.

“Besides,” Boba continued as he turned back to the controls of the ship, “if she’s pregnant that’ll be the New Republic’s problem.”

Din figured he was free to go now, taking a moment to glance over Boba’s shoulder at the planet ahead before continuing ahead. His quest for a cloak for you was nearly forgotten as he tried to clear his mind of what Boba had said so casually. He needed a shower, desperately, but he didn’t have time before the ship landed— and Fett probably intended on making Din complete the transfer and bring the credits back, since the older hunter wasn’t exactly a friend of the Republic.

He ended up grabbing an old shirt of his, tossing it at you when he entered the room where he’d left you, finding you standing with your trousers pulled back up. Silently he wondered if you had made any effort to clean yourself of his come or if it was still there between your legs, but neither of you said a word as he put you in more formal shackles than the rags that Boba had tied you with originally.

The New Republic officer definitely reacted to your appearance when Din brought you forward, all but dragging you as he gripped your arm. “When’d she get so roughed up?” the young officer interrogated as he handed Din the credits he was owed.

“Found her like this,” Din shrugged.

He didn’t seem to buy it, with the way he scanned your form and raised an eyebrow, but he didn’t say anything else as he motioned for two guards to take you away. Din considered looking back but decided against it, returning to the ship and immediately surrendering the credits to their rightful owner in Boba.

“Next job’s on Dantooine,” Boba informed him gruffly as he piloted the ship out of the atmosphere. But Din wasn’t listening, instead watching your new prison shrink and disappear into a dot, hoping to find in himself the carelessness that Boba had already mastered. He had a thousand questions he wanted to ask his hunting partner— Is this how it always goes? Will it happen again? Do you really think she could be pregnant? — but he wouldn’t even consider speaking any of them aloud. It was almost funny that they had shared something so disturbingly intimate and Din still felt unable to be direct with him, although neither of them had the sense of humor to appreciate it.

“Thank you,” Din blurted out. “For teaching me about the job.”

“My pleasure,” Boba replied gruffly, and with a jump back into hyperspace, the ship was submerged once again into silence.

#dark!din djarin smut #dark!din djarin x reader #boba fett x reader #dark!boba fett x reader #god how tf do i tag this uhhhh #din djarin x boba fett x reader #din djarin x reader x boba fett #the mandalorian dark fic #hopefully that's enough

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shenanigans-and-imagines · 4 years ago

Note

Hello! Can I please request some headcanons about Thrawn x witty!smuggler!Reader dynamic. Something like Sherlock Holmes x Irene Adler, or wathever you think will be more accurate.

Okay, I actually have a lot of problems with fanon Irene Adler and her relationship with Sherlock Holmes. But I know what you're trying to get at so we'll look past it for now.

I'm actually going to base this on a little drabble I wrote a while ago.

Also, gentle reminder that I am not taking request right now, this is just me lowering my anxiety by clearing my drafts.

Thrawn's initial interest in you is strictly business

When he first met you, you were a smuggler along the outer rim, moving back and forth between then Republic space and the border of the Unknown Region

You had never smuggled anything out of the Unknown Region, which was the only reason why you had stayed out of a Chiss prison; he could have technically arrested you for bringing stolen property into Chiss space, but that would have meant making contact with the Republic which was, at that time, against the high council's interests

No, he had a better use for you in mind

You had left your ship idly waiting in the middle of nowhere, a rendezvous point far outside of any relevant system to the Republic and due to it's tricky navigation, perfect for smugglers

It was then a ship of unknown origin found its way into your hiding spot

You were questioned, you answered with the usual jargon of having run out of fuel, knowing that any ship who found your spot most likely didn't have fuel to spare making it necessary for them to fly back to the nearest system and stock up before finding you again to help

Unfortunately for you, the Captain in charge decided it would be more prudent that you come onto his ship and he escort you to the nearest hospitable planet

You have no choice but to comply

Your ships are connected and as the hatch opens, you get your first glimpse of an alien species you had only heard rumors of

Humanoid, tall, blue skin, with blue black hair and matched with a striking pair of glowing red eyes; Chiss

Every story you have ever heard runs through your mind as the Captain introduces himself, Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo of the Chiss Ascendancy

Never in your life had you longed to see a couple of Separatist battle droids

He took you on board, but as you walked down the halls, you couldn't help but notice the stares of his fellow crewmen; they weren't just suspicious of you, they were critical of their Captain; you weren't supposed to be on board

Mitth'raw'nuruodo quickly deduces your purpose in the area and you don't bother to deny it; clearly he's smarter than most official officer's you come across which leads to the obvious question, what does he want with you

You get your answer as another ship comes out of hyperspace and in a second open fire on you ship, aiming for your engine

You feel anger boil inside you; damn nerf herders were trying for a double cross

Thrawn then offers you a deal; you help him get information out of the smugglers and he won't arrest you

He is unaware of most of the dealings of the Republic and has only the most fundamental understanding of basic making it nearly impossible for him to properly understand his target

He has watched you come in and out of the region for some time and has deduced you to be a prime candidate for both teacher and informant

You're not sure whether to be honored or insulted, but he promises good pay and at the moment, revenge is as good a motivation as any

You help him catch the gang member and you are sent on your way

You begin to meet every few months at the edges of the Unknown Region

You tell him what you know of the republic and he helps other interested parties keep off your scent

At first your exchanges are only that of prudent information with the occasional crash course in expanding his vocabulary in Basic

Slowly, however, the information you exchange becomes more personal; you tell him about your family, or lack there of, he tells you about his brother and his frustration with the Acendency

You discover that he isn't even supposed to be meeting with you, but those higher up the food chain turn a blind eye due to his results

He tells you you're one of the most capable minds he's ever known and you know it's the highest compliment anyone could give you

And then one day, he disappears

You try to find him, but you don't even get so much as a whisper of his ship

You continue on, the Republic falls and the Empire rises; the only difference you feel is the look of credits

It was several years until you saw him again, dressed in the shining white of a Grand Admiral of the Empire

#thrawn #grand admiral thrawn #thrawn x reader #grand admiral thrawn x reader #star wars #star wars: rebels #the thrawn trilogy

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hockey-hoe-24-7 · 5 years ago

Text

Subtle, feat. Matthew Tkachuk

Warnings: Smut, Jealousy, Edging, Rough sex

Length: 3.1k

Inspiration: I was actually inspired by a line in @jasonmorgan96‘s Meet The Parents with Vince Dunn. I almost used Vince for this fic, but Matthew fit much better.

To say your boyfriend hated your neighbor was an understatement.

A major understatement

Like, a wow understatement.

But you couldn’t really blame him. They were exact opposites. While your apartment neighbor, Will, was clean and put together, Matthew was wild and untamed. Whereas Will had has hair clean cut and slicked back, Matthew let his curls run wild. Will strutted around in J. Crew and Banana Republic, Matthew lived in sweatpants and ath-leisure. The differences went on for ages.

But the biggest difference was that you were dating Matthew and not Will. And this was a difference Will seemed unwilling to accept.

See, you and Will were a lot alike: Academic, intellectual, scholarly types that didn’t take up a lot of room in front. Your boyfriend, on the other hand, was a loud, in your face, take up all the air in the room type of man. And you adored him for it. Your totally contrasting personalities fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. While you brought peace and serenity to his life, he brought intensity and fire to yours.

It was this intensity and fire you felt in your belly that Friday night, his fingers digging into your hips, his hips strong against yours, his teeth sharp on your throat. You giggled as you both stumbled into the elevator of your apartment building, his strength enough to keep you both from falling to the floor. Pulling his head up, you took his mouth in a kiss that quickly turned hot as he took control. The two of you collapsed back against the wall of the elevator, mouths still fused. It was when you felt his calloused hand pulling your floor-length dress up your thigh that you dragged yourself away.

“No, no, no. No, sir. We were late for the last event. We will not be late for this one.”

Matthew only hummed in feigned compliance as you wiggled out of his grip and leaned forward to press the lobby button on the control panel. You barely made the reach, as he still had his hands firmly on your hips, which were cradled back into his own.

“They’ll understand. Especially when they see you in this dress,” he purred against the shell of your ear. You rolled your eyes. “Of course they’ll understand. They’ll understand so well I’ll hear about it for the next two weeks.” You could practically hear Matthew beaming with pride behind you.

Before the elevator doors could close, a hand shot out from the hallway and they parted again. You immediately felt Matt stiffen behind you, his hands tightening on your hips as Will slid into the elevator, his eyes narrowed judgmentally. Since you believed in keeping peace with your neighbors, you cleared your throat and smiled cordially.

“Hi, Will.”

“Y/N. Where are you headed this evening?”

“Oh, the Flames are having an event.”

“Again?”

“Yes, they have quite a few.”

“How...humanitarian of them.”

Jesus.

A few months ago, Will would have been your type. But since you started dating someone as open and unashamed as Matthew, you could better see a guy like Will for what he really was: condescending, judgmental, entitled. He never missed a chance to remind you that he thought you could do “better.” Though he never said this in as many words.

You should come to this new cafe with me. I’m sure you’re long due for a stimulating conversation.

While I can’t push a puck around, I can read Shakespeare and Balzac.

No amount of money or fame can replace a college education.

Jackass.

You replied before Matthew got a chance. “Yes, I certainly like to think so. They love to give back. What are athletes without the people who support them? Oh, here’s the lobby. Have a good night, Will.”

Lacing your fingers through Matt’s, you all but dragged him out of the elevator toward the front door. He fell easily into step next to you, your fingers still laced together. “You should let me beat him up in the parking garage one day.”

You let out a very unladylike bark of a laugh and brought his hand up to kiss him on the knuckles. He responded with a kiss to the crown of your head and a not so subtle squeeze of your ass as you made your way to his waiting car.

By then end of the night, your boyfriend had you dying for him. Soft, teasing touches under the table, deep kisses snuck when no one was watching, and filthy words of promise whispered in your ear made you so on edge you were dragging him out the door by the end of the night. His hand rested dangerously high on your leg the entire ride back to your apartment, his fingers only just brushing the seam of your thigh. You fidgeted desperately, trying to pull his hand where you needed it, but he wouldn’t give in.

As soon as you were alone in the elevator he was on you, his hands shoving your dress up so he could grip your thighs and hoist you up between his body and the wall. You grunted when your back met the metal, but it was muffled by his mouth over yours. The kiss was deep and wild, everything you had been holding back the entire night. It was everything that was Matthew. The ding of the elevator at your floor had you pulling apart reluctantly. As you stumbled out of the elevator you ran right into Will rummaging through his satchel at the door to his apartment. He looked up, eyes narrowing at your unkempt appearances.

“Oh, hi, Will. How was your night?”

“It was good, thank you. Very productive. How was your night?”

“It was great.”

“Yes I can see that.”

Before you could reply, Matthew opened his big fat hockey mouth. “And it’s going to get a lot fuckin’ better. Good night, Billy.”

With that, he pulled your key out of your hand, deftly unlocked your door, and dragged you inside.

“Very subtle, Matthew,” you scolded him drily, hoping your voice relayed at least some displeasure at his childish behavior. Unfortunately, his hands at your waist and mouth at your neck were making it difficult to hold your ground.

“Wasn’t trying to be subtle, princess,” he murmured against your ear, his chest rumbling against your back as he squeezed your hips and guided you toward the bedroom. You groaned as his lips moved from your ear down your throat to nip at your shoulder. His hands were also roaming, skimming up your sides to tug at the back zipper of your dress.

“Actually,” he continued. “I don’t want to be subtle for the rest of the night.”

“Wha-”

You yelped as he twisted you around and shoved you not ungently onto your back on the bed. He was stunning as he towered over you, eyes hooded in the darkness of the room.

“I want you to be loud tonight. Can you do that for me?”

Unable to deny him anything, you wordlessly nodded, still speechless at the sheer sight of this man that was yours.

“Hmm, good girl.” With that, he dropped to his knees, hooked his arms beneath your legs, and dragged you to the side of the bed. Shoving your dress to your waist, he buried his face between your legs. The sudden heat and pressure of his mouth made you cry out and buck against the feel. Collapsing back, you arched into the touch. He hadn’t taken off your panties, and it was torture to feel the pressure of his tongue against you, but not inside of you.

Pleading his name, you shoved your hands through his curls, both pulling him closer and pushing him away as the pleasure built. When he finally pulled your panties aside and curled two fingers inside of you, his name was a sharp cry, your back arching off the bed. Just as you were about to tip over the edge, he pulled away.

“Not yet, princess. It will be so good when I let you come. So fucking good, baby.”

Whimpering, you reached for him, but he was shoving your hands away and grabbing at the neckline of your dress. He ripped it off in one quick motion, having unzipped it a few moments before. Your panties came with it and you were bare to his eyes. When you reached forward again, he let you make quick work of his own clothes, his hands just as urgent as yours as you tore open his shirt and shoved aside his dress pants.

As he stood naked before you, cock hard against his stomach, you couldn’t help yourself. Moving to the edge of the bed, you wrapped your arms around his waist and laid kiss after kiss over his chest, nipping here and there with your teeth, worshipping him. His hands were in your hair, pushing you closer as a loud moan of your name left his throat. You could imagine his face: head tipped back, tendons strong against his throat as his eyes fluttered shut and his mouth opened in pleasure.

You felt his cock twitch against the skin of your chest and his hand was suddenly at your neck and shoving you down onto the bed. You felt his grip on your throat trael between your legs and you nearly came, but his voice was pulling you away again.

“Not yet, baby. You come with me inside you.”

Before you could object, he was moving over you, a knee coming to the side of your head, the other coming up beneath your arm and under your shoulder. One of his hands had fisted his cock. “Suck me off, princess.”

You did as you were told, greedily accepting his cock in your mouth. He groaned long and loud, his body pitching forward until he had to catch himself with one hand against the bed. You ran your nails up his thighs to his hips, digging them in hard as you took him as far back as you could. This drew a long, strangled moan from his chest and you whimpered in need. His other hand went to the back of your head, digging a strong grip into your hair and forcing your head forward.

The pace was rough and desperate as he fucked into your mouth, his hips snapping forward until he was hitting the back of your throat at every stroke. You welcomed him every time, giving him complete control to take whatever pleasure he wanted from you. You could only hold on, let his hold on your head dominate every movement you made. Words of filthy encouragement dripped from his mouth and you opened your mouth wide as you felt his cock twitch.

But before he came down your throat, he was yanking your head back and pulling away yet again. You collapsed back onto the bed, gasping for breath. Before you could raise your head or even open your eyes, you felt the heat of his tongue lick a long path up your pussy. Groaning out his name, you thrust your hands through his hair in welcome. But he was gone again the next second, the strength of your hands incomparable to his.

“Do you have any idea how fucking gorgeous you are like this?” He purred against the mound of your pussy before laying a gentle kiss there. “So fucking wet and wrecked for me. God, such a slut for me.” You could only whimper in reply as he kissed his way slowly back up your body. Your pussy throbbed at the soft brush of his cock, but it was gone again in the next breath.

His next words were murmured against your throat. “Who does this to you, baby? Who makes you this fucking wet?”

It took a long moment to find them, but your words left you on a rush of breath. “You-you do, M-Mathew.”

He hummed in approval against your throat before taking your mouth in a rough tangle of a kiss. You groaned again and collapsed back against the bed, wrapping your legs tight around his hips. No matter what he did, how far he pushed you, the pleasure he dragged screaming from your body, his kiss felt like sanctuary every time. The two of you stayed like that for a long moment, relishing the warm intimacy of the kiss before he was flexing his hips and biting hard at your bottom lip. You yelped in pain, but then squealed in surprise when you were suddenly moving off the bed and through the air.

Your back met the headboard so hard you grunted. Matthew’s body was hot and hard against yours, pressing you back until you could feel the tension of his muscles with every deep breath you took. You leaned forward to kiss him again, but he clapped his hand over your throat and shoved you back against the headboard.

“Matt...”

His hand gripped your hip and lifted your body up slightly. You gasped against his mouth as he pushed just the tip of his cock into you. Your pussy clenched reflexively, but he was pulling out again to the sound of your strangled sob.

“What do you need, princess?” he growled against your lips. “Tell me what you need.”

“Matthew, please. I can’t-”

You yelped again as he slapped your ass hard. “Tell me.”

You struggled to find words as he pushed in slowly again, only slightly deeper than before. You both inhaled at the pleasure, bodies moving as one.

“You, Matthew. I need you. Please. Please-”

He pulled out again, but was quick to push back again, his own need reaching a breaking point.

“What do you need? Tell me exactly what you need, baby.”

“I need to come, Matthew. I need you to come inside of me. Please. Please.”

He chucked against your mouth, shameless in his knowledge of your desperation.

“Whatever you want, princess. But be loud for me. Scream my name fucking loud.”

As he pulled out and slammed in to the hilt, you did just that, screaming out louder than you ever had before. His hands flew up and one of them manacled your own wrists to the headboard, dragging your body up until you had to sacrifice all control. His other hand went to the top edge of the headboard and held on tight. With every thrust against you, he slammed the headboard back against the wall.

Let that little prick hear whose name you screamed. Let him hear every slam of that headboard until he couldn’t think of anything else when he so much as saw you.

Your orgasm was shattering when you finally came, more powerful than any you had had before in your life. Your body sagged in his grip, but Matthew wasn’t done. He pounded into you until he reached his own climax, pulling out and thrusting in so deep you could feel him in your throat.

When he let go of your hands and let his own body relax, you sagged against him, collapsing as you struggled to catch your breath. He held you gently, murmuring praise into your ear as he stroked your hair.

When you finally regained some composure, you laid a hot, wet kiss to his throat, a silent thank you for the pleasure. He groaned and tilted his head to the side in compliance. When you felt his cock twitch in renewed interest, you flexed tight around him.

HIs next words came only after a strangled groan. “Not yet, baby. You did so good for me. We’re going to rest a bit.”

Before you could argue, he wrapped an arm tight around your waist and moved you both to lay down with your heads against the pillows, his cock still inside you. Your bodies more than enough heat without the blankets, you snuggled into him and let out a small noise of content and drifted off to sleep.

He woke you up twice more that night, dragging you on top to ride him and then putting you on your knees, head shoved into the pillows as he pounded into you from behind. The next morning, you could barely move, grimacing as you pulled yourself into an upright position.

“You okay?” Matthew’s voice was tired and raspy. You looked down at him and your heart fluttered like a teenage girl’s. He was beautiful next to you, unashamedly naked and taking up every inch of air in the room. You also didn’t miss the glint of concern in his eyes. Not being able to help yourself, you leaned down and pecked him on the mouth. “Yes,” you reassured him. “But you need to feed me.”

He grinned against your mouth and pulled his own body up and out of bed. You couldn’t help but glare at his retreating form as he sauntered to the bathroom. He was used to throwing his body around like a wrecking ball. You were not. You were going to feel last night for at least a week.

As you began to get ready to go out for breakfast, you caught a glimpse of the wall behind your headboard. You squawked in anger and disbelief as you took in the state of your wall.

“Matthew!”

He poked his curly head out from the hallway, his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth.

“What?”

“Look at my wall! It’s fucking dented!”

The cocky bastard didn’t even try to look ashamed. He looked unbelievably proud of himself. “We did good, babe.”

Grabbing the closet object - an UGG slipper on the floor - you lobbed it at his head. Of course, he ducked back into the bathroom just in time.

“You’re paying my security deposit,” you hollered over your shoulder as you stomped to the other bathroom.

When the two of you made it out of your apartment, who should you run into but Will. Who did not look happy. He got one glimpse of the two of you and his jaw set in an angry, judgmental line.

“Good morning,” he greeted you frostily.

“Mornin’,” Matthew replied, a wide smirk on his face.

You felt your own face flush a deep red. God, the two of you had been loud last night. And Will lived in the apartment right next to your bedroom wall. If you were rough enough to dent the wall, you were loud enough to keep him awake.

As Matthew was about to say something else, the three of you turned your heads as a tiny old lady hobbled out of the apartment. You and Matthew both stood in stunned silence.

“This if my widowed grandmother,” Will explained with a tight voice and a frosty glare. “She stayed with me last night.”

You gaped and looked up at Matthew, who had turned a concerning shade of white.

The little old lady took you both in before her face broke out in a big brilliant smile. She reached out and patted your cheek. “Good for you, sweetheart!”

Subtle.

#Matthew Tkachuk #Matthew Tkachuk smut #Matthew Tkachuk imagine #nhl imagine #nhl smut #nhl fic #smut #imagine #my work #hockey-hoe-24-7

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reneeofthestars · 4 years ago

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Nerra Voa Numa

** I’m so excited to finally share the fic I wrote for “Found: A Clone Wars Zine”!! This was such an amazing project to be a part of, and I’m so thankful to the mods for allowing me to participate. **

***Leftover sales for the zine are currently open, so check out @foundaclonewarszine if you are interested in purchasing one of these amazing zines!***

Click “Keep Reading” to stay on Tumblr, or read it on AO3

* * *

The bustle of the spaceport felt oddly comforting. Boil squinted against the harsh Rylothian sunlight as he stepped off the hoverbus, letting himself be jostled along by the crowd. Food carts tempted him with sweet aromas, pilots called for cargo or passengers, engines roared and sputtered on the landing platforms, droids and beings alike called and beeped and whistled.

The debarkation processes for civilian freighters and transports were far less organized than those the Grand Army of the Republic had used, but it had a liveliness to it, an energy that reminded Boil of the anticipation that had filled him the first time he watched the oceans of Kamino shrink into a cloudy sphere before vanishing altogether in the blur of hyperspace.

