#So gently (rapidly actually) rotating it in my mind | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

no-droids · 4 years

Text

Promise Me (It’s Yours)

Part Eleven of the Rough Day Series

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 10K

Warnings: OMFG might be the first chapter of rough day to not need any warnings, can you believe it?? I mean of course there’s language, a splash of smut, and just the briefest reference to suicide, but pretty PG-13 this time my guys I apologize

A/N: I’m sorry I know people show up for the smut but I was feeling soft in this Taco Bell parking lot so here this is, I hope y’all like it. I guarantee none of the math is correct but please go with it

***

You jerk awake to the sound of whimpers.

It’s late. The bonfire is nothing more than glowing coals, and your back is resting against a scratchy log instead of a long, comfortable chest. You blink rapidly, trying to figure out where that noise is comi—

The kid. Fussy in his crib, his gasps starting to turn into quiet sobs.

“Hey,” you murmur, aiming for soft and comforting, but the sleep sits right in the middle of your vocal cords and splits your voice in half, making you sound like an exhausted demon. Weirdly enough, it seems to chill him out (did a demon actually teach him how to choke people without touching them?) and you sit up to blearily look around. Where’s Din? “Where’s—” you rub your eyes and squint around once more, “—where’d your dad go, bug?”

The clearing is bare. The field is, too—no path, excluding the one you three made on the hike here. Nothing in the distant forest, and the black duffel bag sits somewhere near your feet.

Alright, no worries, maybe he just… went to take a leak or something. Really… oddly far away. That’s fine. Sometimes humans have to do that—maybe he has a. A shy bladder. Or something. You’re totally fine. The kid blinks back at you through equally tired eyes, his head tilting as he seems to be taking cues from you right now in the absence of his father. You both should just try to go back to sleep…

Or you can wait up for him. That sounds like a better plan. Don’t panic, just trust him. Give him the benefit of the doubt, it’s the least you can do.

You take a second to look around again, still coming up empty. It’s dark out, but the moon is suspended high in the sky. The fire doesn’t even give off much light anymore, just dying embers. Your eyes scan the ground again, catching on the black bag at your feet.

Was that there when you went to sleep? No, the last person who had it was Din, and he was sitting over there, in front of the boulder behind the kid’s shield.

You blink down at the stationary bag for a few more seconds, studying it like it’ll spill all of its secrets if you glare hard enough, but then something sparks in your memory. Something odd, something you only noticed for a second last night. There was a red light that reflected off Din’s helmet when he reached into the bag for food earlier, wasn’t there?

You think back on it, try to isolate the hazy memory. If it was a laser sight, you would’ve recognized the bright beam and panicked, but you didn’t. It was unfocused, dim. Flashing.

Had… had Din brought a tracking fob with him from the Crest? But why?

Maker, it’s like your mind knows it should speed up but it’s still too stupid to actually do it. You should… you should check the bag, right? Just in case… you don’t know. You’re being ridiculous.

You reach out to catch the dark bag nonetheless and then unzip it, rifling through it for a particular item you figure should be in here somewhere. Food, food, more food…

Somewhere…

—It’s not here. No tracking fob here. No red light to be seen of.

Had you been imagining it?

No, you determine after a second. No, because you remember thinking it was odd—you specifically noticed it, clearly recognized it but didn’t contemplate too much into it at the time.

Alright, no worries, maybe he… maybe he went on a quick little hunt while you were both sleeping. He must’ve gone back to the ship to grab his armor and guns and then set off. That’s fine, there’s more food in the bag. He said he’d be here when you woke up, which most likely means morning. Right?

Cool. Cool cool cool, you can wait until morning. You can just settle back down against the log right here and find a comfortable position—there we go—and just wait for the sunrise, wait for the inevitable return of your missing party member. Party leader, arguably. He’ll come back, he always does.

Your body begins to relax, even though something still seems… strange about this. Like there’s something important you’re still missing.

… The field is bare.

