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#[i am taken out by a sniper for plugging my fic in my tags]
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One of the biggest challenges about writing a modern OFMD AU is you might be really tempted to send Stede to therapy. Especially if you're writing a fluffier piece, access to therapy and the Internet will help Stede realize he's a flaming homosexual and get on better footing with himself before he even meets Ed, allowing you to bypass many of their canon struggles as your Stede will be in a better position to actually use his words and communicate with his boyfriend.
However. It will also cause issues. And the biggest issue is that your Stede will now know Therapy Vocabulary and it will add an immediate +25% modifier to his Insufferable stat.
Ed will be crying and having a bad time and Stede will sit down with him, hold him close, kiss his sweet face, and then say "don't worry Ed. You're experiencing something us mental health experts call a Symptom 😔"
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How about this: the Bad Batch all awkwardly flirting with Echo, trying to bring him into their poly relationship?
(ajhsdsjhk yes please I love this)
Echo is many things, but despite what people might believe, oblivious isn’t one of them. He’s an ARC, trained to notice even the smallest details - and in missions, those usually are the difference between life and death. What he wants to say with this is that he has noticed that the bond that unifies the Bad Batch isn’t just a platonic one; it checks out, he thinks: the only people they can lean onto are each other, so it makes sense that they would seek each other out for that too.
What he wasn’t expecting was for them to try and bring him along for the ride, which he appreciates and all but… Well, maybe it’s still too soon, he thinks; he needs time.
Of course, this doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy their awkward attempts at flirting, and what attempts…
 Since Echo’s healthier now he can go back to physical training, which makes Wrecker the happiest.
“I’m gonna show you all my favorite moves!” he exclaims, eager to get started. Although Echo’s eager as well - he really needs to get back on track - he also knows that if he allows him, Wrecker would wreck his shit - he really can see how he got his name.
“Make sure you don’t break anything important, please? I don’t want to be stuck with physical therapy again…” he warns in fact.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle…” Wrecker immediately says, smirking, although it doesn’t last for long as he realizes the implications of what he just said, which makes him cringe and stutter. “Um… I mean…”
Echo can’t hold back a chuckle, shaking his head. This doesn’t last long either, because in a moment he immediately goes on the offensive, taking advantage of Wrecker’s distraction to land a kick on his knee, making him lose his balance.
What? Last time Echo checked, there’s no rule against fighting dirty.
 Tech’s way of flirting is more ramble-y than Wrecker’s, but Echo still finds it adorable. He’s so earnest in the way he begins to explain some complicated mechanical process that even though Echo doesn’t understand everything he’s saying, it’s still a delight to listen to him.
Right now he’s listing all the features he installed on his new mechanical arm; some have already gotten lost, but Echo’s gotten most of them.
“I figured you’d want to be still able to connect to machinery and such so if you close your pink like this…” he begins, gently moving Echo’s finger in the way he’s supposed to imitate next time he wants to do it, and soon a valve opens at the center of his palm, making space for a plug that begins to come out, just like a droid’s one. “There!”
“I’m sure it’ll come handy,” Echo says, “Thank you.”
“I’ve also adapted the shape to the rest of your body,” Tech continues, barely registering Echo’s reply. “You’re so well proportioned that I couldn’t not do it…”
“Well proportioned, huh?” Echo repeats, fighting back a smirk. He’s definitely heard worse - he really has - but still that’s not what comes to his mind when he thinks about complimenting someone.
After a solid minute of Tech stuttering, Echo thinks that he must’ve broken him. It’s cute but also he feels kind of bad now, so he decides to do something about it.
“Thank you,” he says then. “Took me a while to get back in shape, so it means a lot that you’d think that.”
Those words seem to calm Tech down, who sheepishly smiles at him.
Echo, of course, smiles back.
 Crosshair’s idea of flirting is, apparently, not insulting him, which Echo appreciates he guesses, but it’s still peculiar.
“You shoot well for a reg.”
“Thanks?” Echo says. He’s never sure about how to reply to Crosshair when he tells him this stuff; he supposes it could be worse - he’s heard Crosshair says way worse - but it seems that the sniper has some sort of soft spot for him, not that he admitted it of course.
They’re firing guns at the improvised shooting range they’ve created for Echo. Now that he can move better he needs to improve his aim to get back to his previous levels; thankfully muscle memory is still a thing, so it’s going faster than anticipated. Still, it’s hard to keep up with an expert marksman such as Crosshair, though Echo likes the challenge.
“Really, you’re recovering much faster that I thought.”
Oh, this is new: usually Crosshair is a man of few words, but today he’s trying to strike a conversation - at least this is how Echo is interpreting it.
“I am, and it’s also thanks to you,” he replies, smiling at him, because it’s true: they’re helping him in many ways that he would’ve never expected, and he’s truly grateful that they’ve taken him in with so little hesitation.
Crosshair reels back like he’s just been hit on his stomach.
“Yeah, right…” he mutters. “Let’s get back to target practice. We’ve lost enough time already…”
A chuckle leaves Echo’s lips.
“Yessir.”
 The way Hunter flirts is different from the others’: it’s less wordy or more physical.
Echo doesn’t mind that at all - it reminds him of Fives actually - but there’s always some hesitation in the way Hunter touches him, though he doesn’t know if it’s because he’s afraid he’d hurt him or because he thinks he might be overstepping some sort of unsaid boundary, which is beginning to unnerve Echo, especially if he’s doing it for the first reason.
Eventually, in fact, he snaps: they’re walking back to the Havoc Marauder, and Hunter’s hand is hovering over Echo’s shoulder, barely touching it. That’s the final straw.
Echo takes Hunter’s hand and draws it closer so that it’s actually resting on his shoulder. There.
“E-Echo?”
“I’m not going to break just because of a touch, Hunter,” he explains.
“O-Of course,” the other stutters, making a pause and then squeezing Echo’s shoulder with his hand. “… Is this okay, then?”
Echo nods, his hand still over Hunter’s.
At least they’re going somewhere…
 “Wait! So you knew?”
Echo laughs at those words. Many things have changed since those awkward flirting attempts, and now Echo can say that he’s officially part of the group, officially as in he now cuddles with them and kisses them and… other stuff too.
“You weren’t exactly subtle,” he says then. He feels Wrecker shift from behind, but he doesn’t move away. He’s not going to lie: he missed cuddle piles, especially with these many people.
“Why didn’t you say anything then?” Tech, settled between his legs, asks.
That surely is a question. Well, there are many reasons why he didn’t say anything at first, but Echo decides to just shrug. “Was funnier.”
He hears chuckling on his left and he turns towards Crosshair.
“I knew there was a reason why I like you.”
Echo doesn’t have the time to say anything because Cross’ lips are on his. He smiles into the kiss, especially when he feels Hunter hugging his waist.
“Well, it worked, didn’t it?”
Yes, it did indeed.
Tag list: @maulusque​ @snap-p​ @menac-ika If you want to be added feel free to let me know! Just know that if you are a minor you’ll be tagged only for the sfw fics.
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