He hadn’t felt that excitement in years. When the Imperial troops loaded into the cruisers – that is, the Star Destroyers – it was like watching some parody of Boil and his fellow soldiers. The clones set out under orders to drive back the mindless Separatist droids and defend the citizens, and their focus was palatable. The stormtroopers were commanded to instill order – even when there was no disorder to be found – and their energy felt…wrong.

Boil had worn the stormtrooper armor for years as he trained new recruits. He remembered how civilians had looked at the clone troopers when they came to the cities during the war – yes, there had been skepticism and dismissal; but there had also been relief, friendliness, appreciation. As a stormtrooper, he only felt positive emotions from a select few Core Worlds. Everywhere else, the civvies looked uneasy, mistrustful, even scared.

But he had been able to chalk those feelings up to the vast changes in the galaxy. The war had begun and ended so suddenly; residual turmoil was expected. He went on as he always had: a soldier following orders.

And he had fellow clones in the ranks that he spent time with. They mostly kept to themselves; the natural-born recruits viewed them as either superiors or inferiors. They had quietly complained about the degraded plastoid armor and inefficient helmets, reminisced old battles, spoken to each other like only brothers could. But one by one, they died in skirmishes with criminals, or were forced into retirement by their superiors, until Boil was the last clone at the Arkanis Imperial Academy. He’d never been without a brother before, and the loneliness had almost swallowed him whole.

He had known it was only a matter of time, but that hadn’t stopped the swooping sensation in his gut the day his supervisory officer told him to clear out his bunk and come to her office. He’d signed the discharge doc absently, writing his nickname without thinking. The officer had scowled and ordered him to resign it with his birth number.

And now, here he was: a clone on Ryloth with a limited credit supply, a bag of clothes, his old armor, and no idea what he was supposed to do now.

A passing Rodian caught his eye and frowned, like she was trying to figure out if she knew him. Boil ducked his head and hurried on, securing his headwrap closer to his face, trying to obscure it best he could. It had been ten years since the end of the war, and most civilians seemed to have already forgotten its existence. But there was still an impression that the clones were somehow responsible for the hardships of the war, which could lead to…problems. Boil ran a gloved hand over his face. Getting a job would be difficult.

Maybe he could be a mechanic. Or a mercenary. Or maybe a bodyguard. He’d have to find a place to buy a good blaster – the Empire hadn’t let him take his standard-issue blaster with him. Outside of war, he wasn’t sure what he could actually do. Maybe –

“Nerra.”

Boil froze. The voice was high and feminine, coming from somewhere off to his right. It was said quietly, almost absently, but it struck him to the core. He had a flash of a ghost town in a canyon, a small girl calling after him –

He spun around.

A young, teal-skinned Twi’lek woman was walking past, pushing a hovercrate brimming with electronic scrap. She wasn’t looking at him; she focused on the crowd in front of her, shooing away vendors that got too close.

Boil felt his breath catch, turning to tell Waxer – but no, Waxer had died years ago, what was he thinking?

He didn’t recall stepping forward. All he knew was tripping over his own feet as he hurried after her. “Ex – excuse me? Ma’am!”

She kept walking.

“Ma’am? Ma’am!” Why were his hands shaking? He stumbled to a stop. “Numa?”

She jerked to a halt, whipping around to face him, her head-tails swinging. Her eyes widened. “What did you say?” she demanded in heavily accented Basic.

“I – ” Boil faltered. “You called me ‘nerra’.”

The woman’s face flushed a darker teal. “It’s – it’s just an old habit. I didn’t mean to –”

“No, you – you called me ‘nerra’ when I was here. During the war. Me and Waxer.”

She fell silent. Her wide brown eyes were streaked with violet, taking in his face, his height, his orange-marked greaves visible just below his oversized poncho. Very quietly, she asked, “Boil?”

He laughed. It had been so long since anyone called him by his nickname. He wasn’t sure why it happened, but his knees gave out.

And then she was there, little Numa, alive and healthy, if still a little too thin, kneeling in front of him, her hands holding onto his shoulders as he shook.

“You’re alive,” he gasped. “I’m so glad – you’re alive. So many people died – so many we couldn’t save…”

“Shh.” She looked around, apprehensive. The crowd had parted for them, and Boil realized he was attracting stares. “Come with me. I’ll help you.”

“No, it’s – it’s alright,” he grunted, fighting to pull himself together. The last thing he wanted was a patrol of stormtroopers to see him like this. “I don’t know – what came over me. I just – I’m glad you’re alright, that’s all. I’ll be going –”

“No,” Numa said fiercely. “You helped me. You helped my people. It’s my turn to help you.”

Boil let Numa pull him to his feet, surprised by her strength. Wordlessly, he took the hovercrate from her. She hesitated before nodding slightly and leading him through the winding streets. He wiped his face with the cloth of the headwrap, embarrassed.

He followed her into the residential quarter, the chaos of the spaceport fading away behind them. It was a quiet area, save for the wind whistling through the rocks around them. The homes had been hewn into the stone; they were much better-kept than the village he and Waxer had found Numa in all those years ago. Adult Twi’leks chatted outside of homes as children chased each other. Several of them called out to Numa, throwing Boil curious looks. He kept his head bowed.

Finally, Numa had him park the hovercrate along the side of a particular building. She tossed a large rough blanket on top of it, camouflaging it with the stone. That caught his attention. He looked at Numa sharply, but she either didn’t notice or chose not to respond.

“Uncle Nilim!” she called, leading the way inside the house. The entry room opened into a sparsely decorated common area, with cushions and seats arranged around an outdated holoprojector.

An aging, blue-skinned Twi’lek man appeared from an interior room. It took him a moment to see Boil, then recoiled when he did. He held a frantic arm out to Numa, crying something in Ryl.

She said something very quickly in reply, her lekku twisting and gesturing, and Boil remembered a lesson on Kamino in his childhood; Twi’leks used their head-tails to communicate in tandem with their oral language. He’d never paid attention before. It was like the hand signals he’d used with other clones.

The man still looked skeptical; he skirted the edge of the room before approaching. He and Boil stared at each other for a long time before the Twi’lek finally gave a small nod. “You are older. But it is you.” He pronounced every word deliberately, with great care. He seemed to be practicing his Basic.

“And it’s you,” Boil responded, realization dawning on him. Numa had run to this man when Ghost Company had liberated her village. Boil had always assumed he was her father. But she called him ‘uncle’…

The man smiled. He placed a hand on his heart as he bowed his head. “Nilimb’ryl. Nilim Bril,” he introduced himself. “I am honored to finally meet you, Nerra.”

“My name is Boil. Uh, thank you,” Boil said hastily, bowing his head too.

Nilim gestured towards the common area, and Boil followed the two Twi’leks as they sat on some plump cushions. Boil mimicked them, grunting as he lowered himself to the seat. He was getting old.

“I told you we would meet again someday,” Numa said, beaming as she nudged her uncle. She looked to Boil, sitting forward eagerly on her cushion. “And where is the other? Waxer?”

The air rushed from Boil’s lungs. It never got any easier.

He didn’t need to say anything. Numa’s face fell. She extended an arm and touched his shoulder gently. “I’m so sorry.”

“He’d be glad you’re okay.” Boil forced a smile. “He always wondered if the war left you alone once we liberated the planet. It sounds ridiculous, cuz we only knew you for a day…but you left a big impact on him. On both of us.”

He set his pack down and reached inside. Nilim shrank away, reflexively grabbing his niece’s arm. “It’s alright,” Boil said quickly, holding up his hands. “I don’t have a blaster. I just want to show Numa something.” He didn’t move until Nilim nodded.

Boil moved his assorted belongings aside until his hand closed around his helmet. He hadn’t worn it since the war, but he’d been allowed to keep his armor, and the detail on the bucket was still intact. He stared at the visor, his reflection gazing back at him.

“When we found you, Waxer realized you might think we were droids, so he took his bucket off so’s not to scare you.”

“I did think that,” she admitted. “I remember being scared – I thought the droids were going to take me too. Then when I saw his face – ” she laughed. “I’d never actually met a Human before, so I wondered where his lekku were.”

“And when I took mine off, you pointed at us both and said ‘nerra’.” Boil was quiet for a moment. “He didn’t want to leave you behind. I did. If it had been up to me, I would have left you there, to continue my mission. Waxer was always a better man than me.” He hung his head, grip tight on the helmet.

“You’re a soldier,” Numa answered, her voice soft. “Sometimes you have to make hard calls. But you made the choice to help me. And you saved me. You saved all of us.”

Boil chuckled. “Heh. Well you saved us, too. Those two-legged insects would’ve eaten us if you hadn’t gotten us outta there.” He lifted the helmet from his pack and handed it to her.

She took it, her brow creasing as she examined the cartoonish figure painted on the side. Waxer had painstakingly added the decal to both their helmets.

Discomfort settled on him as Numa silently stared at the drawing of herself. “We both wanted to remember you,” he offered awkwardly. “When the war started, we knew we were fighting for the Republic, but it was just an idea. It’s not like we’d ever lived in it, or knew why it was better than the Separatists. But we saw what happened to the civilians caught in the middle. Waxer wanted us to remember who we were really fighting for. For you, and for people like you.”

Numa remained silent, her expression unreadable, her lekku still.

Nerves fluttered in Boil’s gut. He cleared his throat and tried to explain. “Our armor was the one thing that was our own. We never had possessions – we moved around too much, and it’s not like we had much shore leave. So, we clones started painting our armor to make it our own. Different colors for different companies, accents for battles, tally marks for fallen brothers… everyone was different.” He fiddled with the hem of his pack, waiting for a response that didn’t come. “It was the best way we had of honoring people. We always said our armor showed who we were, and who made us that way.”

Numa said nothing. Carefully, she set the helmet beside her. She stood abruptly and hurried from the room, refusing to look at him.

Something caught in Boil’s throat and he gulped, rocking forward on his cushion to stand, but Nilim laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Give her a moment,” he advised.

Boil slumped. “I’m sorry,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “I don’t even know why I’m here.”

“People end up where they need to be.”

What a strange thought. It reminded Boil of something a Jedi would say. A flash of – anger? shame? – shot through him before dissipating as quickly as it came. Keeping his voice low, Boil looked at Nilim. “Where are her parents?”

Nilim’s gaze drifted, his smile slipping away. “My brother and his wife were killed in the attack in Nabat. I have raised Numa since their passing.”

“I’m sorry,” Boil said. The only family he’d ever known were his brothers. He didn’t know what it felt like to have parents – or to lose them – but he imagined the pain was the same. A wave of guilt drove him to his feet. “I’d better get going. I’m only making things worse.”

The Twi’lek’s eyes widened, startled. “Numa will not want you to go. You are welcomed here.”

“I’m a clone,” he said gruffly. “I’m not welcomed anywhere.”

“Stay.”

Numa stood in the doorway, cradling something decorative. The whites of her eyes looked vaguely red, and her mouth was held in a thin line. She shifted from foot to foot, looking almost apprehensive.

“This is a Kalikori,” Numa said, holding the decorative piece reverently.

“It is a totem,” Nilim explained, “passed down the line of a Twi’lek family.”

“It honors all who have come before. It is our way of remembering our family.” She held it out to Boil, and he took it gingerly.

It was a long series of intricately carved figures, arranged in a T-shape with charms and carvings hanging from the points. Stone, wood, metal, and clay pieces were engraved with symbols and shapes. It was easy to see that great care had been put into creating it.

At the bottom of one of the strands were two small orange and white blocks joined by a teal rectangle with some sort of script chiseled into it. Boil’s mouth went dry, a prickling sensation springing up behind his eyes. “What does that say?”

“Nerra voa Numa,” she answered quietly, watching him closely. “Brothers and Sister.”

Tears spilled from his eyes as Boil held the Kalikori tightly to his chest. His shoulders shook and his breaths turned to gasps and sobs. He turned his face away, ashamed. He hadn’t cried like this since he’d learned of Waxer’s death.

Hands rested on both of his shoulders as he wept; one large and calloused, one slight and gentle.

“Boil.” Numa paused, taking a deep breath. “For the last ten years, every time I saw a clone, I would say ‘Nerra’, hoping that one of them would react to it the way you did. I’ve wanted to find you ever since you left. I don’t want you to leave again.”

“We added you to the Kalikori years ago,” Nilim murmured. “You have been a part of us all this time. You have a home here, if you wish.”

The words stuck in Boil’s throat. “I…I need to think on it.” He dashed a hand across his eyes, fighting to steady his breathing. He handed the Kalikori back to Numa, and she gently set it down.

“Of course.” Nilim squeezed his shoulder. “And while you think, I will be making lunch. You are hungry?”

“Thank you,” Boil said, successfully distracted by the idea of a home-cooked meal. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten anything that wasn’t rations or Imperial-regulated meals.

Nilim left the room. Boil and Numa sat in near-silence as Boil worked to control his breathing. The tears kept falling, but they were drying, which he was grateful for; Numa was watching. From the other room, he heard Nilim shuffling about, cookware scraping together as he worked. Once he trusted himself to speak, Boil pitched his voice low. “Numa, why did you hide those electronic components?”

She looked to him appraisingly, and suddenly she seemed much older, and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was no longer the frightened child that had trailed behind him all those years ago.

“Because beneath those electronic components are blasters for Syndulla’s resistance. The Free Ryloth Movement never truly dissipated. The war never ended here.”

Between them, the Kalikori and his helmet rested side-by-side. “I want to help you.”

She beamed, and before Boil could move, she’d thrown her arms around him tightly. He started in surprise before returning the hug.

When she drew back, her eyes were dancing. “I’ll message Cham and let him know you’re with us. Not a word to Uncle Nilim, though. He’s not on board with me being in the resistance yet.”

“I understand.”

“I’m glad you’re with us, brother. There’s much work to be done.”

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balkanballad · 4 years ago

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Eurovision 2021 ranking

hello, hello and welcome to my eurovision 2021 ranking. the songs are ranked with numbers but I also put them into categories (from 💐 to 🥀) and added a short comment. so, if you are interested in my personal opinion about the songs, have fun:

💐:

Switzerland: I was rooting for him last year and it’s the one returner in my top that didn’t disappoint me that much. what a start, huh? I love the song, I love the feeling it gives me when I listen to it, the clip is very pretty too. did I like his last entry better? yes, but I will say it already here at the very top of this list: I liked last year’s choices in general a lot more. nevertheless, this is a beautiful entry! and it is my personal winner this year

Australia: I loved her last song. It was there for me when I needed it. Technicolour does not touch me in that way but it is fun!! it’s catchy to me and I really like Montaigne. I adore her style and how she sings. I am excitingly looking forward to this performance :)

France: beautiful song, amazing singer, the national final performance was wonderful. however, I listened to it so much that back in March I already needed a break form it. now as I am finishing this it’s April and I can slowly listen to it again. it’s me though, it’s not her. that’s really a me problem. she’s wonderful and I love the French touch to this

Albania: a ballad from the Balkans <3 hello, of course I like it and I love that they kept it in Albanian this year. I heard similar songs before, but I like the sound of it still.and overall it’s a song that gives me familiar vibes in a cozy way with a bit of drama

Russia: interesting!! I was relived to see that Little Big didn’t return because, as I explained in my ranking for last year, I was not feeling them. absolutely nothing about them, but I love her! I think it’s catchy, it’s something different and I like the message she supports. it took me a few times to fully decide how I feel about the song, but now it’s in my top for sure

Denmark: fun! a fun song in Danish. I really like the good mood it puts me in. I even see this in the context of the Umbrella Academy or Stranger Things or something like that when they go to Europe to party a bit. I also really enjoy the old school vibe this has to it. I miss that vibe. I’m also a bit old school

Cyprus: I absolutely do not relate to anything said in this song but it’s catchy! it is a bit fuego and a bit replay but I liked those entries as well, so yeah fire. I have not heard a single live performance by her but I am not exactly sure that vocals will be the aspect that she will try to win votes with anyway. I am amused by the fact that apparently people were offended by this song when it clearly makes no sense whatsoever. it’s simply a bop, move on and dance a bit

🌺:

(8.) Greece: fun as well! a ‘dream team’ entry for sure. I say this a bit sarcastically, but they do well a lot of the times and I am lured in by a lot of their entries myself. Kontopoulos is a big name in the esc industry, it’s a fact. the song is a bit more mature than Superg!rl, which I also listened to more often that I thought I would. It still reminds me of a theme song for a superhero show for kids and I am a bit worried that the ‘dReAM TeAm’ is a bit too outdated for Stefania because I think she could have done something cooler than both of those songs

(9.) Sweden: it took me a few times listening to this song, but I like the song now. I don’t think it’s too special and “a million voices” reminds me of Polina immediately because those are her words for me, but this is a good song too. I like how it makes me feel empowered and like everything will be okay. thank you for that, Tusse, I need that

(10.) Israel: Eden deserved a better song. I like this song less than last year’s entry because I think it’s less interesting and I loved some instrumental parts from last year’s entry, but this is not bad either. I am rooting more for her than for the song, but I guess that’s this year’s motto for me. I also can’t say that I love the revamp because it made it sound even more generic for me

(11.) Belgium: I saw the promo pics for them and was very confused how different the singer looks this year, but it turns out that it’s not the same woman. I like this entry a lot better. I like her voice and I really like the vibe. It sounds a bit like it could play in the background of a classic American tv show when a character is going a bit through it and pouring a drink while it’s dark outside. I have the same problem that I mentioned already while talking about the French entry, but that’s still a me problem. I just need a break

(12.) Ireland: this entry is a lot less annoying to me than the song that she had last year. I like the lyrics and whole aesthetic of this one a lot more. it’s another one that I can’t listen to too often, but I still think it’s a very good choice imo

(13.) The Netherlands: Jeangu!! I think he for example will give a wonderful vocal performance. Growth felt way more personal to me, but that’s a repeating motive this year and also a me problem because obviously this is his song and he does it well

🌻:

(14.) San Marino: I’m still confused by this feature and I can’t really say that I’m ‘living’ for it, but I already made a post about how I don’t think she needed Flo Rida. minus the feature it’s a catchy party song, but it reminds me of one song that I simply can’t remember anymore. something that I heard from the Greek music industry, maybe even Eleni, if you know which one I mean, pls let me know

(15.) Estonia: just like last year: this song doesn’t make much sense and I don’t want to, but I still catch myself listening to it frequently... I am sorry, I can’t help it, but it puts me in a eurovision mood and yes, I am blaming Kontopoulos again. I am a weak person when it comes to his melodies

(16.) Ukraine: first I had it lower in my ranking, but I like SHUM better now and I like it a lot more now than last years entry. I really like the part when it gets faster, that’s really fun and makes me want to jump! jump! jump!

(17.) Spain: it’s a lot less repetitive than the last entry, but I would be lying if I said that I listen to this very often. it’s alright, not bad at all actually, but I just wasn’t in the mood for this (yet?)

(18.) Romania: this is for me still the same type of style as Bulgaria. European Billie Eilish type. last year I ranked her higher than Bulgaria as well, but they are pretty much the same to me. I can’t comment on whether I like her song less or more this year. it’s not bad either but I simply don’t think about it much

(19.) Bulgaria: I think I like this entry better than her last one. the message is cute, the melody too and yeah, but I don’t care about it too much

🌼:

(20.) Croatia: it’s a faster pop song without a real meaning. ground-breaking. the title makes me think of Ukraine 2014. which I like better, but we’ll see, maybe the performance will have something cool too. I will say though, I would have prefered the whole song to be in Croatian, it doesn’t make it much deeper, but I like that part the most

(21.) Malta: another faster pop song. I think she will give an amazing vocal performance and it will be cool and powerful, but the message and lyrics are a bit confusing to me. I am not the lyrics police, but I am confused by them a bit

(22.) Iceland: I think I like it better than last year’s song, but it’s still not LOVE that I feel for the song. I can listen to it though

(23.) Lithuania: it’s there. I am not a fan of them and it’s not a song I love too much, but I can listen to it

(24.) North Macedonia: sigh. I liked last year’s entry a lot and Vasil seems like someone who cares a lot about the contest, but I don’t feel this ballad. I think I know what they were going for and what it’s trying to be, dramatic and meaningful, but I don’t feel it that much. it’s okay? but it doesn’t do much for me

(25.) Czech Republic: this was a surprise because I think the overall quality of his entry got a lot better, this time though I have the problem that I do not like the lyrics. they don’t make me as uncomfortable as Germany last year but they are in that area of uhm, I don’t love the feeling this gives me

(26.) UK: hm :/ I can’t say that I’m a fan. this sounds like the type of song that the boring straight men in my area put in their tinder bio as their song, but it’s every third guy that says this is his song. those Calvin Harris remix type-ish songs and I am sooo bored. I swipe left because it’s no match, I delete tinder. breath was a lot more my thing and a lot more exciting and interesting

(27.) Poland: as soon as this stops, the exact same second, I forget everything about it. I don’t remember a single word, barely the title and singer and not the melody. what is this about? I can’t tell you. it’s not exactly bad, but it is so forgettable

(28.) Moldova: oh faster pop song? wow.. so.. original. I am starting to sound like those weird people that hate ballads. I don’t feel it and I don’t relate to it, but I also don’t hate it. the video though.. no thanks.