You instantly sit up and turn back to study it in the moonlight, study the single path you left on your way here. You remember hiking at least… a grand total of two hours to get here from the Crest, maybe? Granted, you took quite the detour, but that just means he would’ve carved a distinct, new path on his way back—

Would he… would he really go on a hunt without going back to the ship first? Would Mando truly venture out—without telling you—to go collect a quarry without any weapon on him whatsoever? Any piece of armor besides a helmet?

Does that seem right to you?

Fuck, you suddenly feel wide awake, and the baby starts gasping out troubled cries again. You push yourself up to your feet and stumble around the dying flames to go comfort him, dropping to your knees next to the reflective sphere. Your head stays on a constant swivel as you quiet him, brushing the pad of your thumb along his wrinkled forehead and shushing him as you keep looking out at the breezy field of grass, trying to see if you missed anything.

Fuck, maybe you’re just overreacting. What direction is the ship? Which way did you…? You think back, trying to piece together limited information of what you can remember about today. Glancing back down at the log you slept on and then the path leading away from the clearing, rapidfire calculations start going off in your head. No, you realize after a second of frantic thought—no, the sun would’ve—if you walked…

Eventually, you’re able to pinpoint a general idea of where the ship should be, and if you’re right, then he definitely would’ve left a new path to get back to it. You don’t like this. It’s out of character for him. It sits too weird with you, and the kid rarely starts crying unless something is bothering him.

Alright, alright, don’t panic. Din is a professional. He must’ve left on purpose—you would’ve woken up if there was any sort of struggle, or even just an exchange. Odds are, he grabbed the tracking fob and just… went to go get the quarry.

Without waking you. Without telling you. Without bringing anything else with him. No armor. No guns. Just the fob.

Some strange sense of dread begins to fill you, one that feels all the worse when there’s no clear explanation for it. You won’t pretend like you’re an expert, but to a Mandalorian, that seems like it could be considered suicidal, wouldn’t it? What reason would he have to do this?

The field continues to wave, undisturbed, in all surrounding directions except one. You look over at the clearing leading to the dark forest, the treetops too thick to let anything but traces of crystal moonlight through. If he left… he’ll have gone that way. The only direction that wouldn’t leave a path.

Okay. So there's a decision that needs to be made. You can either stay here, in the middle of this wide open field until the sun comes up, and hopefully he comes back by then. Or… you could. Go check if something went wrong.

The forest is gorgeous from here, you can see that. Thick treetops, drifting gently in the breeze, steady and quiet and picturesque. Admittedly, you can also see a haunting, looming nightmare of darkness warning you to stay away from whatever it’s hiding. This is an unfamiliar planet. You know it’s safe, this is the most isolated sector and Din said practically no crime happens here, but. He also said he’d be here when you woke up.

Hang on, wait. Something catches in your peripheral. There—right on the other side of the kid’s crib, you see—

A glove.

… He left the glove. Whether on purpose or by accident, Din left his glove. The one connected to the vambrace, the one that houses all his controls.

The one that houses the comm link.

The piece of armor is already in your trembling fingers before you realize you even went to grab it. Anxiety, stress, dread—you don’t know which weighs on you heavier while you slowly rotate it in your hands, trying to understand what’s happening right now. He left his emergency communicator. The only chance you have at contacting him unless he decides to come back.

Panic suddenly constricts in your chest, and you make your decision blindly. The kid continues to squeak out little whimpers as your arm sinks down into the leather and you pull the gauntlet up almost to your elbow, flexing your fingers inside the fabric and feeling your heart beating in your throat. The controls are fairly basic, it doesn’t take much time to figure out which button he synced with the hovering sphere, which command he uses to lock the two locations together.

“Chill out, kiddo,” you whisper, doing your best to calm your own raging uncertainty. Conviction is key, you think. You made your decision. Not wanting to waste any more time in case something went awry, you sling the bag over your shoulder and set off in the direction of the trees, feeling… woefully underprepared for whatever may potentially face you.