(29.) Italy: as so often: I see a lot of Italy fans on here and I can’t relate. it’s not for me, but it’s there and I can listen to it when I can’t reach the skip button for some reason

(30.) Austria: hm. Austria and Slovenia are going there. this is the better Amen song for me, but I don’t love it. it’s better than what Ana is trying to sell even though it’s super repetitive

🥀:

(31.) Serbia: I can’t tell you if it’s worse than last year but it’s less catchy. the lyrics are still bad. actually, maybe I am the lyrics police

(32.) Finland: this not my genre and I don’t really listen to it

(33.) Slovenia: nop. not for me in any way. I already said last year that I don’t like her voice and it didn’t change but now I also don’t love the message or weird vibe of this entry. I had it even lower, but I can’t push it up more. this is as high as I can rank it

(34.) Norway: I don’t like it. I don’t like the lyrics or melody or performance that was in the nf actually. I have a hard time understanding the concept even with the explanation it makes no sense to me

(35.) Portugal: I don’t like it. a lot of the parts of the melody are really not for me and borderline annoying, but definitely boring

(36.) Georgia: it’s boring. the last entry was at least something interesting, but this one is boring, which makes me a bit sad because his voice sounds and he seems like the guy that could make something cooler. I know I am not the person that can judge rock because I don’t listen to it too much, but I feel like he could have done something cooler and ‘rock’ it more

(37.) Latvia: again: I can’t even say if it’s worse or better than last year. maybe a bit better actually but, just as last time, I can’t listen to this. it annoys me and gives me a bit of a headache. I don’t think her style and voice is for me

(38.) Germany: I wouldn’t necessarily call it hate that I feel when I have to listen to this, even though that’s a funny play with the words of this title, but I definitely feel very annoyed by this song, so I simply don’t listen to it

(39.) Azerbaijan: the song sounds just like the last one, which I had placed on the 14. place in my own 2020 ranking, however, I can’t bring myself to support someone who posts war propaganda on their socials. it’s eurovision and about the songs, I know, but this is my blog and my ranking. so it’s a no for me this time and my last place in this ranking

#j. talks #eurovision #tell me anything if you want <3

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corona-extra-newsletter · 5 years ago

Text

3/15/20 corona extra: cracking open cold covid facts

Announcements & Thank Yous

“About This Newsletter” has been moved to the bottom so it’s easier to skip if you’ve seen the other ones.

Some institutions do not update on Sundays. I have included the date of everything that is in question. That is also why this update is early :)

Thank you to @hysterical-random-things for letting me know about the first death in NYC and where to find that news, to @nanook2000 for information and links about KY’s response, and to @akashicsage for all of the good deets on San Diego county. If you have reliable information from a good source that I don’t seem to have, please shoot me a message/ask/pigeon!

Places now included in the newsletter are: Utah, Oregon, Washington, the Netherlands, Minnesota, Kentucky, Georgia, Nebraska, the UK, and possibly some others I missed here but included in the newsletter. Please send an ask or a message if you would like a place included!

A word on mortality rates: they look very high in some places in the US right now because testing is limited to the sickest patients. People who have mild illness and are well enough to go or stay home may not have been tested until very recently when several states started mass testing/drive through testing. Testing is still limited in a lot of states, so this will be a rolling increase situation, I anticipate.

A word on case numbers: due to the aforementioned expansion of testing capacity in the US (thank fuck), case numbers are gonna grow in a really, really scary-looking way this week. This is not actually as scary as it seems, because it means we are catching more of the cases that would have gone unnoticed and have better information to help more people.

Just The Numbers

Case numbers

Total cases: 153,517 (10,982 new)

Total deaths: 5,735 (343 new)

China: 81,048 cases (27 new!!), 3204 deaths (10 new)

This gives us a mortality rate of ~3.95%

Excluding China: 72,469 cases (10,955 new), 2531 deaths (333 new)

143 countries/territories reporting cases, 9 are new today including:

Kazakhstan: 6 cases

Curacao: 2 cases

Namibia: 2 cases

Central African Republic: 1 case

Congo: 1 case

Equatorial Guinea: 1 case

Eswatini: 1 case

Mauritania: 1 case

Mayotte: 1 case

Italy is reporting over 20,000 cases with over 1400 deaths

Iran is reporting over 10,000 cases with over 700 deaths

South Korea, Spain, and Germany are reporting over 5,000 cases

SK reports 75 deaths

Spain reports 289 deaths

Germany reports 11 deaths

International/General News

Many places experiencing a worsening epidemic are following the lead of countries including South Korea and instituting drive-through testing and high-throughput testing. Some tests (like the ones being used in Vietnam) can have a result in as soon as an hour, enabling people to be quickly cleared or quarantined. (This is super cool science! Yay, science!)

Johns Hopkins University is putting on a webinar on Tuesday, 3/17. If you are interested, you can sign up/check it out here: https://www.jhsph.edu/events/2020/covid-19/

South Korea’s epidemic is currently being driven by a fringe religious group, which represents approximately 60% of all cases.

Italy’s health system is overwhelmed, which is likely why their case-fatality rate is so high. Doctors, nurses, respiratory techs, first responders, lab personnel, and everyone else involved in hospitals/health care are working their butts off and doing some frankly heroic shit to help people.

Singapore has instituted strict travel restrictions on visitors/transiting people from European countries, including Italy, France, Spain, and Germany; this is in addition to restrictions on visitors from Iran, China, and South Korea.

Some doctors from Washington state, USA (the ones seeing the most cases) are noticing that myocarditis (viral infection & inflammation of the heart) seems to be what kills patients, not the ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) that requires ventilation. This is obviously in early stages and more research is ongoing.

The World Health Organization is setting up three hospitals with advanced respiratory care capabilities in Erbil, Baghdad, and Basra, Iraq.

Virology Corner

Today’s topic: where did SARS-CoV-2 come from?

SARS-CoV-2 is what’s known as a zoonotic virus. This means that it spread from animals to humans, and then gained the ability (through mutations) to pass from human to human.

We think that SARS-CoV-2 came from bats (Rhinopholus) or pangolins- which doesn’t mean we need to blame bats or pangolins for this, they’re innocent bystanders in the game of cat-and-mouse viruses and animals are constantly playing over evolutionary timescales. Also they’re pretty ding dang cute.

(Not to get much more depressing, but here goes, as humans encroach on more and more land and as climate change progresses, more zoonoses will affect humans. Sorry to be a mega-bummer.)

Question Tuesday

Today’s question comes from @adventurecalls! They ask (paraphrased because the ask got eaten): “If I do get sick, how do I know when it’s ok to go back to doing stuff?”

This is a really good question, and one that’s rapidly being worked out by public health people as we speak (whoa)!

In general, the thought is that once you’re totally recovered you’re not able to spread the virus, but there’s not concrete data on this. The best we have is this recent study in the Lancet (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30566-3/fulltext) which indicates that people who recover shed virus for 20 days from symptom onset, whereas those who die shed virus continuously until their death, a maximum course of 37 days.

I obviously can’t give individual medical advice, which this is not, but the guidance from the WHO is excellent in general, and I will keep readers posted when there’s more information.

If you have questions, ask them and they’ll appear here in the next issue of corona extra!

Regional News (if you want somewhere added just let me know. Don’t be shy!! I highly recommend you just skip to your area if you don’t wanna be overwhelmed.)

Canada: last updated 9:00 AM EST 3/15/20

Total cases: 249 confirmed (+5), 4 presumed (-1), 1 death (3/9/20, no change)

All current cases had symptoms starting between 1/17/20 and 3/9/20

One of these cases is the PM’s wife (mild case); the couple are in quarantine for 14 days now. This is not expected to affect Canada’s management, but is definitely a reminder that being a political leader does not grant one immunity to COVID-19.

12% of cases have required hospitalization

79% of cases are in travellers, and a further 8% in their close contacts

Affected provinces include (both confirmed and presumptive cases): BC (73, +0), Alberta (39, -2), Saskatchewan (2, +0), Manitoba (4, +0), Ontario (103, +2), Quebec (24, +3), Newfoundland and Labrador (1) New Brunswick (2, +0), and PEI (1).

Newly affected provinces include: Newfoundland and Labrador

4 cases in repatriated travellers

The Netherlands

I do not speak Dutch so please correct me if I’ve fucked something up royally

1135 confirmed cases, 20 deaths

176 new cases, 8 new deaths

Provinces (?) affected include: Drenthe (15), Flevoland (19), Friesland (10), Gelderland (100), Groningen (9), Limburg (129), North Brabant (446), North Holland (90), Overijssel (28), Utrecht (109), South Holland (110), and Zeeland (12).

I think this is all of them based on a quick Wikipedia investigation?

Interestingly they tested a bunch of people who work in a hospital and found a pretty high (4%) rate of asymptomatic infection. This seems like bad news (are these people spreading, etc) but it’s actually pretty good news because it means the mortality rate is lower than we think. I’ll update here as I find out more, which is hampered by my inability to speak Dutch.

New Zealand

8 confirmed cases, 2 probable cases

2 new cases, one of which was diagnosed in Australia

Both patients were on international flights and there is extensive contact tracing underway

2 patients have required hospitalization but both have been discharged

6700 people have completed self-isolation, 3015 people continue to be isolated

These people all deserve a medal, thank you for protecting your communities!

Golden Princess cruise berthed in Akaroa has one confirmed and two potential cases. The ship is quarantined now.

Norway

1077 cases, 166 of which are new

I still don’t speak Norwegian so if I screwed up lemme know

Only 1 confirmed death, possibly one more to be confirmed 3/16 but only official numbers go here

Also possible that it’s been confirmed and I don’t know because I don’t speak Norwegian

287 cases are due to community transmission, 710 acquired outside of Norway, the rest are undetermined

Locations where people became infected include Austria (491), Italy (144), Switzerland (14), UK (12), Spain (9), France (8), USA (7), Iran (5), China (1), Hong Kong (1), other countries with more than 3 cases (80), and other countries with less than 3 cases (20).

Breakdown of cases by area: Agder (55, +3), Innlandet (72, +16), Møre og Romsdal (20, +4), Nordland (8, +0), Oslo (281, +59), Rogaland (127, +9), Troms og Finnmark (20, +4), Trøndelag (50, +4), Vestfold og Telemark (48, +9), Vestland (118, +9), and Viken (278, +47)

Good job Nordland! No new cases today! :D

United Kingdom in general: this is pretty rough because apparently the public health strategy coming from Boris is “herd immunity” aka let everyone get sick and then they’ll all be immune, since the only other way to get herd immunity is a vaccine that…..we don’t have yet. Boris does not understand how to medicine.

Fuck you, Boris.

1372 total cases (+20%), 232 are new today

35 total deaths, 14 new today

England

1099 total cases

Affected NHS regions are as follows: London (407), South East (175), Midlands (94), North East and Yorkshire (91), North West (76), East of England (71), and South West (61).

Deaths are not being reported by the PHS but I will do my best to split these out in the next few editions using news reports etc

Scotland

153 cases total and 1 death

Affected health boards are as follows: Ayrshire and Arran (6), Borders (7), Fife (7), Forth Valley (10), Grampian (12), Greater Glasgow and Clyde (39), Highland (2), Lanarkshire (16), Lothian (28), Shetland (11), and Tayside (15).

I don’t know if this is all of the health boards in Scotland but it sure is the ones that have confirmed covid19.

Wales

94 cases, 34 new

Welsh authorities are now recommending that anyone who develops a persistent cough and/or fever self-isolate, and only call 111 if they are unable to cope with their symptoms at home

Affected areas include: Blaenau Gwent County (3, +2), Bridgend County (1, +0), Caerphilly County (11, +4), Carmarthenshire County (7, +3), City & County of Swansea (18, +4), City of Cardiff (8, +3), Conwy County (1, +0), Flintshire County (1, +0), Isle of Anglesey (1, +0), Monmouthshire County (5, +1), Neath Port Talbot (11, +0), Newport City (5, +3), Pembrokeshire (2, +0), Powys County (5, +0), and Wrexham County (1, +0).

Newly affected areas include: Ceredigion County (1), Rhondda Cynon Taf County (2), Torfaen County (2), and Vale of Glamorgan (1).

Northern Ireland

45 cases, 11 new

This is all the data I have, sorry

This may actually be a thing that makes northern/southern Ireland cooperate, which is a small spark of hope in the raging dumpster fire that is this pandemic (I hyperbolize, but only slightly)

US in general: All this info is from the state & county health departments unless I say otherwise. The national response is a trash fire (but maybe hopefully improving this week??) CDC information is updated weekdays; total US cases are from 3/13 at 4 PM

1629 total cases, 41 deaths (2.5% mortality rate), with 46 states and DC reporting cases.

CDC is now recommending all in person gatherings with more than 50 people be canceled for the next 8 weeks. This sucks for me personally and probably a lot of you all too. Hang in there.

California: updated around 10 AM PST, 3/15/20

The state dept of health is not providing a ton of info right now, so all of this is coming from county health departments, which are doing really excellent work btw. Love local public health departments <3

My official take is that the higher level government orgs in the US are muzzled from above and therefore totally shitting the bed and the county-level public health officials are really stepping up to the plate

Total cases not including the ones at Miramar (discussed below): 363, with 4 total deaths

Affected counties include: Alameda (7), Calaveras (2), Contra Costa (29), Fresno (2), Humboldt (1 - recovered), Imperial (2), Los Angeles (53, +11), Madera (1), Marin (5), Orange (14), Placer (8), Riverside (10), Sacramento (29) San Benito (3 - 2 recovered), San Diego (8), San Francisco (28), San Joaquin (8), San Luis Obispo (1), San Mateo (32), Santa Clara (91), Santa Cruz (7), Shasta (1), Solano (6), Sonoma (4), Stanislaus (2), Tulare (2), Ventura (5), Yolo (2)

San Diego: My numbers are not gonna include the federal quarantine situations at Miramar (for repatriated people and the Diamond Princess passengers) because that’s what makes sense right now regarding community transmission. If this changes I will say so.

Unaffected counties include: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Plumas, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yuba

Counties with confirmed community transmission include: Los Angeles, Marin, Orange, Riverside, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Sonoma

Newly affected counties include San Luis Obispo (3/14)

Colorado - last updated 3/14 at 3 PM

Colorado Springs Bridge Center is under an advisory for possible exposure

Drive-up testing is available now, in Denver and Lowry and possibly other places

1 death, 3/13/20, in El Paso County, a female in her 80s

Community spread has been confirmed

101 confirmed cases, 1 death

Affected counties include: Adams (6), Arapahoe (10), Denver (20), Douglas (4), Eagle (18), El Paso (3), Gunnison (6), Jefferson (9), Larimer (1), Mesa (1), Pitkin (2), Pueblo (1), Summit (2), Weld (3)

Out of state visitors who have tested positive are tallied separately. They are located in the following counties: Pitkin (9), Eagle (2), Routt (1), Denver (1), unknown (2 - wtf??)

Florida - last updated 145 AM EST 3/15/20

115 (+45) cases and 4 deaths (+0)

Florida has not yet confirmed community transmission but it’s almost certainly happening. I’m no longer separating counties with and without confirmed community transmission because of that.

Also, the numbers by county do not add up to the same total because locations are updated less frequently by FLDPH than the total number of cases.

Affected counties include: Alachua (1, +0), Broward (36, +16), Charlotte (1, +0), Clay (3, +2), Collier (5, +2), Duval (4, +3), Hillsborough (4, +2), Lee (5, +1), Manatee (4, +0), Miami-Dade (13, +5), Nassau (1, +0) Okaloosa (1, +0), Orange (2, +1), Osceola (1), Palm Beach (5, +0), Pasco (2, +1) Pinellas (2, +0), Santa Rosa (1, +0), Sarasota (1, +0) Seminole (1, +0), Volusia (5, +1)

Newly affected counties include: Citrus (1), St. John’s (1)

Port Everglades is under an advisory due to several cases connected to a cruise company based there.

Georgia: last updated 3/15 at 11:43 AM

Y’ALL THEY MADE A HASHTAG. I am NOT making this up. It’s #covid19ga if you want to use that, I guess???

99 cases, 1 death

Affected counties include: Bartow (9), Charlton (1), Cherokee (6), Clayton (2), Clarke (2), Cobb (19), Coweta (2), Dekalb (10), Dougherty (6), Fayette (5), Floyd (4), Fulton (20), Gordon (2), Gwinnett (4), Henry (1), Lowndes (2), Lee (2), Newton (1), and Polk (1).

Illinois: last updated 3/14/20

64 confirmed cases, 16 new, with confirmed community spread

New cases: Chicago (7), Cook not Chicago (4), Kane (1), Lake (1)

195 pending persons under investigation

Affected counties include Cook, Kane, McHenry

Newly affected counties include: Woodford (1), Cumberland (1), St. Clair (2), DuPage (1, first long-term care facility case)

Iowa: last updated 3/14/20

Total cases: 18, 1 new 3/14

Affected counties include: Carroll (1), Dallas (1), Harrison (1), Johnson (14), and Pottawattamie (1)

Community spread confirmed on 3/14/2020

Kansas: last updated 3/14/20

8 confirmed cases

Affected counties include: Johnson (5), Wyandotte (1), Butler (1), Franklin (1)

Kentucky: last updated 3/14 at 6 pm local time

18 confirmed cases

2 new cases, both in Fayette County

One patient in Nelson County tested positive but left the hospital and refused to quarantine himself. Don’t be like this guy. Please. I’m expecting a lot more cases to pop up in Nelson county over the next couple weeks all connected to this one patient.

Apparently there’s now a bunch of cops sitting outside his house to make sure he stays there. Ffs.

Affected counties include: Harrison (6), Fayette (7), Jefferson (3 or 4, possible repeat test), Bourbon (1), Nelson (1), and Montgomery (1)

Governor is recommending hospitals stop elective procedures and childcare centers plan for closure by 3/17/20. Also put in place a bunch of important protections for people who don’t have insurance and stuff. Good job, KY!

First patient has fully recovered! Yay!

Louisiana: last updated 9:30 am 3/15/20

91 cases reported, 14 new

2 deaths, 1 new

Parishes affected: Jefferson (12, +1), Lafourche (1, +0), Orleans (65, +12), St. Charles (2, +0), St. John the Baptist (1, +0), St. Tammany (4, +2), and Terrebonne (2, +1)

New parishes affected: Bossier (1), Caddo (1), St. Bernard (1)

Massachusetts: last updated 4 pm 3/14/20

138 cases (19 lab confirmed, 119 presumptive positives)

1 new lab confirmed case, 14 new presumptive positives

1083 people in quarantine

Affected counties include: Berkshire (9, 0% change), Essex (5, +150%), Middlesex (65, +8%), Norfolk (28, +16%), Suffolk (27, +3%), and Worcester (2, 0% change)

Newly affected counties include: Barnstable (1) and Bristol (1)

5 cases travel related, 104 (+10%) in one community transmission cluster, others unknown

11 hospitalized, 105 not hospitalized, the rest pending (22)

1 new hospitalization

Michigan: last updated 3/14/20 in the evening

33 cases, 8 new, 0 deaths

Affected counties include: Bay (1), Charlevoix (1), Ingham (1), Kent (3), Macomb (2), Monroe (1), Montcalm (1), Oakland (9), St. Clair (1), Wayne (8), and Washtenaw (4)

Likely community transmission

Minnesota: last updated 3/15

35 cases, community transmission confirmed

Affected counties include: Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Olmstead, Ramsey, Renville, Stearns, Waseca, Washington, and Wright

County numbers are not currently being provided by MN dept of health, just ranges. Hennepin and Ramsey counties have 6-20 cases each.

Hopefully they’ll pull an Ohio and help a girl out soon

Drive through testing available in Olivia

Nebraska: last updated 3/15

Community transmission confirmed: many locations in Douglas County are potential places where transmission has occurred; if you live or have traveled to Douglas County (Omaha), please check the Douglas County COVID-19 monitoring site.

There were also two exposures in Knox County on March 5, at basketball games at Lincoln Southwest HS and North Star HS.

17 cases, no deaths

Affected counties include: Cass (1), Douglas (15) and Knox (1)

New Jersey : last updated 3/14 at 2 pm

69 cases (+38%), 1 death (none new)

Affected counties include: Bergen (25, +47%), Burlington (3, no change), Camden (2, +1), Essex (7, +1), Hudson (5, +2), Middlesex (10, +6), Monmouth (8, +1), Morris (3, no change), Ocean (1, no change), Passaic (2, -1 apparently?), Somerset (1, no change), and Union (1, no change)

Newly affected counties include: Mercer (1)

I dread updating NJ just because the website sucks so bad

Thank you to the commenter who noted that the help line apparently rules and they’ve been advertising it heavily, that’s awesome public health work by NJ!

So that’s a bright spot, eh?

New York: last updated 3/14 at 8 PM

613 cases, 192 new, 1 new death

Affected counties include: Westchester (178, +12%), Nassau (79, +54%), Suffolk (41, +13), Rockland (12, +3), Ulster (5, +0), Dutchess (4, +1), Orange (6, +3), Saratoga (3), Albany (5, +3), Broom (1, +0), Delaware (1, +0), Herkimer (1, +0), Monroe (2, +1), and Schenectady (1, +0).

NYC has 269 cases (+75%) as of 3/15 at noon

Newly affected counties include: Erie (3), Tioga (1), and Tompkins (1)

Drive through testing in New Rochelle and Long Island

All public places are closed in New Rochelle through March 25.

Ohio: last updated 3/15 at 2 pm

36 confirmed cases, 10 new

350 people under investigation

Affected counties include: Belmont (2), Butler (6), Cuyahoga (14), Franklin (3), Lorain (2), Lucas (1), Medina (1), Stark (2), Summit (2), Trumbull (2), Tuscarawas (1)

THEY STARTED GIVING COUNTY BY COUNTY INFO, PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Oregon: last updated 3/14 at 11:00 AM

36 cases, 13 hospitalized at time of positive test, 1 death (3/14)

The following counties are affected: Clackamas (1), Deschutes (3), Douglas (1), Jackson (2), Klamath (1), Linn (9), Marion (2), Multnomah (1), Polk (1), Umatilla (2), and Washington (13).

Pennsylvania: last updated 3/15 at noon

Gritty is now loose and is singlehandedly responsible for all cases in Philadelphia, if you see the orange monster, RUN

63 total cases, 16 new today

No deaths, Gritty is thankfully failing in his mission to murder

Counties affected include: Allegheny (3, +1) Bucks (4, +1), Chester (2, +0), Cumberland (5, +2), Delaware (7, +1), Monroe (6, +3), Montgomery (24, +4), Northampton (1, +0), Philadelphia (6, +2), Pike (1, +0), Washington (1, +0), Wayne (1, +0)

Newly affected counties include: Lehigh (1) and Luzerne (1)

446 people under investigation pending test results

Rhode Island: last updated 3/13/20

~500 people in quarantine for close contact situations

57 pending people under investigation

20 confirmed cases, no deaths

Next expected update 3/16 in the AM

South Dakota: last updated 3/15

9 confirmed cases, no new cases since 3/14

6 pending cases under investigation

Affected counties include: Beadle (1), Bon Homme (1), Charles Mix (1), Davison (1), McCook (1), Minnehaha (3), and Pennington (1)

No community transmission

Texas: last updated 3/15

56 total cases, 5 new.

Highly likely that there has been community transmission, unconfirmed currently

Affected counties include: Bell (1, +0), Bexar (3, +2), Brazoria (2, +0), Collin (6, +1), Dallas (8, +0), El Paso (1, +0), Fort Bend (9, +0), Galveston (1, +0), Gregg (1, +0), Harris (10, +0), Hays (1, +0), Lavaca (1, +0), Montgomery (3, +0), Smith (4, +1), Tarrant (3, +0), and Travis (1, +0)

Newly affected counties include: Matagorda (1)

The Texas DPH has corrected a tabulation error that affected Gregg and Travis counties.

Utah: last updated 3/15

21 total cases, 14 cases in Utah residents

Affected health districts include: Davis County (3), Salt Lake county (14), Southwest Utah (1), Summit County (2), and Weber-Morgan (1)

The Utah Jazz managed to get more testing than the rest of the country for awhile there, so that’s great for them

Whoever does your graphic design, *greatjob* (the little virus instead of the UDPH logo is CHOICE)

Also, the website is super useful and readable, 10/10 good job Utah

First case of community spread identified on 3/14/20, in Summit County

Schools and universities are closed starting 3/16/20, Mormonism is closed until further notice, and skiing is canceled in Park City and Cottonwood Canyon for a minimum of a week. If you are interested in skiing in Utah, check Ski Utah for a list of closures.

Virginia: last updated 3/15

45 cases total, 4 new

Affected counties/cities include: Arlington (8, +1), Chesterfield (1, +0), Fairfax (10, +0) James City (8, +1), Loudoun (5, +0), Virginia Beach City (4, +1), Prince William (3, +1), Spotsylvania (1, +0), Prince Edward (1, +0), Hanover (1, +0), Harrisonburg City (1, +0), and Alexandria City (1, +0)

No newly affected areas today.

Washington: last updated 3/14 at 2:45 PM

Godspeed, y’all are having a real rough time right now. Yipes. Washington is really hard hit right now, especially King County. Look to Washington State and how they’re coping for a preview of how things are gonna go as the cases develop elsewhere.

642 total cases, 40 deaths (6.2% mortality)

Affected counties include: Clark (3), Columbia (1), Grant (2), Grays Harbor (1), Island (6), Jefferson (1), King (387), Kitsap (3), Kittitas (3), Pierce (26), Skagit (4), Snohomish (154), Spokane (3), Thurston (3), Whatcom (2), and Yakima (4).

39 cases are currently unassigned to a county. These are expected to resolve in the coming days, hopefully.

Deaths have occurred in the following counties: Grant (1), King (35), Snohomish (4),

Wisconsin: last updated 3/15 at 2 PM

33 total cases (6 new), 1 recovered, 0 deaths

Affected counties include: Dane (6, +0), Fond du Lac (11, +5), Milwaukee (7, +1), Pierce (1, +0), Racine (1, +0), Sheboygan (3, +0), Waukesha (3, +0), and Winnebago (1, +0)

Today’s Hot Tips

Make sure you have ibuprofen and tylenol/acetaminophen/APAP/paracetamol at home before you get sick. This isn’t just covid advice, this is life advice in general. (Obvs, ask your doctor about what’s safe to take if you have chronic health conditions etc but this is a general recommendation, not medical advice. As I said, life advice.)

As far as I know, ibuprofen and tylenol are ok, but research may change this. Current research indicates that steroids, which are used in other severe respiratory conditions, may make COVID-19 associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) worse. More on this later.

It still can’t hurt to have some tylenol around, though, ya know?

Hand Washing Song of the Day

If you hate singing happy birthday while you wash your hands, I certainly do, try Good as Hell by Lizzo instead!

Sing from “I do my hair toss” to “If he don’t love you anymore” at minimum (if you’re like me and can’t leave a lyric unfinished, go ahead and dry your hands while making your brain happy.) to follow CDC handwashing guidelines! Use soap and water for maximum virus-murdering.

Chill Cat Otter Corner

https://gfycat.com/pastjovialalligatorgar-otter

Please watch these otters sproing and chase!

About this newsletter

I’m Emily, I’m a 4th year med student w/ a degree in molecular biology. I wrote this because I’m an infectious disease and epidemiology nerd and also all my friends have questions & anxiety. Hi internet!

All this info is sourced from regional & national public health organizations, plus the WHO. It’s as up to date as humanly possible. I’ve been beaming information about this outbreak directly into my brain 24/7 but I still miss stuff. Please let me know if I miss something!

Most public health departments stop updating their information around 4-5 PM local time on weekdays. That means that the earliest this will come out is around 6 PM Pacific time on weekdays going forward. On weekends things update more sporadically and earlier, so who knows what I’ll do then, but I’ll do my best.

Thank you to @marywhal for the excellent title!

For More Information

JHU COVID-19 data center: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

List of peer-reviewed publications: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/publications.html

WHO daily sitrep: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200315-sitrep-55-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=33daa5cb_6

WHO FAQ: https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses

CDC cases in the US (take w/ a grain of salt due to Political Garbage, as detailed above): https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-in-us.html, this also has links to each state’s health dept which may or may not be more up to date than the CDC

#corona extra #covid corner #covid19 #coronavirus #pandemic #information without anxiety #my pledge is to only give you the straight dope #social distancing #coronavirus pandemic #long post

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here-be-misfit · 4 years ago

Text

Adventures in Prague

Word count:6105 Genre: Smut, but with like plot and romantic stuff. Pairing: Tobias Sammet x Reader Warnings: Smut Summary: Reader is a photographer for Avantasia and also Tobi's gf and the band has a concert and then a day off in Prague. And there are some adventures and fun stuff to be had.

You also can find this on Archive of our own.

A/N:I think that this fanfic is like my come back to writing fanfics lol. It took me like 3 months to write it and it's really different from the other ones I've written. This one was proofread by my friend ♥♥ P.S. I've never played Fifa so if it's incorrect I'm so sorry.

Another night, another concert. Usually it’s like that, but not this time. This time we’re anticipating an off day in the beautiful city of Prague. Just one more concert night.

I don’t dare whine even a tad bit to Tobi because I know that his job is harder and is more tiring than mine, but I can’t help showing how excited I am that we’ll have an off day exactly in this city.

My camera’s battery is fully charged and ready, lenses that I’ll need are unpacked, and I am ready for another three and a half hours of work. Tonight, Tobi seems to be in an extra good mood, probably because he loves performing in Czech Republic so much. I know that my job is to capture the best moments of the concert, but I can’t help smiling when Tobi or one of the other guys tells a joke. I mainly stay by the stage, but a few times I go to the backstage to rest a bit or to capture some moments from a different perspective. I don’t forget the fans either. I know, I’m mainly a band photographer, but capturing emotions of the fans is a good thing as well. Tobi seems to have upped his posing game for this show, or maybe it’s just me. I haven’t had more intimate moments with him for a while. Kissing or hugging doesn’t count. But enough whining. Every time Tobi spots me or comes to one side of the stage where I am and starts his silly poses, I can’t help but feel a bit hot. I smile as I take pictures. A few times he lets his tongue out for a picture, and I hear some fans screaming louder. Yes, fans do love that. Of course, I also take pictures of the other Avantasia guys. They pose less, but that’s okay for me. It makes my job more interesting.

Finally, the show is almost over. I go up on stage and take pictures of the band and the fans. Then my job for today is over, and I can go back to the hotel. Sometimes I hang around the backstage to take more pictures, but today I am done. All I want is a hot shower and bed. And Tobi of course, ehehe. I get to the hotel first. It’s a public secret between the band that I am with Tobi, so of course we share a room. I take all my clothes off except for my underwear, then turn on my laptop and let all my pictures be transferred to it. Then I jump in the shower.

Later, Tobi comes in and finds me all comfortable in bed with my laptop, quickly editing pictures. We smile at each other. I can see that he is tired. He surely gave his all tonight, and I’m not surprised that he goes for the shower straight away. After a good thirty minutes he comes out and flops beside me on the bed. I look at him and suddenly I get this strong craving. I think I know where it came from. I also know that he won't fall asleep right away, no matter how tired he is. Adrenaline from the show hasn't worn off just yet. So I put down my laptop and get closer to him. He finally opens his eyes and looks at me. “Want cuddles?”

“Always.” I giggle a bit. “But first, let me take care of you. Let me do something that will make you feel good.”

I see him wanting to protest and quickly put my finger on his lips. “I know, it's not what you think it is, and like I said, please, let me take care of you. You won't need to do anything. Just lie here, relax, and enjoy.”

He knows me, and he knows my sex drive, which can be high, and, sadly, when he is touring he is usually too tired to have some intimate time, even if we are in a hotel. Of course, his sex drive acts up too, but he can ignore it. I, on the other hand, really struggle with that, and sometimes I have to take care of it myself if I'm not fast asleep. It's kinda frustrating, but tour life is tour life - he warned me about this. Probably that's why the other guys leave their significant others at home. Of course, Tobi could have decided to choose someone else as a band photographer, but I guess his emotions got the better of him, and he chose me. And I was glad to be included into this happy family on the road. I don’t wait for his response, but I know that even though he is tired, he is also curious about what I'll do. I straddle him and start kissing his face. Nose, cheeks, forehead, and finally his lips. He giggles and smiles at the kisses. I let myself kiss him for some time. I always love kissing him, and lucky for me he loves kissing just as much. I break the kiss, then kiss down his jaw to his neck. I give his neck so many kisses until I am down to his shoulders. Then I move to his chest and keep slowly moving downwards. He sighs and makes some quiet noises. I feel his relaxed heartbeat and smile against his skin. I feel myself getting aroused even though I didn't do anything yet. I smell the shower gel, but also his natural scent comes through it, and it makes my head spin. So I have to remind myself that it's all about him. I move down to his stomach and feel his stomach muscles flex at my kisses. He has a towel around his hips, and I take it away and continue to kiss his body even lower. I kiss his thighs, then stop and just run my hands down his body. I look up, and from his face I can see that he is relaxed and content. I briefly wonder what he is thinking about. Probably me. I slightly smirk. I was soft, but now the urge to make him moan and come is taking over. I’m not taking my eyes off his face as I lightly run my fingers up and down his cock. I know he wasn’t expecting this, and his surprise is clear on his face. Without any pressure, I rub his tip with my thumb a bit. He makes a sound. I stroke him more, but after a few minutes I can’t help myself and lean down, taking his tip into my mouth and just sucking on it as my hand slowly strokes him.

“Oh, yesss!” he moans lightly and smiles. I keep my eyes on him, and his sexy reaction makes me smile internally as well. I swirl my tongue all around and listen to his sounds. This is one of the most effective ways to make him hard pretty quickly. And it seems it’s working magic. That’s the advantage I can take because I know that he hasn’t been sexually active for a few weeks. So he’ll be desperate to come, and oh, if it would be a different situation, I’d tease him long and hard. But now, I got him almost all hard already. His hips twitch a bit and I know it’s time for something he always loves so much. I take my hand away and slowly take him all in and as deep as I can.

“Ohhh, fuckkk..,” he moans louder and I feel goosebumps appearing on my skin. He looks so sexy like this – mouth a bit open, his head leaning back on the pillow. I moan too. When I’m sure I have him all the way I stop a bit, letting myself drool a bit too. I feel one of his hands tangling in my hair. Oh, this is perfect! I slowly move my head back up, creating this slow rhythm. Now he moans more often, though not as loud. I think he keeps in mind that we are in a hotel and the walls are thin. I close my eyes, not noticing him actually opening his eyes and looking at me. I hear him murmur something in German, probably some endearments or so. I smile internally at that. I moan a couple of times too, both to create some nice vibrations for him and, of course, because I enjoy this just as much as he is.

After some time, I move my head faster and now he tugs my hair more. I hollow my cheeks and hum a bit to give him the best experience and oh, that pays off wonderfully. “Oh, you are such a good girl,” he praises me and caresses my hair. I really can't help but moan. He knows how much I like being called that. I feel his hand that’s in my hair shiver a bit, and I can tell that he won't last long. I slow down again and every time I move my head up, I run my tongue over his tip and then slowly take him deep. I open my eyes to look at him, and he is biting his arm to not be so loud. But I can still hear noises and moans, and I wish I could hear them all normally. But of course we don't want any weird looks or complaints. One of these times when I take him deep, I feel his hand pushing down on me, then I hear him moan wordlessly and feel him coming down my throat. I swallow it all. After a few seconds, I feel his body and hand relax, and I slowly take him out. I look at him. He is breathing hard and has a happy smile on his face.

“That was amazing,” he says, sounding sleepy.

I smile. “I told ya. I just wanted to take care of you, and I'm glad you enjoyed it so much”. I kinda wonder if I should bring up that I'm hella aroused now. But seeing him so sleepy looking, I just can't bring that up. He needs to rest, and I can always get off on my own or just wait for tomorrow. I crawl up to him, give him a little peck on his lips, and get both of us under the covers. We cuddle up, and unsurprisingly Tobi falls asleep after about five minutes. I feel his relaxed body close to me and his arms around me, and I smile. The ache between my legs is almost unbearable, but soon I feel tired too. I force myself to calm down, and soon I follow him into the dream realm.

It's an off day, and we are definitely catching up on sleep, but just a bit. I had an alarm set from yesterday and it goes off at 10am. I wake up immediately to turn it off and yawn. I hear sleepy noises from Tobi and smile. I hate mornings, and even though we had a really nice and long sleep, I could still use some more hours of sleep. “Morning, lovebird.” I hear his sleepy voice in my ear and giggle. Then I turn around to see his totally cute face.

“Morrrrrrrning,” I intentionally roll my r's and giggle more. He hugs me close to him and kisses me. Looks like someone's in a good and loving mood. I wonder why… I kiss him back and run my hands on him. This really wakes me up and my body as well. Oh, how I wish I could have some intimacy now, but that impossible. In thirty minutes we’ll have breakfast, and then who knows what we'll think of. I feel his hand playing with my hair, and I smile between kisses. After we satisfy our kiss needs, I just smush my face into his chest and hug him more. He giggles and starts drawing patterns on my back with his fingers. I feel goosebumps on my skin and shiver a bit. By now he knows me and my body so well that he can tell what I crave and want. After a few minutes though he pokes my side which makes me twitch a bit.

“I know what you want, but we have breakfast to attend to, and we don’t wanna be late”.

I look up at him and pout, but he gives me a kiss on my cheek as a silent apology. I sigh and disentangle from him. As he is getting up, I can’t help myself and give his ass a slap. He giggles and shows me his tongue. I giggle too. We are happy because we love each other and because we can be silly. I stretch and then get up too.

On band off days I usually get an off day too. Sometimes I go and take some pictures of the other guys, and sometimes I just go explore by myself if Tobi feels too tired or wants to hang out with others. This time though I’m spending it with Tobi. After breakfast, we decide to have a walk. I promised to take him to a few cool places, and I also agreed that we won’t take too long because he wants to rest at the hotel and play some video games. I am more than okay with this because I love video games as well.

Of course, I’m bringing my camera with us. It’s such a good opportunity to take some pictures of the city. And of Tobi, too.

It’s a nice and warm spring day, and we find ourselves in the city centre.

“Can we keep away from the main streets and go somewhere with fewer people? I don’t really want to meet any fans, you know”.

“Oh, sure,” I smile to him. “I know this little nice pub that we have to visit, and then I want to take you to another really cool place”. I take my phone out to see where we actually are and how we can get to where I want us to be. We walk away from the centre, and Tobi seems happy and looks around when we turn onto a small unknown street. I point out interesting houses or pretty architecture. A few times we stop because I see something cool and want to take a picture, and then we stop some more because Tobi wants me to photograph him near this house or that one. It’s nice like this. A few times he insists on taking a selfie or two with me. We don’t really talk too much, but that’s okay because I'm taking in the vibe of the city. As for him, I think his coffee still hasn’t kicked in. I look at him and can't help but smile. My heart is full of joy and love and happiness. So I "secretly" take some pictures of him when he isn't looking my way. I want to freeze this moment so I can always look at these pictures and remember how I was feeling, and of course to show him how lovely he looks when he isn't posing for the picture.

My knowledge of the city and the ability to orient myself in it finally lets us arrive at the cute little pub. I stop and wait until he comes to me and says “well then, show me around. You know this place better than I do”.

I smile and lead him into the pub. Inside there isn't much room to sit. We greet the bartender, and then I lead Tobi out to this nice backyard where there are more tables to sit at. We choose one that's closest to us and sit down. “This place is also a hotel. I've stayed here once. It's a nice, quiet place”.

Tobi looks around. I see him opening his mouth to say something, but then the waitress comes to us and gives us a menu. We both love Czech beer, so we choose the same one, and as a snack we get ourselves some nachos. As we wait for our food and beer, we both get on our phones, not because we don't enjoy each other's company, but because it's the first time today we both get to check on things. Soon our beer arrives followed by the nachos, and we dig in.

“You know, after this tour is over, we need to come back here for vacation,” I’m taking the last pieces of nachos. “I understand that you might want to be at home and get some rest, but I’m sure a week spent here won’t hurt”.

Tobi takes a few sips of his beer. “I guess you are right. I like it here. I like the atmosphere and the feeling this city has”. I smile when he talks and drink my beer.

We talk more about things that we’re gonna do after the tour ends. I’ve been planning to move to live with him, so we talk about that as well. Talking about all things except our jobs is good.

We finish our beers and pay for everything. “Now where to? Our hotel?” Tobi asks.

“Nah, I wanna show you this amazing church and the park outside of it, and I just want to spend some time there with you.”

“Church you say, huh? Is this a hint about you wanting to marry me?” he grins.

I can’t help but giggle. “Well, maybe it is” — I show him my tongue — “but you know, you have to propose to me first.” As an answer he just wiggles his eyebrows. Being silly like this is the best.

After a good half hour we reach one of many bridges. As we are crossing it, I point to my right. “See, that’s the church I was talking about. It looks badass.”

He looks that way, and I can tell he likes what he sees. “It looks a bit sinister, but I like it!”

I smile and sneak my over hand to his and take it. At first, I can tell he is hesitant, but then he takes my hand too and oh, I’m sooo happy. He loves holding hands, but usually does it when we are in private or somewhere without many people, and on tour it’s just a no-no. But it seems he gave in this time, maybe because nobody is really paying attention to us. I love holding hands and this thing of his kinda makes me sad, but I understand him.

We cross the bridge and choose to walk on the quay. So peaceful, so nice. A few times I have to take my hand away because I want to take some pictures of the Vltava river. A few other times I ask him to sit down and take some great shots of him. Once I sit beside him, and after I take the pictures, I just can’t help myself and kiss him. He’s surprised but pleased. I don’t know why, but after that kiss I giggle and blush and feel more in love with him than ever.

Finally, we reach the hill and the church on top of it. I speak. “Ready? It’s not gonna be so hard because it’s not so hot”.

He gives me a nod, and we start climbing up. It’s a nice place, some sort of park, and as we’re going up the noises of the city slowly go away. We see some park benches, and I take a mental note to sit here when we’re going back.

We are at the top, looking at this beautiful church. I kinda wanna go inside as I’ve never been inside it, but then we hear some sounds from the inside and decide to just look around. I take some pictures and then point to the cemetery next to the church. “This cemetery is really pretty. C’mon, let’s look around”.

But Tobi shakes his head and says “maybe next time. If we can’t go inside that church, then let’s go back”. I pout a little but say nothing and follow him downhill. As we are halfway, I spot a bench and run to it and sit. “Come here! It’s a nice place to chill!”

I really picked a good spot because the city panorama is before our eyes as we sit. I place my head on his shoulder and say nothing, just enjoying this little moment. Tobi looks at me and smiles. We both look at the beautiful city before our eyes for some time, and then I take one of his hands and start playing with his fingers. Eventually he leans his head on mine.