The forest is quiet as you finally make your way past the first few trees marking its beginning, or end, and you need a second to blink and adjust your vision. It’s dark—if you thought it was dark when you awoke, it’s nothing compared to this. The treetops are thick and barely allow any moonlight to pass through their dense leaves whatsoever, just bits and pieces scattered here or there. There’s no path, no trail, just nature. Fallen logs, moss, rock and boulder formations you have to avoid.

You shush your agitated ward again, wanting to control yourself because you’re getting the kid worked up into baby battle mode with no visible threats to see. He reads energies—he’s capable when he wants to be, when he deems the situation fit. Right now he’s quieted somewhat but he’s still on high alert, recycling your inner panic outwards until you feel the air shifting around you, an… unexplainable phenomena you can’t even describe properly.

Well, you figure. If anything, he’s far more dangerous than any weapon Din typically carries with him. You tend to forget, most of the time. He’s never hurt you, no matter how boisterous the tantrums sometimes are, and you find yourself very rarely thinking of him as anything other than an innocent, helpless baby you’re tasked with protecting. Though it appears that most of the time, he’s been the one protecting you.

What are you saying? There’s no need for protection right now, you’re simply searching for your absent ally. You’re not being brave—no matter how quickly your heart is beating or how much your hands are sweating, you’re not being brave because bravery implies facing something you fear. You have nothing to fear, it’s nothing more than an abandoned forest. A backdrop for your endeavor.

Though… though now that you think about it, this setting looks eerily similar to one you’ll have seared into your memory forever. The forest on Corellia.

You will the thought away with a frantic shake of your head. Naboo is safe, Naboo is safe—it’s not like Corellia. It’s not crawling with people desperate for food and credits, desperate enough to resort to kidnapping and slave trade. Naboo will economically prosper no matter what threat befalls the galaxy, its industry comes from tourism and resorting.

You stop for a second, needing a breather. Just for a second. You haven’t been walking more than fifteen minutes but the terrain makes your feet hurt. Sure, there are clearings between trees and the ground isn’t complete overflowing with obstacles, but they’re still present. The scattered rocks dig in under your shoes and some of the bushes you pass by have sharp leaves or thorns—but it’s the sprawling root systems that prove to be the worst. They crawl across the ground like they can’t decide whether they want to be part of it or not, and more than once you stub your toe on a hidden tube arching a few inches out of the mossy soil.

A part of you almost has to remind yourself that you’re here because you’re looking for somebody, rather than being trapped here trying to evade something. The adrenaline and fear are starting to get the best of you, make you too antsy, warp your senses. You’re deep in the forest now, but not enough to feel the wind disappear yet—you can still hear it rattling around above you, leaves slapping against each other, branches creaking as they tower over you. You almost wish it were quiet. You don’t feel comforted by the breeze anymore, it doesn’t feel like an ever present reassurance as much as it does a burden that masks the noises you could otherwise be hearing. The snapping of twigs that could potentially be there. The crunching of leaves under feet that aren’t your own.

So. You should probably admit now that this was actually a horrendous idea. Because you’re fucking stupid for not realizing this earlier, but. Din ventured into this hellscape to find a quarry, did he not?

A… wanted criminal.

Shit. What the fuck. That’s a hell of a fucking thing to register this late, isn’t it?

You can turn around, you figure. You can turn around right now and head back to the campsite—actually, that sounds like a great idea. You should do that.

You spin around and begin retracing your steps… which, you figure out about five minutes later, is an impossible feat. None of your surroundings look familiar—or shit, maybe it all looks familiar. Like… trees. And fucking rocks. Trying to distinguish landmarks is almost impossible now, and there’s no way to tell which direction you’re going with no visibility overhead, no celestial body to guide you.

You don’t immediately panic, not until you (quite literally) stumble upon a small stream of water flowing through some stones under your feet.

Well, okay. That’s not good. Okay, well, no, you suppose that could be good. It’s water—it’s a landmark, sure, the tiniest little landmark you've ever seen, but that’s exactly the problem. You’ve never seen it before. Which means you’re most definitely not going in the right direction.

At this point, the only option you have is to turn around again. Maybe you can unintentionally make the same series of stupid mistakes once more to start you right at the beginning. The kid is still glancing around in his cradle, making sure no harm comes to your useless ass, but then you freeze when you begin to hear something in the distance.

It’s an unfamiliar sound—a deafening one, even from this far away. Long and echoing, a giant chorus of… something. Something you’ve never heard before, something you can’t place.

Your heart is thundering as you walk closer to the source of it, moving slowly and cautiously forwards and having no clue what it could possibly be. It doesn’t seem to amplify much as you travel closer, which means it must be a ways away still. It’s terrifying nonetheless—the anticipation, how sweaty your hands are, the way you’re very aware of the muscles in your stomach for some reason.

The baby coos softly at your side, but the suddenness of the gentle noise nearly makes you jump out of your skin. You gasp and look down at him for the first time in what feels like ages, clutching at your chest, but then—

—then footsteps rush you from behind and something grabs at your shirt.

You react completely on instinct, your body nearly throbbing with adrenaline as you whip around and launch a mean jab aimed at the dark silhouette behind you. It slams directly into his solar plexus hard enough to bend him in half and ripple through your whole arm with the blowback. Your other fist pulls back and instantly goes for him again, but he just barely manages to jerk his arm up and block it in time—

And thank the Maker he does. Because you were just an inch shy from colliding your knuckles against the side of his head in your wild stage of panic. The one currently covered in devastatingly strong, shiny metal, the helmet just barely visible in the dark forest.

It’s like it doesn’t even register with you—you’re already going to hit him again when Din’s hand hooks around your arm and he yanks you forwards. Your body slams into his and then he’s wrapping himself around you and holding suffocatingly tight. Everything inside you still wants to struggle against him, gasping into his shoulder as your heart continues to gallop with terror no matter what your logic tells you. But he holds harder than steel and the sound of his voice eventually returns to you after a moment, repeating harsh words at you through a familiar vocal filter.

“—me, it’s me, it’s me, I’m right here, stop it, stop it, stop—”

You blink desperately against black fabric, letting the familiar scent, touch, and embrace bring you back down again. He’s so solid—has such a strong hold on you, absolutely no give to be found, and the devastatingly tight embrace manages to quickly settle you.

But he doesn’t wait long. As soon as you stop fighting him, he releases you in favor of grabbing your shoulders and shoving you out at arm’s length, frantically jerking the helmet up and down your body and twisting you back and forth while he looks. Your arms dangle with the inspection and you readily let him move you around like a rag doll, not having enough sense to register anything beyond safe. You’re safe. Everything seems to exist in a box right now, far away and yet compact at the same time. The visor snaps back up to your face and you blink dazedly up at him.

“I’m sorry,” you immediately tell him, voice pitched high and awkward, “woah, hah—whew, ahah—I’m sorry, I-I’m just—“

His fingers hook at your chin and he pulls it up, tilting your head back and forth, allowing the small patch of moonlight beaming through the treetops to catch the water in your eyes. It glints in shameless betrayal, and you try unsuccessfully to blink it away despite the damage already being done. Din drops his arm and you lower your chin without the platform propping it up.

“You just—you just—” you gasp out, delayed relief suddenly filling you and making your voice wobble dangerously, “—y-you went on a hunt but you left your armor. You left your guns, you left everything. I didn’t know—what could’ve happened, I—why’d you do that? W-Why—why didn’t you t-tell m—”

He wraps his hand behind your head and pulls you into his chest once more, not saying a single word. This hug is just as tight as before, just in a different way. He still uses it as a way to calm you and it still squeezes the air from your body, but this one doesn’t feel like it’s entirely for your benefit anymore.

It takes you a few more seconds to realize his hands are trembling.

You go to pull back, but he tightens, anchoring you to him. “What’s—” you gasp against the fabric covering his shoulder, “—what’s wrong? Are you okay? Where’s the quarry? What’s—what’s making that sound? Are we safe?”

Din takes slow, shallow breaths, and you hear it almost too well with your ear shoved against his body. Little by little, he loosens his grip on you. Both of you are still panting by the time you’re able to wrench back and look up at him.