“You know, I’m so glad to have you in my life, and I know I say this a lot to you, but really, you mean so much to me, and I can honestly imagine being with you for all of eternity…” I’m almost whispering, but I know he hears me perfectly. “I know that sometimes you struggle with voicing out your feelings, but you make me happy, and you always make me find more reasons to be in love with you even more. Even if it’s your stupid jokes or random noises or anything else.”

I pause for a bit because, damn, I’m feeling a bit emotional, but I know that he is smiling and he is listening, so I sigh and continue, “I know that maybe it’s a bit too early to talk about marriage, but let me just tell you that when we’ll be ready for that I’ll gladly say yes to you.” This is actually important because he knows that I don’t really like marriage, but if I’m saying this it means that he and me together is a big thing. He moves, and now we are looking at each other. I can see in his eyes that he is looking for the right words to voice out things he wants to say, but his eyes also tell me a lot.

He takes my hands in his. “I’m so happy to be reassured that this, us, is serious, and I’m also happy that somehow I changed your views on marriage. You make me happy, and I love you with my whole heart.” Then he leans in, and we kiss. And we kiss for a long time until we are both out of breath, and still our lips search out the way to kiss each other again. Moments like these are always my favourite. It doesn’t need words. We both feel the same, and we make it feel either through kissing or when we make love. It’s something I only discovered when I met him. Magical stuff. We kiss again, but it’s a shorter kiss this time. As we break away, we giggle as we both feel the same. We go back to the hotel holding hands all the way. I think this was the first time Tobi didn’t care if anyone might see.

Back in our hotel room, I change into more comfortable clothes while Tobi sets up the game. Of course it’s Fifa, his favourite game. I sit on the bed near him and take my controller.

He picks the team first and of course he picks Bayern. I poke him. “Hey, ladies first, you know.”

He looks at me with a grin. “Oops, I forgot that. But hey, it’s your turn now.”

I show him my tongue and pick Manchester United. I’m not as good at this game as he is, but I’ve beaten him a few times before, and now I’ll do the same.

“I’m tempted to let you win this time and you know why.”

“That would be soooo boring, but I’m sure I’ll beat you anyway.” I put on a confident look on my face. Tobi giggles, and the game starts, and his focus and mine are on it.

I’m not particularly competitive at the moment, but Tobi seems to be really into it even though it’s not even five minutes past when we started. He swears in German when the character he is playing fails to get the ball, and I can’t help but giggle. My focus shifts onto him, and I just admire how cute he looks when he is so into the game. I’m not even noticing that I’m basically just looking at him, so when he suddenly shouts “YES!” I jump a bit and look at the screen. He got the first goal.

Tobi looks at me. “Why didn’t you try to stop me? You could’ve tried at least.”

“Sorry, I got distracted a bit.”

“Distracted? By what? OH!” he looks at me again but with a grin now. “You got distracted by me, didn’t you?”

I roll my eyes a bit and blush but don’t say anything. The game progresses, and I get my first goal too. Bit by bit, my focus on the game is back. Soon I’m into the game just like Tobi is.

Three minutes left of this match, and we are both shouting at our characters, aaaaand “YESSSS!” I shout as my team gets another goal and wins the match.

I put down the controller and poke him. “Told ya that I’ll win.”

Tobi pouts for a second, but then he puts his controller down as well and launches at me and tackles me down on the bed. I wasn’t ready for this, so I only made a surprised sound as I found myself being down on the bed with him on top of me. He giggles and grins. “I might not be able to win that game this time, but I know another game which I’ll definitely win!”

I have no time to think what he has in mind because he starts to tickle me, going right for my weakest place, which is my sides. I laugh and squirm and wiggle. Trying my best to get out of it but failing. I grab one of his hands and try to take it away, but he is of course stronger than me. He takes my hand instead and pins it to the bed. I whine and squirm more. We look at each other as we know that we both have one free arm. I’m quicker and pull him into a kiss. Tobi is surprised maybe for a second, but then he relaxes and releases my hand as he kisses me back. I hug him immediately. This kiss is different from the last one though. This one is more passionate and communicates my need without me having to use words. But it seems he isn’t getting the hint because his hands just go to my hair. Usually when he understands what I want, he does something, like his hands starting to wander. I break the kiss, and I roll us to the side so now I’m on top of him. I know I wouldn’t be able to do this in any other situation, but now he is all relaxed and so easy to move. He looks at me with surprise and opens his mouth to say something, but I lean down and kiss him again. He immediately hugs me and just lets me do what I want. Soon, I break this kiss to kiss down his jaw and his neck. I ABSOLUTELY love giving his neck attention, and he loves it just as much. I kiss his neck all slowly and hear him sigh and make quiet noises. I smile against him. But how can I leave his neck without some marks? His neck looks wonderful with my marks. So I bite his neck in a few places, making sure to make pretty marks. He moans at the biting. His moans are such a big turn on that I can’t help but whine as I feel myself getting more and more aroused.

“I need you so much right now, my love,” I manage to say between all my whining and biting.

His response is his hands, moving them to the hem of my shirt. I get what he wants to do, so I straighten up and let him take it. My bra goes next. Then both his hands go to my breasts, massaging them and pinching the nipples. My whole body shivers and I can’t help but make noises. I try to grind but realize that we both still have our pants on, and I whine. He gets why I’m whining and fiddles with my pants’ buttons, and then his hands are back on my breasts. I smile at him and run my hands under his shirt, slightly scratching him when he pinches my nipples. But he gets the hint, and soon his hands leave my body to take off his shirt. I roll off of him and wrestle off my pants but leave my panties on. Then it’s time for his pants to go, and I help him with that. Finally, I straddle him once again. I am so turned on that I can’t help but shiver. I start grinding on him, and we both moan at the same time. I lean over to kiss him as I move my hands to his hair. I feel his hands moving to my ass and squeezing it and pushing it down on him. We go on like this for a bit, exchanging kisses and little moans and breaths.

“Fuck, I really need you inside me,” I whisper against his lips. I feel him shiver at my words.

“Yes, yes! I want it too.” His voice changes when he is aroused. It gets sexier. I smile and straighten up and move a bit lower and slide his underwear lower too. He takes his cock and holds it for me. I pull my panties to the side and sink down on him. We both moan loudly at this. We both needed it so much. When he is all the way in, I keep still for a minute enjoying how perfect he feels. He is doing the same.

“You are so beautiful, so hot when you are like this,” I hear Tobi say and then feel his hands on my hips, moving to my belly and then back up until he cups my breasts again. I smile so big. I’d blush, but my cheeks are already red.

I finally open my eyes and look at him with a smile. “You look hot and pretty like this too.” I find his hands and hold them as I start to move up and down. His hips thrust too, helping me. I look him in the eyes as we both create this slow pace. I moan a few times feeling how I’m falling into this realm where only this pleasure and the look in his eyes exist. He makes noises and moans too, and they are oh so delicious. Eventually we let go of each other’s hands, and mine rests on his chest, both as support and because I like feeling his skin and heartbeat. He moves his hands all over me, not really resting them anywhere for too long, and I love that. I move a tad bit faster and my head falls back a bit as I breathe out a moan.

“I wanna make you come so bad!” he says as one of his hands is already moving downwards.

“Oh, yes! Please…” I look at him, but then moan when his fingers touch my clit and start to slowly rub it. I close my eyes again. I’m noisier now, and with his fingers rubbing at me I can feel it coming faster.

“Oh, Tobi…” That’s all I manage as I feel it coming. He still keeps rubbing slowly, and I’m moving at the same pace too. The orgasm starts washing over me, and I arch my back and don’t hold back any moans or noises that escape my mouth. I stop moving too and just shiver. I slowly start to relax, and my hips twitch, and he finally stops rubbing me. I make quieter noises now and slowly open my eyes. I’m realizing that my nails dig a bit into his chest, so he’ll have some nail marks too. Finally, my eyes make the way up to his face, and I’m greeted with a smile.

“You were so beautiful. And so hot that you almost made me come too!” Our eyes meet, and we both know that this isn’t the end.

I smile and lean down and kiss him. The kiss communicates all the words I wanted to say. After a bit, he slowly moves his hips in small thrusts. I’m still sensitive and break the kiss to moan lightly, and I just rest my forehead on his. I feel his hands going up and down my back and sometimes squeezing my ass. He moans a lot more now, and I feel that he wants to go faster, but he is being gentle for me.

“I love you so much, Tobi,” I whisper and caress his hair.

He smiles big, and I feel his hands going around me in a hug. “Love you so much too. You feel so perfect. I missed this feeling…”

I kiss his lips briefly again and then settle for his neck. His hips snap faster and harder now, making me bite him and making him moan more.

“I am ready when you are ready”, I whisper in his ear and also buck my hips to match his thrusts. That makes him throw his head back more on the pillows.

“I’m close, my love”, he manages to say between all his noises and breathing. I raise my head to his, then bring my hand down between our bodies and start rubbing my clit again. Soon we are both moaning out each other’s names. I feel him squeezing me tight and coming in me which just makes me shiver more. Everything starts to wind down, and we both go limp. My head is in the crook of his neck, and his hands are loose but still around me. I don’t even care that I still have an arm in between us, and it’s not really comfortable. We both breathe heavily, and when he shivers feeling the afterglow, I shiver too.

I don’t know how long we stayed like this, but both of our senses start to come back to us and we almost simultaneously start giggling.

Tobi tries to speak first in between giggles. “I wonder if we’ll get away with how loud we were…” I bring my other arm back and then finally raise my head.

“Ah, who cares about that. This was AMAZING, and that’s all that matters.” I give him a giggly kiss.

After some more time, we finally disentangle. I still refuse to leave the bed so Tobi gets up first. I'm all satisfied and happy and even more happy seeing him strut around all naked. Finally he gets back from the bathroom.

"How and when did you manage to mark me up like this? Now I'll have to wear my scarfs even more," he pouts playfully.

I giggle before I can respond. "I'm not gonna be sorry for this. Your neck looks even prettier with all the marks. And besides, you wear your scarfs almost always anyway."

He only shows me his tongue, but doesn't say anything more. He knows I'm right, and secretly he likes that now his scarfs will hide a little secret of ours.

I use the bathroom too. We get dressed up and go to dinner with the other Avantasia guys. No one really questions why Tobi wears his scarf and no one says anything about what happened earlier. Either they don't know, or they know but don't say anything.

After the dinner, I leave Tobi hanging out with the guys, and I go back to the room as I feel really tired. This is the last day in Prague, so I pack my luggage. Before I go to bed, I look through the window at the lights of the city and daydream a bit. Suddenly I feel very familiar arms going around me, and I smile. Tobi's here. He hugs me from behind, and we stand like this for some time.

Back in bed and just before I fall asleep, I think about all that happened, and my heart once again fills up with love and joy. Then I cuddle up with him even more and fall asleep. Tomorrow we'll go back to Germany. The tour continues, but we both will remember Prague for a bit longer this time.

#fanfiction #smut fanfiction #fanfic #Tobias Sammet #Avantasia #smut fanfic #smutty smut #Tobiuas Sammet fanfiction #mine

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nyaheum · 4 years ago

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My yearly list of Eurovision songs after the first impression (I mean, for like, half of them. I heard snippets of some songs.). Judged on music videos, because...if I only listen to the songs on Spotify, my eyes get bored. :’)

(oh, and don’t talk to me about iceland’s placement, I know this might be unpopular)

X. Belarus

Fuck Belarus, all my homies hate Belarus. Not even going to grace them with a rating.

Norway (TIX – Fallen Angel)

...no. :( And it’s not even because Keiino didn’t win, I just wholeheartetly hate this song. And I’m kinda sorry to TIX, because he seems like a cool dude and his stage outfit is absolutely hilarious, but oh my god do I hate this song with an absolute burning passion.

Poland (RAFAL – The Ride)

eye emoji mouth emoji eye emoji – well, this is a non-qualifier if I’ve ever seen one. Can we just...skip this?

Belgium (Hooverphonic – The Wrong Place)

Nap time! This song annoys me. I cannot explain it, but it gives me a headache and my whole body is revolting against this song. I am not kidding. Objectively, I don’t even hate it, but there’s just something about it...that makes me go...hnghgng…

North Macedonia (Vasil – Here I Stand)

eye emoji mouth emoji eye emoji ver. 2 – I am not trying to sound mean, but does North Macedonia do any music that is not dramatic power ballads? I’m serious. (And I don’t like it, sorry. :((...except for the high notes, I like them. When he can hit them live.)

Estonia (Uku Suviste – The Lucky One)

This (the music video)...is soft porn. I am slightly scared of Uku. I don’t know why. But, uh...this is better than last year’s song? Still, it wouldn’t qualify under my watch, whoops.

Georgia (Tornike Kipiani – You)

He stopped yelling angrily at the microphone. :((( Nah, but this isn’t my thing. It’s great that they are doing their own thing, it’s just not really my thing...it also reminds me of a song I know, damn.

Austria (Vincent Bueno - Amen)

He looks like a german youtuber. I don’t know hich one, but he looks like one. I also canot tell if he’s 18 or 38, lol. (For some reason he also reminds me of Alex Albon, which is even weirder.)...oh, uh, the song? Idk, I don’t care for I. It’s fine.

Spain (Blas Cantó – Voy A Querdarme)

Confession: I’m probably the only person who actually doesn’t like the sound of Spanish all that much. Whoops. Apart from that though, I’m not the biggest fan of this song. Can’t really say more about that. Meh.

The Netherlands (Jeangu Macrooy – Birth Of A New Age)

Listen: I really like the tone of this voice. It’s great. I am not a fan of the song. There’s something just very off about the loud percussions (?) in the background that make me go absolutely crazy when listening to this. My sensory-overload-prone ears hate it, and I’m sorry...the part before the last chorus on the other hand I love. The whole song could have sounded like that and I would have loved it. (...and I can’t unhear “You are my broccoli – You know my broccoli!” ;-;)

Azerbaijan (Efendi – Mata Hari) Whenever I see Efendi, my brain still goes “Cleopatrrrrra!”, oof. This song sounds like a song I know. Which...is super unprecice, but I genuinely don’t know which one. I do like that they kept the weird pre-chorus thing from Cleopatra (and reference the song later on), but I must say that I liked Cleopatra more...but it’s a party song, so I think it will be fun on stage!

Romania (ROXEN - Amnesia)

I didn’t like her song last year, I don’t enjoy this all too much and I’m kinda sorry but also...I don’t want to apologize for my taste in music, lmao. I want her hair though. Give me her hair.

Denkmark (Fyr & Flamme – Ove Os Pa Hinanden)

Ring ding ding, native language bonus. This is also way more fun than I thought it would be, hah. VERY retro, but I don’t hate that? :D (this and sweden really aren’t any different in terms of how much I like them)

Portugal (The Black Mama – Love Is On My Side)

I can appreciate this. I just wish it was in Portuguese, honestly. I don’t really know if I like the English for this song. That being said, I don’t know if you can make these very specific tones (you know what I mean) in portuguese without it sounding super off, so…

Ireland (Lesley Roy – Maps)

Okay, you do you Ireland. :D

Israel (Eden Alene – Set Me Free)

This exists. :D

Cyprus (Elena Tsagrinou – El Diablo)

Cyprus came to party, and I can’t be mad at that. I just don’t know why everybody in the YouTube comments loves this SO MUCH that they are sure that it will win if it gets the jury votes. I don’t think it’s as good as Fuego or She Got Me were, but maybe I just have no taste in party music. I don’t party. (Only if you got a 2000s playlist and some iced tea.)

France (Barbara Pravi – Voilà)

FRANCE sending a BALLAD? In MY Eurovision? It’s more likely than you think. It’s good, objectively. Personally, I don’t really care for it all that much and feel like I already know it.

United Kingdom (Embers – James Newman)

A good, modern song? In my british eurovision song? What happened on the Isles over quarantine? Are you guys okay? Did you find yourself? Have you taken your last breath (breath!) and looked at your past results? I’m impressed enough to put this relatively high, wow.

Serbia (Hurricane – LOCO LOCO)

*adore delano voice* party! Oh, and native language bonus...for a party song! I’m...impressed, actually. I cannot decide wheter I prefer this or Hasta La Vista, but I think it’s this one? The flows smoother, if that means literally anything.

Bulgaria (VICTORIA – Growing Up Is Getting Old)

*shrugs* I think a lot of people will like this. And I get that. I think I even understand it...yeah. I didn’t like her song last year either. It’s just personal preference, I think. I just want to have fun during Eurovision, hah.

Finland (Blind Channel – Dark Side)

Finland: FUCK YOU!!! Germany: Fuck you. <3

That’s all I’ll say, we know how the Finnish are, this is not surprising, lmao. (And I’m one of those children that grew up on Rammstein, so I legally cannot dislike this.)

Croatia (Albina - Tick-Tock)

Tick-tock, can you hear me go tick-tock? My heart is like a clock, I'm steady like a rock-...oh wait, wrong tick-tock! Still, really enjoy this song’s chorus – I actually enjoy it so much that it makes up for the utter loss of interest I experience once it’s over, chrm.

Sweden (Tusse – Voices)

I mean...let’s be honest, it’s a generic swedish pop song. It sounds like every other Swedish entry, and I think that bothers me. I know, that sounds kind of...weird, looking at my choices higher up in the list, but...meh. I think this will easily qualify for the Final and place high, and I am totally okay with that. It’s just not...what I wanted, I guess? :D (and i’m sorry but as a german-speaker I cannot get over the name “tusse”) (oh, and tusse seems to be super cool)

Albania (Anxhela Peristeri - Karma)

Oh, we’re going to war in 130 A.D.? Fine, let me just pack my spear and- oh, Albania has already sent a singer? Ah, well, might as well give up and just vibe.

Czech Republic (Benny Cristo - omaga)

This sounds fun. Not a winner or anything, but fun. I’ll probably still be on Twitter when he’s performing, whoops.

Slovenia (Ana Sklic - Amen)

Wait, there’s TWO songs called Amen? And why do I actually kinda like this? Oh well, might as well just accept it. (Her voice though...mhmmhmhm…yes please)

Iceland (Dadi og Gagnamagnid – 10 Years)

We just vibin’. I liked Think About Things more, but I’m very much biased here...because I’ve known that song for a year now. But this is still very good, and very on brand. (And I understand like...half of the lyrics, but I am okay with that.)

Australia (Montaigne - Technicolour)

not australia flexing at all of europe that they can hold big gatherings! D: oh, but I like this way more than last years song. I feel like Montaigne can show her GREAT voice way better in this song. (Even though her outfit and the sound of the song reminds me of the UK song that had...a dude run on the stage. I can’t think of the word for it right now.)

Malta (Destiny – Je Me Casse)

Destiny’s voice is just….wow. This is very different than All My Love, but it’s fun. The topic of the lyrics kinda remind me of Toy, and I like that…..I don’t really like the music video (especially the dancers in the colorful dresses? idk), but I’ll just ignore that.

Germany (I Don’t Feel Hate - Germany)

Confession time: I actually actively enjoy this song. Everybod is shitting on it, but it’s FUN and it has a good message, and Jendrik seems like the nicest dude ever and...it doesn’t deserve all the hate it’s getting? It’s completely self-produced and just fun. Stop being mean. :(

(...also someone on youtube said “pewdiepie” and I can’t unsee that now so fuck you >:((...no, no I don’t feel hate, just rethink your life choices)

Moldova (Natalia Gordienko - SUGAR)

What in the “Eis.de ist in der Kiste” is this music video? And I thought I would absolutely hate this song, but I actually don’t mind it all that much. It’s actually fun. Oh no, I’m splipping, someone catch me, aaaaaahhhhh….(and that poor cake dude. Is this song about cannibalism? Does she want to eat him?)

San Marino (Senhit – Adrenalina)

Catch me hum the chorus of this song at least once a day...but honestly, without any malicious intent: what the actual FUCK san marino? This is so much better than Freaky, and even though I do not believe for one second that this will win, the simple outragiousness of bringing Flo Rida to Eurovision deserves attention. (Bringing someone like Flo Rida to ESC sounds more like Scandinavia/Bulgaria, doesn’t it?)

Russia (Manizha – Russian Woman)

Not gonna lie, I miss Little Big, but at least they are sending something that’s at least as weird. I love that. Russian Rap is cool as fuck anyway, so I’m fully here for this...but I’m glas this song doesn’t have a music video, this just has to be a live performance. (Oh, and another strong woman!)

Ukraine (Go_A – SHUM)

I’m SO glad Go_A are back. But, let me be completely honest: I know why they had to change the lyrics, but I still liked the first version better. BUT I feel like the new one will grow and me and it will climb one or two places, because the Instrumental just slaps SO HARD. (Makes me feel like putting on a Cybergoth outfit and start dancing at a German industrial park, lmao.)

Latvia (Samanta Tina – The Moon Is Rising)

Does this count as my guilty pleasure this year? I loved her song last year, and this sounds similar, so...I like this too. It sounds modern as fuck (well, for Europe, you know) and I can definitely...”vibe” with that. I genuinely really enjoy this, and I don’t know why. (Even though I prefer last years drop.) A lot of “strong, independent women”-songs this year, and I’m not complaining.

Switzerland (Gjon’s Tears – Tout l’Univers)

Just so we’re clear, this and Italy share the exact same spot. I just cannot compare them at all. Gjon’s voice just takes me hostage throughout this whole song and won’t let me go. And everything that isn’t english/is in the countries offical language immediately gets plus points from me. As if this song needed them anyway.