Bare, shaky hands push your hair back away from your face, eventually coming to rest framing both of your cheeks. They’re warm and strong where his fingers wrap around the bend of your jaw, securing you in place, and when he speaks, he sounds like he’s been through hell and back.

“Don’t ever,” Din whispers brokenly, tugging a little bit to make sure you’re listening. “Don’t ever—ever run away from me like that. Ever again. Understand?”

You stare up at him, wide-eyed and dumb, unmoving. Is that what he thinks? That you were trying to… to run away from him?

“I—I wasn’t running,” you immediately stutter out, blinking rapidly at him and trying not to let the confusion show on your face. “I’d never run—I-I told you I wouldn’t—”

“I came back and you were gone,” he breathes, his quivering thumbs brushing along the height of your cheekbones. “I—my kid, he was gone, everything was gone, I-I…” The helmet shakes back and forth the slightest bit, and then he drops his grip to clamp down on your shoulders, clearing the fragile turmoil from his throat and hardening his tone. “Listen, you can’t do that—you can’t take my kid and just… just disappear like that, please, promise me you won’t do that agai—”

“You disappeared,” you accuse with a whisper, but it’s like he doesn’t even hear you.

“Promise me,” he urges, shaking you enough to make your head bobble just slightly, and the quiet plead of his voice through the modulator compels you to acquiesce without a second thought.

“I promise I won’t disappear,” you vow to him, unwavering and earnest. “Now promise you won’t, either.”

Din stares at you for a moment, his body tense and completely stationary. He’s still breathing heavy though, his chest rising and falling hard enough for you to count. One, two, three… Seven. Seven whole breaths, before he finally responds.

“I promise,” he eventually declares, before taking a step forward and crowding you, pulling your shoulders in and slowly tilting his helmet down until it rests against your forehead. The cool metal feels like ice on your burning skin—but you ignore it and allow him to get as close as he can possibly be, to hold you tight and keep you there. “I promise,” he goes on, “that if you ever—that if something ever happens to you two, and you just… just vanish on me like that again—then I’d—I’d…”

And then his next words steal the air from your lungs, wipe your head clear of any thoughts whatsoever—the hushed, vehement sincerity in his voice. Yet… calm. Certain, composed, and with purpose. Almost as if he could only get you to understand one thing, then he would want it to be this.

“Then I’d tear this whole galaxy apart to find you,” he tells you quietly, tightening his hands on your arms and swearing an oath to you. “Both. Both of you. I’d—I’d never stop. I’d rain hell. Tell me you understand.”

“I… I understand,” you finally murmur, and Din quickly pulls you to his chest and wraps himself around you once more without another word. His fingers tangle in your hair and encourage you to rest your face in the crook of his neck, so you do. Even though his helmet jabs uncomfortably at your cheek like this, you do your best to just settle down and breathe him in, bring your hands up to rub at his back and wait for his heart rate to slow.

Eventually it does. It seems like it takes ages, but eventually he's able to unwind his large stature from around you, letting you have a bit more of your own space. He doesn’t take his hands off you, though—his palm drags down your elbow and catches your bare hand in his, gently tugging.

“Let’s go,” he says quietly, beginning to lead you… somewhere. Probably out of the forest and back to the ship, but you don’t question it and completely forget about the low rumbling still echoing in the distance. You follow directly behind him and away from the mysterious sound, the fingers of your right hand still laced with his left, knowing there are far more important questions to be asked.

“Din,” you whisper, but he doesn’t need anymore prompting.

“I thought I’d be quick enough,” he admits, pulling you along by your hand. “It’s barely been a couple hours.”

You stay silent and focus on your feet, letting him go at his own pace. More than once he plays bodyguard, standing in front of wickedly sharp branches while you and the kid pass, and there’s never anything said beyond a quiet ‘thank you’ every time he does it.