Lithuania (The Roop – Discoteque)

Aaaaaand...dance break! Good, I just love them so much, it’s not even funny anymore. And I’ve been singing this song randomly since it came out. I can’t stop. It has burned itself into my brain. Let’s dis-co-teque right at my home! *waves arms around with no sign of coordination*

(and does anyone else feel like he’s serhat, just with a different alignment? Like, they are both chaotic, but serhat is chaotic neutral and he’s either chaotic good or chaotic bad, it really depends on the way he looks at the camera)

Italy (Maneskin – Zitti E Buoni)

Italy delivers, as they do every year. Not only do I really like this song (it is very much my genre), THIS is an aesthetic I can get behind! Knowing Eurovision, I doubt it will win, but damn if it won’t be super fun! (I am so glad this won Sanremo, hah.)

#eurovision #esc #eurovision song contest #esc 2021 #eurovision 2021 #rotterdam 2021

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gospelofme · 5 years ago

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Okay but what if Kix never got his chip removed (bc there weren’t any more Jedi, really, so why bother) but then he sees Rey or something and just. Loses it and tries to kill her and is acting his Tup did when his chip malfunctioned (but no worries because they figure it out before anyone gets hurt)

Why must you hurt me like this 😭😭😭😭

This turned out longer than I planned.

—————-

Kix was beyond ready to stretch his legs. Sitting in his jump seat for the last couple hours with this knees pressed against the co-pilot’s seat in front of him had caused some major cramps. They were headed back to Takodana to resupply.

Maz’s Castle on the planet hadn’t been the only gathering place for unsavory types. It had just been the most popular. Once there, they’d refuel and restock their freeze dried food stuffs. Kix was hoping to find time to visit a place for some actual food. The freeze dried stuff was real, but it reminded him too much of military food.

They landed not too far outside a small town, the weekend market was in full swing. A perfect place to get supplies. And real food. Smells drifted up from pop-up cantinas and food carts. Some Kix recognized from his travels around the galaxy, and some that were foreign to him. He felt like he had been everywhere, but there were still places he hadnt even heard of.

Kix and Quiggold were tasked with getting the food, Kix had some medical supplies he needed to restock as well. They stopped at a food cart and ordered a chunky stew with meat and vegetables. Kix had no idea what the meat was, he didn’t understand the Artiodac who ran the cart. But the vegetables he recognized.

“Finally, something hot and I didn’t have to heat it.” Quiggold muttered, sipping his cup of stew. He sighed contently. Kix smirked and lifted his own cup to his lips and took a sip. He looked around at the patrons of the market, trying to see how many species he can name.

“What’s on your list for medical supplies?” Quiggold asked, checking the medic pack Kix had for the list. He checked their credit limit to make sure they had enough. No answer.

“Kix?” The Gabdorian looked up at his comrade, who had his cup paused halfway to his lips. He was frozen in place. A strange look on his face. Quiggold placed his cup down on a table.

“Hey, Quiggold to Kix? What’s wrong? What are you staring at?” The peg-legged first mate followed his friend’s stare to a woman.

“Oh, yes. She is very pretty. But we don’t have time to gawk at the ladies. We need to finish our shopping.” Quiggold took Kix by the wrist and tried to pull him along. The former-clone stayed put.

“Kix, do I need to pull-“ Quiggold’s threat to pull rank was cut short when the medic’s hand suddenly crushed the cup of stew, the hot contents didn’t seem to phase him. He was now mouthing something, but the noise of the market made it hard to hear. Quiggold was alarmed now, he had never seen Kix act like this. His eyes were still locked on the woman, who was levitating an apple in front of a dark-skinned man.

“Come on, Rey! Quit playing! I don’t think Jedi used the Force for this!” Finn said, reaching for the fruit. The woman used the Force to pull it just out of reach, giggling playfully. She was oblivious to the strange man staring at her.

“Captain, we have an issue. I think something is wrong with Kix. I can’t get him to respond. He’s conscious, sort of. I think he’s saying something like ‘good soldiers follow orders’, but I have no idea what that means.” Quiggold used his comm unit to contact Captain Ithano, Reveth, and Squeaky who were haggling over fuel. Just then Kix dropped the cup and charged the woman full speed, Quiggold only having time to yell at him to stop.

Rey felt a sudden change in the Force, a warning sign. But she didn’t really need it, since she could hear the startled screams of market goers as a man ran towards her at top speed. He was fast and almost too close for comfort. The apple dropped to the ground with a thud as Rey used the Force to push the man back and into a cart selling blankets. The man rolled and got to his feet easily. She didn’t want to kill him, but she didn’t want to die either.

Finn intercepted the man just as Rey ignited her lightsaber defensively. The tackle knocked both men to the ground and Finn initially had the upper hand, but was quickly overpowered by Kix. He was immensely stronger than Finn, the former Stormtrooper was soon pushed aside. Kix hadn’t once taken his eyes off his prey. A Jedi. The latent order from over half a century ago sparked when he had seen her levitate an apple. The words “Jedi” and “Force” sealed her fate when the old chip still implanted registered the terms.

Kix got to his feet, but Finn grabbed his legs and pulled him back down. This man looked familiar. He needed another look at his face. Finn had studied the history of the Stormtrooper Corps. It had been required and he considered himself a history buff. He managed to get the man onto his back and Finn pinned him. Take away the beard, trim the hair back to a military high-and-tight....

A red-skinned, female Twi’lek then bodyslammed Finn, knocking him off Kix.

“No, no! He’s trying to hurt my friend!” Finn tried to explain, looking up to see Rey raise her ignited saber. The man didn’t appear afraid, he looked intent. Determined. Rey Force pushed him back one more time, the man managed to keep his footing. He knew how to fight around the Force. That was the icing on the cake for Finn.

“He’s a clone!” Finn yelled in realization, a look crossing the female Twi’lek’s face. The Crimson Corsair tackled his comrade, and managed to hold onto him tightly. The man struggled fiercely against the hold. Quiggold sedated Kix using one of the syringes from the man’s medic pack.

Finn shoved Reveth off him and scrambled to his feet, Rey looking relieved and startled at the same time. He approached the famous Captain Ithano and was blocked by a Gamorrean. Finn raised his hands to show he was unarmed, watching the Crimson Corsair get to his feet, holding the sedated clone up. Finn had read about the clones and had gone through the histories of some of the famous ones, Commander Cody, Commander Wolffe, Captain Rex. He had read about them being phased out of service and replaced with birth-born soldiers. He had heard Kylo Ren rant about how the clones had always been superior to the current ranks of Stormtroopers.

Finn had read military reports on the actions of some of the clones. But he also liked to indulge in conspiracy theories from time to time. One rumor was that there had been control chips implanted in the clones. And that, once activated, these chips caused the purge of the Jedi Order. Finn had always regarded it as rumor, since he couldn’t find any clear military record of such a device.

“He’s a clone, isn’t he. From the Republic days.” Finn spoke to Quiggold, who looked at Captain Ithano for guidance. The Captain gave his first mate a small shrug, Quiggold nodding to Finn. Finn looked back at Rey, who looked confused. She didn’t know anything about the clones. All she knew was that this man was hell-bent on attacking her. Captain Ithano began to grow uncomfortable with the attention his crew was getting, hauling the medic over his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry ma’am. I have no idea what just happened. He has never behaved like that before.” Quiggold apologized to Rey, who was able to sense his sincerity. She felt something new in the Force. A sense of calm and confidence. She could feel a powerful Force-sensitive nearby. She looked around, her eyes landing on a Togruta woman standing at the edge of a nearby stall. She hadn’t been there a moment ago, Rey was sure of that. Rey blinked and she was gone.

Captain Ithano and his crew arrived back at the Meson Martinet and lowered the loading ramp.

“What are we going to do? We can’t have him doing that. What if we don’t catch him in time?” Quiggold asked the Captain, who remained quiet.

“Perhaps I can help.” Said a voice from behind them. The crew spun around, spotting a white-cloaked Togruta woman. The woman lowered her hood to reveal long white and blue striped montrals and lekku.

“And who are you?” Reveth asked, eyeing the woman suspiciously.

“Ahsoka Tano.”

#star wars #the clone wars #star wars the clone wars #ahsoka tano #Captain Ithano #the crimson corsair #quiggold #rey #rey skywalker #finn #fn-2187 #star wars the force awakens #star wars the last jedi #star wars the rise of skywalker #Kix ask #ask

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jasontoddiefor · 5 years ago

Note

Idea for Tiny Emperor Luke AU: Luke is really tired when he goes to senate one day and just falls asleep and someone tucks a blanket around him and all the holonet reporters just have a giant freak out.

I wrote this in one sitting bc the idea of Luke just,,, being a tired kid? 10/10.

The young Emperor’s appearance in the Senate was still a sight that made people uncomfortable. Of course, whether it was due to the child dressed in the finest clothes to be found in the Empire or the small army of Stormtroopers following him was another question. Never mind that Vader wouldn’t move an inch from his son’s side. It had become quite apparent that Vader still didn’t particularly care about politics, but he clearly paid attention to every word said in his son’s presence, waiting for someone to speak treasonous poison and give him an excuse to get rid of them. Already, multiple sections of the Army had deserted, seeking to establish their own territories. Some smaller groups had even found their way to the Rebellion. It was clear that this equilibrium wouldn’t last, but no discussion had been held out in the open yet. Vader was still on Coruscant, the longest he had ever been since the Empire’s creation, and he didn’t look like he wanted to leave the planet. If they were to keep the Empire together, however, he’d soon need to move and remind everyone why it was better to stay with the Empire.

Bail was split on the decision. He wouldn’t risk treason, he couldn’t do that to Alderaan, but unlike many of his colleagues, he also wasn’t exactly in favor of the galaxy splitting up. There were reasons the Republic had been created in the first place, blood and war and slaughter to name a few. Perhaps they were able to set up a Republic space, but for how long would that last with crime running wild? No, Bail would rather align himself with an Empire reimaged. The speech the Emperor had given on his coronation day had been impressive and awoken hope. Bail shouldn’t doubt that someone different had written it for the child to memorize beforehand, and yet-

“Emperor Palpatine had promised us an age of glory and peace, and yet, I see a terror lingering in every corner of the galaxy.”

Luke Amidala had certainly left an impression.

Beyond that, he had shown up to the Senate more often in the past weeks than Palpatine had in the past decade. Dutifully, he had attended every larger session, taking notes on a small datapad one of his attendants carried for him, and recently he had taken to visiting the various committees. Bail himself had shown up early in the morning today and the young Emperor had arrived soon after. Since the morning, the Senate had been abuzz with hectic energy, nobody wanting to offend the Emperor. Truly, the Senate felt like a stage even more than it ever had before.

“Your Majesty, I am merely suggesting returning to the palace at this hour.”

“It is the last meeting, Fox. I’m staying.”

Surprised to hear the Emperor’s voice, Bail turned into the next hallway where his immigration committee was supposed to meet. The young boy was standing right in front of the door Bail was going to enter, surrounded by his guard platoon and his attendants, very obviously missing the Sith Lord usually at his side.

“Your Majesty,” Bail greeted with a bow, slowly approaching the group. “Good evening.”

It was best not to startle the platoon, especially when Vader wasn’t around.

“Senator Organa!” The youth returned the greeting cheerily. “I’m very glad to meet you. I’ve been wanting to attend your session today.”

Today was severely underestimating the late hour. Bail himself would prefer to be home now, having been up since morning. The Emperor as well didn’t appear to be as awake as he ought to be. He had bags under his eyes, exhaustion and stress likely getting to him. Bail knew even Leia with her sheer endless energy would be tired by now, cranky and wishing to go home.

“The meeting we’re about to hold now?” Bail inquired.

Luke’s two attendants looked quite unhappy at the idea, but the boy only smiled and nodded. “Yes, it is the last point on my itinerary for today.”

“Is Lord Vader to join us as well?”

The boy obviously tried to keep a neutral expression, but a hint of anxiety shown through. Bail forced himself not to just grab the boy that had been supposed to be his son as well and run away with him. It was hard to see whether Vader had done any harm to him, but in a moment like this, there was no telling whether Luke’s anxiety was because he wanted Vader to be here or was afraid of what would happen to him should he disapprove of any decisions the boy made in his absence.

“No,” Luke finally answered. “My father has some matters to discuss with the army.”

So perhaps Bail had been right and time had run out. Vader could certainly attempt to organize a strike while staying on Coruscant, but that would never be as effective as personally leading a battalion. Vader was notoriously a frontline fighter, earning himself the loyalty of the Troopers and those of the brass who hadn’t bought their way in.

“I’ll be honored to invite you to our session then, your Majesty,” Bail said.

Luke smiled in turn, almost shyly and Bail entered the room in front of them. The Immigration Committee was made up by Empire loyalists and Alliance members and the galaxy’s usually crooked criminals. Moving people around was a painful but lucrative business. Alderaan had seen many immigrants in the last years due to their more lax policies so keeping an overview of the galaxy’s general movements had been a good idea. Everyone in the room froze when Luke entered and consequently took a seat at the head of the table. They didn’t really let out a breath when the Trooper finally closed the door behind everyone else and Vader didn’t step inside as well, but they certainly relaxed a little.

“Senator Kavenah, you are the head of this committee,” the Emperor addressed the man to Bail’s right.

Illem Kavenah was thankfully somebody Bail could rely on. The other Senator was as obviously anti-imperial as you could be.

“Yes, your Majesty,” Kavenah replied and rose to his feet. “Shall I give you an overview of the responsibilities of this committee or have you informed yourself of such already?”

The Senator sitting across Kavenah, strict imperial loyalist, looked like he was gasping for breath. It was understandable. Kabenah’s words could be very easily misunderstood as an insult. Knowing the other man, there was actually a quite high possibility that he had meant his words to be understood as such. He’d probably also be bold enough to say them regardless of Vader’s presence.

“I have been unable to do so until now, Senator,” Luke replied, still in a good mood. The boy probably hadn’t even heard the biting undertone. “I’ve been attending…” The boy stopped, as if to count. “Seven different sessions today. It was all a little hectic. I’d be very thankful if you could give me an overview of your activities.”

If the boy had truly attended as many meetings as that, it was a wonder he was still standing on his two feet. Bail knew enough people who were exhausted after four sessions. Seven was an extraordinarily high number.

Kavenah studied the Emperor a moment longer, then slowly began talking in a manner the boy could keep up with while taking his notes. He only asked a few questions in the beginning, then, as the evening proceeded, grew more and more silent. After a while it became apparent how difficult it was for the boy to keep his eyes open. His posture, perfectly straight and upright at the beginning, was now falling into itself. Bail was not ashamed to admit he only paid a quarter of his attention to the actual discussion while the rest was focused on Luke.

He was so young.

Leia still had two baby teeth she was determined to have lost by the time Bail returned to Alderaan. For all that she could walk and talk and sit like a proper princess, her mother’s influence no doubt, Leia was still a child and Bail hoped she’d remain so a little while longer. The burdens Vader had willingly placed on Luke’s shoulders weighted too much for his small frame.

He was half hanging over his datapad as his eyes closed once more, only this time he didn’t open them again. The discussion forgotten, Bail watched at the young Emperor’s breathing evened out and he fell into a light sleep. It was already incredibly late, way past the bedtime for a child. The debate carried on but then, slowly, became less and less engaged as more and more participants noticed that their ruler had fallen asleep.

The Troops standing behind his chair as well as his two attendants looked rather clueless and unsure as what to do with the situation. Luke stayed relatively still, but every once in a while he shivered. Nobody dared to say anything or touch him to wake him up.

It was ridiculous.

They were all holding their breaths because their ten-year-old Emperor had fallen asleep on them after a long day and nobody knew what to do now while the kid.

Sighing, Bail pushed back his chair and stood up. He unclasped the cape from his shoulders and walked over to the group assembled behind the sleeping boy.

“You might want to make sure he doesn’t catch a cold,” he told the Trooper in charge and handed him the cape.

Bail got the impression that the man was staring blankly at him, then he accepted the cape and carefully draped it over Luke’s shoulders. Bail returned to his seat and, when he noticed everyone was staring at him, cleared his throat.

“I believe we were discussing the aid that should be given to refugees of planets with a lot of natural disasters happening regularly?”

After that the discussion picked up again and they were back to discussing the actual points they had come together to speak about. Bail’s attention was still partially on the sleeping child, but he wasn’t the only one. People at least didn’t look outright upset or annoyed at the distraction. Even Kavenah only appeared to be amused. The meeting proceeded and was only interrupted once more when they were only repeating everything that had already been said.

The door didn’t smack open, but the oppressive aura of the man entering certainly gave the impression. Vader’s attention immediately darted to Luke sleeping. He marched over to the boy and then, with a gentleness neither Bail nor anyone else in the room expected, he picked Luke up. He took Bail’s cape off his shoulders and in turn tugged his own around Luke’s frame.

The Emperor didn’t even wake up from the movement, he merely put his arms around Vader and continued sleeping.

“Meeting adjourned,” Vader ordered and left the room as quickly as possible without jostling his son, their entourage following them.

Now everyone was quick to pick up their belongings and leave the room as well, as if Vader’s presence still lingered in the room and they wanted to escape it. Bail took his time assembling what he had brought to the table and was one of the last to leave the room.

He picked his discarded cape up from the ground and folded it, then stuck it in his bag and made his way home.

When Bail woke up in the morning, the city was as busy as always. He took a few minutes to enjoy his caf in peace, then checked his messages. There were a lot of requests for interviews strangely, but Bail decided to look at them later as they were not so important now. After he had finished his caf, he decided to see what news he had missed during the night. They had been running very interesting stories lately. A few reports nobody would have dared to publish during Palpatine’s reign were now showing up.

The headlines he read today, the pictures displayed all over the holonet, were all about the same thing though.

“Oh, dear,” Bail muttered as he skimmed the articles.

Somebody had gotten access to the recordings of yesterday’s session. It happened regularly enough. The galaxy was a big place and there were enough determined slicers, but that they had found these particular recordings was troublesome.

Well, at least it would be easier to twist the images of an exhausted child fallen asleep into good PR than an old man giving the order for yet another genocide.

#star wars #luke skywalker #bail organa #darth vader #anakin skywalker #tiny emperor luke au #fanfic #ask #anon #prompts #this was supposed to be 500 words #Anonymous

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ofdragonsdeep · 4 years ago

Text

29: Debonair

Count Artoirel de Fortemps attends a ball for the Members of Parliament.

(ArtoirelxHilda? Sort of?)

The sound of the orchestra echoing out in the high-roofed walls of the Vault promised the trappings of high society to those within. Count Artoirel de Fortemps was no stranger to such functions, wending his way through the crowd with practised ease, but the surroundings sought to subvert the expectation of any passing noble, or indeed anyone who remained familiar with Ishgard, reimagined in the image that her saviours had planned for her.

Commonfolk in their best dress rubbed shoulders with nobility here, a formal gathering held for each and every member of the Republic’s new council. Artoirel had endeavoured to learn the names of each and every person sent as speakers for the House of Commons after the parliament’s formation, but even his memory was taxed to recall the names of their spouses and friends and other miscellaneous plus-one’s. In the same breath, the House of Lords was far expanded from the days of decisions made solely by the church and the four High Houses, though his upbringing had at least given him a head-start on remembering those names.

A buffet had been provided that had likely cost more than many of the commonfolk earned in a year, and champagne was being passed around among the merrymakers. It was not, Artoirel had noted, the best champagne, but perhaps that was the point. Besides, it made no difference to him, as he had made an art of refusing every canapé pressed beneath his nose, a cautious part of him still remembering the events of Falcon’s Nest, the reports he had heard of attempted sabotage on ceremonial functions, and his own persisting dislike of being intoxicated in public.

“Reckon you’ve turned down enough food to feed an orphanage, your Lordship. There better grub somewhere I should know about?”

Artoirel jumped at the noise, spinning on the spot to find Hilda - captain of the Watch, who were the de facto guard for this function - stood just a little bit too close.

“Sadly not, Lady Hilda. I simply neglected to prepare.” He took a step backwards, just slightly, and straightened the collar on his shirt. “I trust that the evidence of your keen eyes will stay between us?” Hilda laughed at that, folding her arms and regarding him with an appraising look. He appeared to come up short.

“Lady Hilda. Don’t get that one much,” she said. “How’s about this then? I won’t mention your disdain for Ser Aymeric’s fancy sausage creations, but you have to dance with me.”

“I beg your pardon?” Artoirel said, taken aback. Hilda winked at him, the smile fitting easily on her face.

“All that book learnin’ and here we are. You. Me. One dance.” She held up a single finger. “That’s the thing where you lead your partner round in circles, in case that was what was holdin’ you up.” Artoirel made an empty noise, then collected himself, clearing his throat as if it would save him face.

“Yes, I am aware of what a dance is, Captain,” he said, exercising incredible restraint to keep the ice from creeping into his voice. “I am simply at a loss as to why.” The single finger was pressed against her lips, inviting him to take part in her secrecy, as if he had any choice when he was not aware of the secret.

“That’s for me to know and you to wonder, your Lordship,” she replied. The gesture became a two-finger salute, and she turned on her heels and disappeared back into the crowd. Artoirel could only hope that she had retreated to actually do her job.

—

Though the guests were unusual, the itinerary was not. Entreés were followed by a time to mingle and exchange the latest gossip, and Artoirel’s feet took him around the room with all the emotion of one of Stephanivien’s strange robotic creations. Though he had despaired of his little brother in the past, he could not deny that Emmanellain’s head was far more suited for such endeavours than his, but he was a master at polite conversation nonetheless. The atmosphere was far more cordial than any such event would have been before the end of the war - there was less power to squabble over, more people who held it, and so less to gain by knowing a few choice and guilty secrets. Artoirel spoke with Aymeric and Lucia, shared their worries on the war which yet fomented at the front at Ghimlyt, all three of them hoping nothing untoward would occur in their absence. He listened to news of the progress on restoring the Firmament from Aurvael, attending with his father the Count. The Dzemaels ignored him, as they always did, but Count Charlemend and his young nephew at least engaged him in pleasantries.

The commonfolk had far more to say, if you knew who to ask. The view of the ongoing reconstruction of which Aurvael was so proud was well-received among the people, despite certain members of the nobility dismissing it as seeking glory from the worthless. Lord Francel had a good heart, and those who he was helping saw it, it seemed.

And the news. There was much of it, and the fine details a little different for each mouth it came from, but Artoirel listened and attempted to filter the nuggets of truth from the sheer volume of it. If only Emmanellain had not been busy with his duties at Dragonhead - though he could not help but be grateful that his brother was applying himself for once, he found himself at quite the disadvantage.

And then, as Artoirel had dreaded, the music changed.

Artoirel was a good dancer. He had been taught from a very early age precisely how one was to dance at a ball, the correct amount of attention to pay one’s partner to not suggest too much but not offend with inattention. The eyes will judge you on every line of your form, his mother had said, and he had taken it to heart, as he had many of her lessons, not all of them in his best interests.

Hilda caught his eye from across the room, and offered him a cheeky little bow. Artoirel let out a long breath, and crossed the room to join her.

“Might I have the pleasure of this dance, Captain?” he asked, holding out his hand precisely as he had been taught. There were whispers immediately, of course, although rather more of them were jealous than he had been anticipating.

“You’re flatterin’ me, your lordship,” she said, playing coy as he had expected her to. “I suppose it would be rude to refuse.” Artoirel mentally went through the motions of gritting his teeth, in order to remain outwardly poised.

Hilda was not dressed to dance the same way the other ladies who had taken the floor were. She had no dress to float with each step, but sturdy trousers and solid leather thighboots that clacked upon the dancefloor with a noise that was, at least, quite satisfying. Her fingers were not smooth, but calloused from holding a gun and holding the line against the ever-rising tide of pushback against their nation’s struggle for equality. Her nails were not painted, but filed down to not catch in the trigger. She carried herself with the confidence and expectations of nobility, the pointed tips of her hyuran ears the damning reminder of why she was not.

She could, however, dance.

“See, your Lordship? This ain’t so bad,” she said, sounding amused by his predicament more than anything else.

“Only one of us will be quashing foolish notions in the aftermath,” he replied, to which Hilda laughed. They separated, turned - Artoirel did not raise his arm as high as he was used to, when dancing with an elezen, and Hilda performed the top spin with remarkable grace. The dexterity that gave her the eagle eye and uncanny trigger finger she was famed for were putting in their work here, though he could not help but wonder who, precisely, had taught her.

“Don’t you think it would be more interestin’ to give them somethin’ more to talk about?” she offered. Artoirel did not stop dead on the strength of reflex alone, but the hells-damned woman had felt the way he stiffened regardless, and it seemed only to egg her on.

“It would be unbecoming,” he managed, and Hilda tutted.

“You need to learn to relax,” she disagreed.

They turned again, Artoirel holding his arm out just so, her gloved hand in his. He could not tell if she was fooling with him and - to his rapidly growing embarrassment - could not tell if he wanted her to be or not.

If his mother had been alive, she would have fainted at the notion of her eldest carrying on some scandalous affair with a commoner, and a half-blood at that. But she had been wrong about Haurchefant - he had loved him as a brother, or tried to, in the gulf between the two of them. There was no need for distinction between high and low-born now, and besides - did her ruby-red eyes not speak of a noble heritage that she had quite rightly cast aside as worthless?

She had asked first, he supposed.

“Perhaps we shall discuss this further when this event has concluded,” he allowed, and Hilda raised an eyebrow. She was surprised, but not displeased, and Artoirel wondered what that said for his character.

“Perhaps we shall, Lord Artoirel,” she said. “Damn, I owe Stephanivien ten gil now.”

Artoirel thought he should not have been surprised.

#huffs angrily at not knowing his mother's name #ffxivwrite2021 #posts at 6am and rockets off to bed without proofreading #Artoirel de Fortemps #Hilda the Mongrel

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nny11writes · 5 years ago

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If you’re doing fluff prompts: “If you steal the blankets, I am going to put my cold feet on you.” Ahsoka & Rex

(Cause every fandom deserves a great brotp and these two deserve a slice of happiness)

This got a little away from me but let them be silly and act like kids dang it, the Emperor is dead and the Force is bright.

Ahsoka’s pit stop on Endor was supposed to be nothing more than a brief pause and sweep from her shuttle. After all, she knew what had happened just a short rotation before and had no real desire to stay. So of course she’d barely started searching the Force when she found him.

Well it certainly made sense; he wouldn’t have stayed on Lothal. Rex had always had a bit of lightning under his skin, and once he started moving it took a lot to make him slow down again. And considering what she was planning on doing, there was a good chance they might not see one another again.

Too many missed chances.

So down she went, carefully picking her path until she found the Alliance encampment. It was fun to creep along the outskirts, it reminded her of the war games she sometimes played with the men where she did her best to sneak past them and they did their best to catch her. After the brain worm incident she’d wanted them prepared for a stealthy force user. So she sneaks, cloaks, waits, and hides. Excitement building until she finally found him gazing into the forest.

She can admit it, it was far too much fun to climb up into the tree he’s been gazing at absently and hang upside down from a branch to wave.

Rex has barely started to lift his blaster when he registers which idiot he knows is there, and then he’s running through the underbrush cursing up a streak as he goes.

“Hey Rexter,” Ahsoka smiled as he got closer and dropped out of the tree, flipping to land on her feet and accept either the hug or punch coming her way.

He doesn’t stop cursing as he grabs her and squeezes her tight, both of them swaying from one foot to another as they hold on. Eventually he runs out of swear words and Ahsoka runs out of breath from laughing, and the two of them fall silent.

“Commander, next time you die I’ll find you and kill you myself.” Rex huffed, wiping at the tears rolling down his face when they part.

“You are welcome to test that theory at your leisure.” She chuckled.

It warms her heart when Rex waves for her to follow him deeper into the forest, the fact that he knows her well enough to avoid the camp is soothing. He grinned over his shoulder at her, “Don’t get cocky kid.”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, ready to remind him that she was actually a full grown adult these days, when her foot caught on a root and she was forced to shuffle jump to avoid face planting. She glared at him as hard as she could around her bashful smile, “Kriff off.”

“Didn’t say anything.” He still waited until she was upright and steady to walk some more. “I found a little spot over here, rather nice for a nap, yeah?”

It really is.

The tree is huge and has been split open long ago, somehow surviving the wound and leaving a space large enough for a few people to squeeze into. The moss inside seems soft and pleasant enough, but it’s the old Republic Blue blanket tucked inside that makes her want to climb inside. Back on campaigns, when she was still shorter than any of the men, it was pretty easy for her to find places to curl up and sleep. Often napping with the men or Skyguy, she had been small enough to fit in sleeping bags and under blankets. Now taller than Rex who still has a bit of weight on him, she’s not sure they’ll fit but she’s damned ready to try.

Rex smiled at her indulgently, eyes twinkling as he chuckled, “Yeah that’s what I thought. C’mon kid, can’t function dead on your feet.”

It’s like recognizing the fact that she hasn’t slept in a full day suddenly tips her over an invisible ledge. She tried to come up with something to say, a sassy come back or quick witted quip. Instead she lumbers over and gets inside the damn tree before grabbing Rex’s hand and yanking him in after her.

“Sir.” Rex sighed heavily, but shifted to get comfortable all the same.

“Yes Rex?”

“…you steal the blankets and I will find my revenge.”

She laughed, and only laughed harder when his face blanked and he reached down to take off his boots. Ahsoka had always, apparently, run hot compared to most humans. Which made her a high sought after heater on cold planets and also meant that Ahsoka spent a lot of time shivering and yelping at cold feet and hands. Rex barely nudged at her calf, pressing his toes between her sandal straps, but Ahsoka still yelps.

“I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!”

Rex nodded solemnly, “Yes sir, just making sure you remember what it’s like sir.”

She huffed, “Alright, this has been wonderful, but I need to go back to Malachor now.”

She knows they’ll need to talk about that particular detail. In fact, there’s a lot they need to talk about before she leaves again. But it can wait. Everything can wait.

Here, in a galaxy so much lighter and brighter than it had been in her entire life; here, crammed into a makeshift bed with her oldest friend…they can let it go for the night. Take a day to appreciate finding each other again. Cuddle under an ancient and thread bare blanket and tell each other terrible jokes and connect again as if they’d never been apart.

And yes.

She did jerk awake with an undignified squawk when Rex found a break in her accidental blanket defense, no amount of struggling could get her out of the cocoon or away from Rex’s howling laughter.

#Ahsoka Tano #Captain Rex #Star Wars the Clone Wars #Star Wars Rebels #fanfiction #fanfic #short fic #prompt fic #fluff prompt #fluff and humor #silly little walnuts being themselves #c'mon Rex it's snuggle hours not struggle hours!#Ahsoka is an accidental blanket hog and no one can change my mind #I luff them!#no editing we die like Meh #bobkitten

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greyfongschemmenti · 4 years ago

Text

In These Arms | Chapter 10: Iris & The Flying Boar

Summary:

“I’m glad we can be here for each other,” She says quietly. You smile before walking over to look at yourself in the mirror.

Notes:

We are well past the halfway point. Only 7 more chapters. ahhhh

Wei launches off your crouched back to jump to the other side of the arena and kicks the disc straight over to Lin. “Power disc is typically a two person game” Wei stands beside you guarding the goal post.

“Yeah, but look how fun it is when you have a partner” you block the disc and send it to Lin when she kicks it back, “I know It’s so awesome to play against Aunt Lin” Wei smiles excitedly as he passes the disc back across the arena you smirk as you watch Wing kick the disc off pillar causing it to ricochet and set up a shot for Lin, now in her usual armor, to land “Get ready Wei” you get into position. Lin kicks off the wall of the arena and kicks the disc hard - your eyes widen as you run to the goal post. Wei starts to dive and you jump above him but the disc manages to slide between the two of you landing inside the goal and the buzzer goes off.

“Yes! Point to Wing and Aunt Lin!” Wing jumps pumping his fists in the air while Lin smirks and crosses her arms. “Nice setup, kid”

He turns to give Lin a high five but she looks slightly confused at the action seeing Wing having his hand up in the air “It’s a high five Aunt Lin” he explains to his aunt,

Wing gets Lin’s hand and high fives himself using Lin’s hand “A high five…”

“Uh...right” she quickly puts her hand down “Or we could fist bump instead” Wing shows his aunt how to fist bump while you and Wei grunt punching the ground before getting up.

“I thought you were guarding the post, Wei!” you groan upset to have lost the round.

“I didn’t know Aunt Lin had such a powerful kick!” he groans as he gets the disc out the goal and resets the buzzer.

“Don’t underestimate your Aunt - you do realize she’s older than your mom and learned metalbending from your grandmother herself, right?” you laugh as you turn to the opposing team “That was a nice kick, Lin. Another round?”

“We’ve been playing the majority of the morning” Lin comments and you notice up in the sky that it seems to be high noon.

“Now that Aunt Lin has the hang of Power Disc maybe mom will play!” Wei jogs over and smiles and you fake a smile shaking your head giving him a no motion across the neck. Wing looks at you confused causing Lin to look over at you and you quickly move your hand behind your neck and smile. “Does your mom know how to play?” you divert the conversation,

“No but when mom finds out that Aunt Lin has maybe she’ll play too!” Wing joins his brother.

“Speaking of your mother, where is she?” Lin looks at her nephews,

“Uh she’s either teaching her dance company or having a meeting with the security force.” Wing gets the disc from his brother and flips it.

“Hey guys!” the four of you turn your heads up to the voice and see Korra and Bolin walking by the arena. “What are you guys doing?”

“Playing some Power Disc with Aunt Lin and y/n” Wing smiles flipping the disc up over his head and catches it as Wei throws his arms around your shoulder.

“Beifong plays power disc?!” Korra looks surprised and Lin smirks “What? Like it’s hard?” she scoffs and heads out of the arena “I got things to do. Don’t get yourself into any trouble” she points her finger at Korra before walking away.

“You got it, Chief” Korra says annoyed before brushing it off and turning her attention to the twins

“Hey you guys want to spar?” she asks the three of you and you turn to Korra “Earthbending?” and she crosses her arms and shakes her head “Metalbending”. Wei drops his arm around from you and looks at his brother excitedly “You learned to metalbend?!”.

“Korra did. I haven’t” Bolin’s cheeks go pink as he points his index fingers together

“Yeah.. Bolin was going to ask Su to teach him metalbending, but she’s busy. We were wondering if you guys could since Su taught you three” Korra looks from Bolin to the twins

“Actually I can’t, I already made plans to hang out with the security force and then I’m heading into town.” you head out the arena and dust yourself off before grabbing your tunic from a bench and putting it on.

“Sparring with the Avatar?!” Wing starts “Count us in!” Wei finishes his brother’s sentence and they run out the arena to meet up with Korra and Bolin.

“Alright cool! Let’s go” Korra smiles excitedly as the three of them head towards the pavilion. You see Bolin looks slightly nervous but he catches up to the rest of the group, “Wait up!”.

You climb up the steps to the watchtower that looks down onto the courtyard of the guesthouses, “y/n, nice to see you here. Figured you’ll be too busy hanging out with the Avatar to pay us a visit” a gruff voice approaches you and you smirk “Hey Tan” you cross your arms and lean against the railing “You know better than anyone that titles don’t mean a thing to me” you laugh and step up to greet your former captain.

“How’s the city treating you, kid? Living the high life?” he smirks and steps back before nodding you over to walk with him on his patrol.

“I’m not living in some mansion or upscale apartment if that’s what you’re thinking. Actually I’m staying with a friend, my apartment got taken over by spirit vines.” you groan and Tan gives you a low whistle, “Damn that’s rough, kid.”

“Eh what’s life without a few small hiccups.” you shrug and take in the scenery before Tan walks you towards the command center.

“You remember this place?” Tan opens the door for you and you chuckle -

“Tan it’s only been like a year or two. How could I not remember. This was like my life”

“You were just a little tyke when you first joined the security team, but you grew into quite the bender with a keen eye. Wasn’t surprised when you handed in your resignation papers.” Tan walked over to his desk and grabbed some papers.

“Really? Everyone else seemed rather surprised”

“Eh well I’m not like everyone. I’ve been on this team almost since its creation. So I've seen people come and go. Your talents were too good to be kept to this city. It was a matter of time before you got bored and moved on to something more exciting” Tan chuckles,

“I wasn’t bored.. there were other factors too, per say...”

“Kid it’s me you’re talking to”

“Okay maybe a little bored, but I loved it here. I had a good life, the Beifong family looking out for me. I formed some great friendships here. You.” you smile.

“Don’t be going soft on me, kid” he gruffs and walks over to his bookcase and pulls a book from his shelf and opens it up to an image of you, “Remember this.”

You look down and see two images. The one on the left was when you first joined the force and the one on the right was a group picture of the whole security team. A slight tear forms in the corner of your eye and you cough a bit and wipe the tear away “Why are you showing me this, Tan?” you look down at the book then hand it back to him.

“Just so you remember where you started and where you’re at now.” Tan gets the book and takes a look before putting it back on the shelf.

“Who’s being soft now” you scoff and laugh

“With a memory like mine, you need these.” he laughs then his secretary comes to remind him about his appointment “Oh shoot, care to walk this old man to his meeting?”

You laugh and nod “Sure thing, Captain”

“So do you miss Zaofu? Or has Chief Beifong got you running back here?” He laughs heartingly and you join in, his laugh always more contagious “I do miss Zaofu, but no - the Chief is actually not so bad. She’s a great boss...I’m lucky to have the opportunity to work with her.”

“I hear you’ve made captain. That’s amazing, kid. That’s some serious climbing”

“Thanks, It took a lot of work, but I’m proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish - hard work pays off.”

Tan reaches the door and turns to you “It’s good to see you, Kid. Keep doing whatever it is you’re doing in Republic City. You seem to be happy and I’m glad. Take good care of yourself.”

“You too Tan. Glad you’re still on command”

Tan snorts and opens the door “Retirement is looking pretty good right now. I’m getting too old for this shit. By the way, some of your old guard mates are about to spar out on the training grounds if you’re up to show them some city moves”

“Oh okay, sure thing. Thanks, Tan” you look over toward the training area as he gives you a wink before heading inside the room.

You walk over and head to the training ground and see Kuvira sparing against another guard - everyone huddled around watching the two of them. You approach a couple of people you recognize and assess the situation “Lee, San how’s it going. I see friendly competition is still a thing” you fold your arms and watch Kuvira’s technique.

“y/n! Damn there was word you were here, but I didn’t believe it!” Lee smirks as San gives you a side hug “I’m glad you’re back! You are back right?”

“No, just here visiting with the Avatar.”

“Can’t believe the Avatar is here in Zaofu” Lee’s eyes fill with wonder as he looks back at the sparring session,

“Yeah, can’t believe it either.” San joins in on the conversation “How’s your son?” you ask just as someone unwelcomed joins in the conversation, “Is that my sweetie?”.

Lee glances towards you and frowns seeing your reaction, your eyes widen at the voice and you look over to see your ex, Iris - a firebender, joining the three of you, “I’m not your anything, Iris, but hi nice to see you” glancing her way before looking back at the sparring match.

“Is it? When I heard you were here. I thought I would have gotten some sort of visit” she pouted as she folded her arms and you ignored her. Your mind races back to the last moments of your relationship with her.

Flashback

The relationship with Iris started off great but didn’t really end on good terms. After dating for a couple years Iris felt ready to settle down and put roots down in Zaofu. Toward the end of the relationship there were fights about your hesitance to move forward in the relationship. She kept dropping hints about getting married. “Everytime I bring up anything about taking the next step you change the subject or shut down, y/n!” Iris yells while she paces in one of the guest houses. “I don’t want to talk about it, Iris!” you groan as you hold your head in your hands. “Why?! After four fucking years you would think you’d want to build something together here - like moving in together, marriage, kids?!” Though moving in together did cross your mind, the thought of marriage was never one you’d seriously considered and kids, never.

“Woah what hold on, marriage? Kids?!” you stand up quickly and stare at Iris who looks back at you just as surprised. Iris had mentioned kids before and you’d just avoided the topic thinking she meant way down the line. “Who has kids at 24, Iris?! I’m barely enjoying life and you want to bring kids into this?”

“Plenty of people do, Lee and San, for one they have a little one on the way. Wouldn’t it be nice to adopt a baby so their kid can have someone to play with?” Iris tries to help you visualize the image of your friends’ baby and your nonexistent child. You grab and shake your head “Lee and San might be ready for that step, but I’m not!” you explain as you try to make way out the room. Iris grabs your arm and turns you to face her “Are you scared of being a parent? You’ll be great! I see the way you act towards Suyin’s kids.” you jerk your arm away and look at her confused to her reasonings “Liking kids and being a parent to one are two different things, Iris”. You push away and rub your temple “I’m not ready for kids. Not now”

“Then when, y/n!” Iris is finally getting aggravated with you. You stammer your words trying to come up with an answer “I--I don’t know….fifteen maybe twenty-five years down the line!” you finally respond back. Iris groans “I am not going to be a first time mom at fifty, y/n! Be serious!”

“I am being serious!” you aggravatedly yell out your ears starting to redden, irritation at an all time high then you blurt out before stopping yourself “I can’t do this…”

“What do you mean you can’t do this?” Iris has her face on her palm as she rubs her temples then looks up at you. “This” you motion between the two of you “You and me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. We can fix this, y/n” Iris steps towards you and you step back putting a hand up to stop her “If this is how it’s going to be now, with the constant arguments and fighting, then I don’t want it”.

Iris reaches for you, putting her hands on your cheeks as you look away fighting back the tears. She whispers to you trying to turn your face to look at her as she fights back her own tears, “I love you. And I know you love me. Don’t do this to me sweetheart” you sigh closing your eyes trying to pull away but Iris knew she had an effect on you when she talked like that “...stay, sweetie”. Iris pulls your chin down and leans up pressing her lips to yours . Your lips part and you try kissing her back, searching for that feeling that got you together in the first place. Iris wraps her arms around your neck as the kiss deepens and you slowly wrap your arms around her waist as more tears run down from your eyes. You were hopeful that this kiss could change your mind. It’s true, you love Iris. At Least you think you do, she’s been your longest relationship you’ve had. You wouldn’t have dated Iris for four years if you didn’t. Maybe this is about that compromise thing your parents mentioned about couples doing to keep each other happy. You want Iris happy. More than anything, but is compromising your happiness worth it? Reaching for her hands around your neck you pull them away and step back “Let me...think about it, have some time and space to think things over” you murmur as you lick your lips wiping away the taste of her. “Take whatever time you need, sweetheart” she whispers, giving you a smile as you two share another kiss.

“Take whatever time you need, sweetheart”

That’s what she told you and you believed her. That was until two weeks later when you had kept your distance to think things through. A couple of coworkers wondered what was going on with you and Iris - and Iris tried to talk to you during that time, but you ignored her and clarified you needed this time alone. You only spoke to Su since she didn’t have any sort of friendship with her and she could help you find clarity. The others well... it’s not their business to know. When you were ready to see Iris again, talk to her to work things through, you headed over to her place, “Ok, compromise. Moving in and marriage won’t be so bad” you encouraged yourself as you kept walking. You bought her a bouquet of fire lilies- native to her nationality and also brought out her eyes- after your night shift and made way to her apartment. You never would have believed what you witnessed if you weren’t there. To witness Iris’s lips on someone else, a man, bidding her goodnight after what seemed to be a tryst since she was in her robe and disheveled hair. You felt the air being sucked out of your lungs and bit back the urge to tear up as you forced yourself to walk toward her once you watched the man leave. Iris smiles watching the man walk away then looks down biting her bottom lip..

“Two weeks… that’s all it took for you to jump ship” your throat burning as you try not to raise your voice or show any emotion, but your eyes showing her everything. The anger, hurt, the water welling up as your voice strains.

Her eyes widened when she saw you, she tied her robe tightly around her waist as she looked around to see if anyone was looking, “y/n… please come inside. Let me explain...”

Your lips twitch as you hand her the lilies giving her a charming smile “No need. You’ve explained plenty, sweetheart” you sneer before stomping away into a street back towards the Beifong estate.

“No! stop please, y/n!” Iris shouts urgently, running after you and pulling you back, cupping your cheeks, sobbing “Sweetie, it was a mistake. I love you!”

“Some way of showing your love for me.” you snap pulling her hands off your cheeks as you carry on. “It didn’t mean anything!” she sobs as she pulls you back to her once again grabbing your face - stroking her thumbs as she kisses you feverishly. “I missed you, y/n” she whimpered against your lips, grabbing your hand and placing it on her hip “I want you, y/n” she whispers “Stop” your voice weak as you feel conflicted as you feel Iris brushing her lips against your ear and places soft kisses behind it, “Touch me, sweetheart. I need you...”.

You let out a shaky breath that you’ve been holding, trying to breathe as you’re fighting the urge to do anything. “Iris...” you try to collect your thoughts, turning your face away. Your breath hitches when Iris looks back into your eyes, stroking your cheek softly and keeping her other hand on top of the one on her hip slowly sliding it up her side. She always did this knowing how much you liked having her hand on your cheek, stroking it lightly while you looked in each other’s eyes. It was a level of intimacy that you love. She knew that. Your tears come streaming down your cheek then Iris leaned up “Kiss me” her voice barely whispers, as she stares into your eyes pulling you closer. Why kiss the lips that were on another just minutes ago. You glanced down at her lips, her lips parted inviting you so you leaned in and started kissing her. She returns your kiss, sighing in relief then whimpers as you grip her waist pushing her up against the wall. Kissing her tentatively, the touch of her hands that once had you burning with desire now pained you. The kiss didn’t feel the same anymore. Her lips slowly turning into a stranger’s. Your hand holds on the side of her neck as you start deepening the kiss searching for the love you once felt. You feel dull, empty. You couldn’t understand how Iris could be enjoying herself right now, hearing her soft moans while you felt nothing, just pain. This isn’t love anymore. You don’t want her anymore. That realization pulled you out of the trance Iris had you gripped in. Once you open your eyes, you pull back, “We’re done, Iris” you walk away covering your lips, wiping the kiss off.

“y/n!” Iris grabs your wrist and you jerk your arm away not looking at her as you pick up the pace and slightly jog away down the dark paved street.

“Are you going to keep ignoring me or are you going to answer the question, sweetheart?” Iris asks you, pulling you out of your thoughts “You lost the privilege of using that term, Iris” you kept a safe distance from her. Lee and San just glance at the two of you as you continue on “What question are you going on about anyways?” you finally return back to the present.

Iris chuckles amused to see you slightly uncomfortable and takes a step towards you as she lowers her voice, “I just wanted to know what you and Chief Beifong get up to in the late hours of the night?” Focusing back on Kuvira keeping a straight face, giving her a smirk “What are you getting at, Iris?” San’s interest is peaked as she turns to the both of you.

“I mean you know we patrol the courtyard to all the guest houses. I’ve noticed you visiting Chief Beifong quite a lot once everyone else is asleep. No matter how careful you’re trying to be, babe” you fold your arms to hide the fact that you’re balling your fists as you think of an excuse.

“Just because we’re visiting Zaofu doesn’t mean we don’t have jobs, Iris. She's the Chief of Police and I’m Captain, we’re looking after the Avatar's safety.” you calmly explain yourself as your eyes narrow watching Kuvira kick her partner’s legs down.

“Sure… y/n” Iris chuckles as she shakes her head and you turn your head at her glaring your eyes “What are you insinuating, Iris?”

she walks swaying her hips as her hand runs up your spine as she whispers in your ear. “Sweetheart, all I’m saying is I see you go in but I never see you come out until the yee hours of the early morning.” You shiver and step away from her leaving Iris to smirk as she bites her lip “Iris...shush” San grips her arm and tries to quiet her “It’s none of our business” San tries to give you a ‘sorry’ look.

You clear your throat as you remain stoic toward your ex “It really isn’t. I don’t have to explain myself to anyone. What Chief Beifong and I talk about is none of your concern, and since you’re here you saved me the trouble of making a visit. You can quit asking Su about me. Do I have to remind you that you and I are through?” you look at Iris, done with the conversation.

“So Kuvira is quite the fighter” you tilt your head in Kuvira's direction. Iris scoffs as Lee forces a cough as a release from the awkward tension, “Oh yeah, she’s a beast. Her agility is insane and she’s very analytical. Always seems to be three steps ahead of everyone else. ”

“Yeah, she’s a smart and natural leader. She quickly rose through the ranks of Zaofu’s security team and she’s now the Guard Captain and still participates in Suyin’s dancing troupe. I don’t know how she does it.” San comments while the three of you watch Kuvira easily beat the officer before her.

“Kuvira is headstrong, she has discipline and knows how to work hard. It’s nice that she’s serious about being a captain guard, but I hope she opens up a bit more socially. Go out and make friends instead of just being so focused on work.” you give your former co-workers your own little analysis and watch how the sparring match has ended.

“Anyone else wanna take Kuvira on?” someone asks in the crowd and no one steps forward. You look over at Lee and San “How many has she fought?” you whisper

“This would be the third, I believe” Lee leans over at you and you look over at Kuvira who seems like she hasn’t broken a sweat. “If I remember correctly, you were quite the sparring champion” Iris leans over and whispers in your ear. A shiver goes down your spine as you step away gritting your teeth. Thinking about it before unfolding your arms and taking a step forward. “I’ll take her on” you raise your arm and jump over a bench.

“y/n are you sure?!” Lee puts his hand on your shoulder to stop you and San looks at you “yeah, don’t get reckless now” she looks concerned.

“It’s just a sparring match. What’s the harm” you give them a smile as you start unbuttoning your tunic as you jog on over to Kuvira. “Kuvira” you give her a nod as you set your tunic aside on a nearby bench, “y/n…what are you doing here?” Kuvira looks surprised to see you. You think she’s trying to figure out your angle as you get some wrapping from a nearby officer for your hands and forearms.

“Wanted to meet up with my former comrades. Glad to see captain” you give her a smile before rolling your head around and shaking your arms while the same officer hands you a set of cables.

“Whenever you’re ready, y/n” Kuvira looks at you as she rechecks her bindings and fixes the loose piece of hair that was out of place.

You nod as you set up the cables on your person and get into a fighting stance, giving her a nod “give me your best shot, Captain”

“Always, Captain” Kuvira smirks at you before she starts bending a metal sheet, hurtling it towards you. You earthbend to launch yourself and jump over it shooting your cables at her. Kuvira dodges and cables to grab hold of yours, swings you over. Your body gets jerked over and you fall onto your back retracting the cables and quickly jumping back onto your feet. Kuvira stomps her foot and sends a chuck of earth at you and you lift your fist up, letting them collide to break it into small pieces. When the dust settles you give Kuvira a playful smirk, as you build up strength and start sending a large trail toward her. Simultaneously you move a metal plate in front of her to cause her to jump back - giving you the opportunity to disrupt the plate she’s now standing on and sending large chunks of earth at her, forcing Kuvira to trip over the trail of rock then get hit backwards by the chunks of earth. You stand up and watch Kuvira do a roll and then stand up huffing - it seems to have been the closest to anyone knocking Kuvira down by the reaction of the crowd. Your eyes dart back to Kuvira as she starts sprinting towards you and sends a cable at you. Jumping over the cable you watch how close it got to almost hitting your face as then side jump facing Kuvira once again. You stand extending your cables out and proceed to spin them around, sending them toward Kuvira. She easily jumps and dodges, thinking that was your plan. You let out a laugh as you let yourself get tied up, arms against your waist, by the cables. Kuvira believes you messed up and starts sending a barrage of rocks and metal shards your way. You start dodging and spin around then kick away the pieces she aimed at you. You quickly kneel down and quickly whip a cable at her, knocking the young captain off balance falling on her back. Loosening the cables and retract them back in the holster, you straighten up and walk over to her, “Yield?” you extend your hand to her as you slightly pant.

Kuvira looks up at you, upset and embarrassed, she grabs your forearm pretending to get up before she plants her hand on your chest and wraps her leg behind your knee to knock you down. You landing hard on your back, grunting once it makes contact with the ground and seethe through your teeth as you ball your fists and jump up shoving Kuvira “What the fuck was that for?!?”

Kuvira steps back and sends a punch to your face, you lean back but don’t catch the meteorite coming from your blind spot and hits your face, cutting at your brow,, “If I had to get knocked down then so do you” she said calmly

“Kuvira!” Suyin’s voice shouts from behind the crowd and the officers begin to disperse. You rub the side of your face as you push yourself up. You spit out some blood to the side and glare at her “Learn some fucking humility, you can’t win everytime!” you rush towards her about to throw a punch when Lin grabs your fists, “y/n, stop” she urges you to calm down. “She started it. The sparring match was over.” You catch a red blob landing on your eyelash and reach up to touch it and notice the blood. Move your hand up and feel the wetness on your brow and wipe it off.

“I ended it.” Kuvira shrugs and brushes you off indifferently. Not regretting her actions as she unwraps her bindings. “I will train harder so this doesn’t happen again”

You scoff at her remark, laughing a bit at the lack of remorse from her voice, before you try to launch yourself at Kuvira and Lin pulls you back while Suyin pulls Kuvira back.

“Stand down, both of you.” Su grabs your tunic and tosses it to Lin as she puts a hand on your back and walks you out the training grounds.

“We’ll meet you at dinner, Su” Lin calls out to her sister and Su nods apologizing for Kuvira’s temper while she pulls Kuvira aside talking to her in hushed tones.

“y/n! Are you okay, sweetie?” Iris runs up to you and puts her hand on your arm on the way out. You yank her hand away “Stop calling me that. It’s been two years. Stop being so pathetic. You’re the last person who gets to fucking touch me, Iris” you spat glaring at Iris before walking off covering your mouth. Lin gives the girl a confused look before walking after you.

You wince pulling back as Lin cleans up your cut “Fuck, what is that battery acid?” you pull your face away and look up at her as she rolls her eyes

“It’s just rubbing alcohol” Lin dabs it on the cut as you lean forward on the bathroom counter mad on how that situation went down, “She got on over on you. She shouldn’t have done that. We thought it was a fair spar until she threw that punch” Lin fills a cup of warm water and adds some salt before handing it to you.

You take the cup and start swashing it in your mouth letting it coat the cut before spitting it out into the sink “She still can’t control her violent impulses, all because she was embarrassed she got knocked down in a sparring match,” you rinse your mouth then dry yourself “You watched?”

“Your cable work was nice, very fluid.” Lin grabs hold of your jaw and checks on the cut before stepping back and cleaning the counter area.

There’s a silence between the two of you as you stare down at your hand “Who was that girl you were yelling at?”

“Iris”

“Never seen you blow up like that. You’re usually pretty level-headed.”

“Yeah, well exes usually bring out the worst” you laugh shaking your head as you toss the bindings aside. Upset at yourself for that outburst covering your face with your hands. Lin lifts your head a bit to clean up the dry blood on your eyelid. You close your eyes to give her better access.

“What’d she do?”

“Cheated” No emotion to your words.

“What?” Lin stops looking down at you incredulously,

“My same response” you chuckle

“Did she leave you for a younger woman too?”

You cock an eyebrow at her “No?… oh right sorry” you groan as you rub the inner corner of your eyes. “She wanted to settle. I didn’t. She wanted marriage and kids. I didn’t want kids and marriage was up for grabs. I asked for time and space. Next thing I know, I catch her kissing a man leaving her place.” your lips twitch then suddenly you bust out laughing covering your face again.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Because it’s funny” you wipe away the tears as you fight the urge to keep laughing,

“Funny? Are you having a breakdown?” Lin looks at you confused as you glance over and calm down.

“What? Spirits no. It’s just I thought I loved that woman. I was willing to compromise for her , but by the end I realized after all the sweet talking, the whole “sweetie” thing. I was being manipulated. She kept pressuring me to want what she wanted but she never listened to my needs or wants. It’s not really compromising when only one party is benefiting, right?” you chuckle as you slide off the counter and unwind the wrappings on your other forearm “Thank Raava I didn’t”. Noticing Lin hasn’t said anything, you hold her hand “You okay?” Lin snaps out of her thoughts about how she could relate to your whole compromise spiel and gives you a nod. You step behind her and wrap your arms around her laying a kiss on her shoulder, “Thank you for cleaning me up, I really love...that you’re here for me” you whisper hesitantly at the last part before letting go to head to the bed to take your boots off.

Lin stiffens up at what you almost said, she grabs the top to the alcohol bottle “You should get cleaned up so I can put this healing balm on you after. Opal’s farewell dinner is tonight” Lin packs up the first aid kit and turns to you “I’m glad we can be here for each other,” She says quietly. You smile before walking over to look at yourself in the mirror, inspecting the cut on your brow and slight bruise on your lip “Some farewell this will be. Hmm If this cut scars maybe I’ll look more badass like you” you smirk then start stripping off your clothes and head in the shower while Lin puts away the kit.

As Lin watches you from the mirror she mentally debated on whether or not she should give you space or join you. Lin starts to think that maybe you do understand her about her past relationship with Tenzin. She too felt stuck with the arguments of kids, but Lin never wanted to compromise on it. She was adamant on not wanting kids and Tenzin didn’t seem to want to listen to it - only focusing on his legacy, his wants and needs. It was all about him. Though Tenzin didn’t cheat on her, it was still a form of betrayal to her with that acolyte. It surprised her that she could relate to you since uncovering that you unfortunately went through a similar situation.

Letting the hot water hit the back of your head to get your hair get wet then turn around and lean your back on the wall. You’re startled a bit when you see Lin standing in front of you “Shit, sorry I didn’t hear you come in” you laugh softly as you look at LIn while tilting your head back and let the water run down your body.

“I need to get ready and since you have the shower on already I decided I should join”

“Perfect logic” you smile and reach for the body wash when Lin stops you “Let me…”

You stand still and curiously watch her lather the wash towel with soap and look at her as she starts washing your body. Your eyes don’t stray from Lin as she washes your body before letting the water rinse the soap away. You reach for another wash towel and lather it up with soap “You do me. I do you” you look at Lin as you start washing down her body, giving her the same attention she gave you before letting her step under the shower head. Once the soap is rinsed off you’re staring at each other letting the water rush over the both of you. Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear you lean in and kiss her softly, wincing slightly but continue on.

Lin wraps her arms around pulling you close and spins your position gently walking you backwards until your back is pressed to the shower wall. Your hands run down her back as you look at her before she leans in and presses her lips on yours, you wince slightly once again, “Does it hurt?” she whispers and you shake your head “A bit, but i’ll get used to it” you hold the side of her neck and guide her into another kiss to emphasize your point. Lin’s arms roam across your waist then up to cup your breasts, her lips trailing down your jaw then down your neck. You let out a moan as you run your hand to the back of her head and change positions pinning her against the shower wall. Sliding your thigh between her legs letting it rub against her core “Lin…” whispering against her lips you lift one of her legs to wrap around your waist, your hand running along her thigh until you grip her ass. Lin moans and her breathing deeping as her body responds to your touch “y/n…”. She puts her hand up to your hair and pulls on it tilting your head back and you smirk while she kisses your neck, bringing herself to leave a bite mark. You grip her neck looking at her giving her a light squeeze before dipping your head down to kiss her neck then down to her breasts. “Your body is so intoxicating, baby” you growl on her skin. You’re about to lose yourself in Lin as you kiss your way back up, then you remember the dinner and lean your head back “As much as I’d love to have you right now, we’re going to be late for dinner” you smirk giving Lin a kiss gently biting her lip before quickly rinsing any remaining soap. Grabbing a towel for Lin and one for yourself, you wrap it around your body. You and Lin continue kissing on the way out of the shower and you’re about to step out of the bathroom when she stops you and opens a small container and carefully puts some of the healing balm on your cut. You give her a kiss before walking out the bathroom. Walking over to the bedroom door to close it before getting dressed, you pull your undergarments and pants on while Lin is getting back in the robes she had on before. “You know, as much as I’ve enjoyed seeing you wear those robes. I miss you in your armor” you smirk while pulling your tank on. “I do feel off not wearing it” Lin smoothes out the robes as she steps out the bathroom. You clean up your boots before slipping them on and walk over to Lin “Wear it tonight at dinner then” you kiss her cheek,

“Fine, I will”.

Walking into the dining room you get stopped by Su as everyone settles into their seats, “y/n before dinner begins I just wanted to apologize on behalf of Kuvira. She--” you cut her off

“--Su, you shouldn’t apologize for her. She’s old enough to do that on her own. Don’t worry about it. It just left a bruised lip and cut brow, it'll heal. It’s fine” you assured her resting your hands on her arms. “I know but as her adoptive mother I worry. You know Kuvira has had problems with her violent outbursts. She’s been better as she's gotten older but sometimes she does lose it.” you nod trying to understand Kuvira’s situation “Su, it’s okay, really. Let’s focus on Opal and enjoy dinner.” you smile and give her a nod, before excusing yourself to find an open seat. Catching the only seat available at the table which just so happened to be the seat next to Lin you happily oblige and to sit next to your beloved. Korra sits down on the other side of Lin, looks over at you and notices your slightly bruised lip and cut brow, “Woah, y/n what happened to you?” Korra sits down receiving a glare from Lin.

“Sparring match” you kept your answer short as you take a sip of your drink.

“Huh, I can heal that up if you want” Korra offers as she grabs her napkin and sets it on her lap.

“Sure, that would be nice. Thanks Korra” you smile at her before turning your attention back to the food coming out. You slide your hand under the table and lace your fingers with Lin’s and gently squeeze before letting go when Chef approaches the both of you. He sets the plates in front of you and presents the menu “Since our beloved Opal will be leaving I prepared her favorite meal, raw veggie wraps. For those who want some protein we have some seared wild Kyoshi-Elephant koi” he set the remaining plates on the table and you looked down at the wraps, “That’s nice of Chef to make Opal’s favorite” you smile and grab the napkin and settle it on your lap. “Hmm seems like a bunch of ferret food” Lin looks down unsatisfied at the raw selection and you chuckle while sliding one of the seared elephant-koi pieces onto her plate “Here, eat some protein”.

You pick up one of the wraps and start munching on it and sigh happily “Not bad” you chew your food as you look over at Lin who takes a bite. You stop chewing as you watch Lin taste the wrap and slowly get convinced “I wouldn't say it’s a favorite, but not bad”. You dab your mouth as you smile then look around and notice everyone in their own conversations.

“Did you want some of the seared fish?” Lin offers some to you and you nod “Sure, you don’t mind?” you slide your plate over so Lin can slide a piece onto your plate. “It’s fine. I don’t need this much”

“Thank you Chief, by the way nice to see you back in your armor.”

“Shut up” Lin looks down at her plate but you notice her lips curling up fighting a smile as you look down at your plate and taste the fish. It’s even better than the first day of the visit, it just melts in your mouth the citrus and herbs that blend with the fish. “So any idea on what the next move is?” you take a drink from your cup as you cut yourself another bite of the fish. “Well with Opal leaving tonight. We can leave first thing tomorrow morning” Lin goes over the travel plans with you and you nod understanding, “Sounds good. Hopefully Opal’s trip goes smoothly.”

You hear the sound of a metallic object tapping against a glass three times and see Su has stood up with her glass raised. “Everyone, if I could have your attention, please. Tonight, my beautiful little girl leaves for the Northern Air Temple.” She places a hand on her necklace “Opal, none of us could be more proud of you. You're an incredible daughter, sister, friend,...” she lays a hand on her daughter's shoulder “and soon-to-be…” Su bends down a bit and Opal rests against her mother's shoulder “..airbending master.” Su lays a kiss on Opal's head. You look over at Opal’s brothers and notice Huan slightly annoyed at the emotions going on in the room, Wing and Wei look slightly emotional to see their sister leaving as they sniffle. Huan looks at the twins and rolls his eyes. You slide your hand under the table and lace your fingers with Lin’s again as you smile proudly at the airbender. Su raises her glass up high “Here's to Opal. May she help lead us into a new era.” Everyone raises their glasses and says in unison “To Opal!”. You smile as you drink then add in “Opal, the living representation of the Beifong family symbol. The flying boar”. Here's to a new life of adventure for Opal. At least now there is hopefully one more Beifong near Republic City for Lin to interact with.

#TLOK3InTheseArms #lin x reader #linxreader #linbeifongxreader #linbeifong x reader #lin beifong x reader #fyrefics

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