“I’ve…” he says after a while. “I’ve been doing this job for awhile. And there are things… things you learn. Quick. Ways to predict people, ways to get in their heads. Last known locations tell you a lot about a quarry. Smart ones go to populated planets, planets like Coruscant, planets that make it nearly impossible to find people. Brave ones go to dangerous planets, suicidal ones try their luck in the Unknown Regions, idiots continue to go about their business on their homeworld without caring. But planets like this—like Naboo… those are the pacifists. The ones that don’t ever put up a fight. Watch your feet.”

You blink and stumble over a hidden root nonetheless, trying to keep up both physically and mentally. Din tightens his grip and catches you by your elbow.

“This one was like you,” he goes on, pulling you up and leading you forward once more. “Wasn’t trying to run. Just wanted to spend his last few months hiding out on the most beautiful place in the galaxy before he got caught.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up? Why’d you go in the middle of the night?” You whisper, not upset anymore. Just trying to understand. “You couldn’t have waited until morning?” But Din just shrugs.

“I didn’t want to remind you.” His sentence is short and stunted, yet serves to answer all three of your questions without providing any information beyond that, the unspoken sentiment barreling forth and smashing into you full force. He didn’t want to remind you. He wanted to leave while you were asleep and then return before you woke up, never letting you remember that responsibilities exist beyond this gorgeous planet for the time being.

You’re a bit shocked, to be honest. In hindsight, though, you suppose it makes sense. Din was the one who navigated to this sector, kept the bag out of your reach the whole day. If the kid had decided to wake up just an hour or two later, he would’ve been back by then, and you would’ve never known any different.

“Anyway,” he clears his throat, and a wave tiredness suddenly grips you. Fuck. Too much thinking. “The quarry went willingly, they always do when their last wish is to chase down a pretty landscape. Nice guy. Found him camped out by a giant—”

Din suddenly goes oddly quiet, and you’re too exhausted to push it. You’re starting to drag a little bit. You woke up in blind panic and have been on edge ever since, and now that you know things are okay, your body just wants more sleep. The trees blur as you keep moving forward, zoning out and knowing you likely have another few miles of walking before you’re back.

You almost trip over him. You don’t even notice he’s there until you nearly run into him. In your defense, the only visible part of him is his helmet; the clothing is too dark under the thick treetops to see anything else. Still, it takes you a second, and you blink down at Din’s crouched figure in front of you, blocking your intended path.

“Up,” he turns to mutter over his shoulder when you ultimately fail to comprehend.

…There’s no way.

Hesitantly, you lift one of your knees to his side and feel his arm firmly hook under it. Emboldened, you lean down until your forearm can wrap around the front of him, and then you do a stupid little bunny hop along the curve of his spine. Din easily catches your other leg before rising up.

He bounces you higher on his back once he’s upright, and you’re automatically resting your chin on his shoulder and clinging to him, your heart filling with butterflies as he begins trudging forward.

It’s… oddly comfortable. As long as you keep your arms wrapped tight around his chest, you can bury your face into him and drift in and out. He goes out of his way to keep you as level as you can possibly be, trying to soften his steps so your jaw doesn’t bounce on top of him while he steps over fallen logs and ducks to avoid low hanging leaves.

Later—you’re not sure how long it’s been, his voice comes through the modulator, ringing with your ear pressed against the helmet no matter how quiet he tries to be.

“How’d you know I went on a hunt?” He asks, and there’s a soft reservation in his tone, as if he doesn’t really want to speak but needs to ask you anyways.

“Mmm?” You slur into the fabric stretching over his shoulder, probably drooling on it a bit, too. “Hmm?”

His voice increases marginally in volume, but still maintains a gentle undertone that lulls you into relaxing deeper. “You knew I left to look for the quarry—how?”

“Fob,” you tell him tiredly, not having much energy to spare the words. “Wasn’t in the bag.”

You’re too out of it at this point, it takes a moment to realize Din has abruptly slowed down. “How’d you know there was a tracking—”

“You’re… reflective?” You ask, though you don’t really know why you’re asking. “S’to your detriment. Sometimes.”

That seems to stun him somewhat, halting him in place for the time being. The biggest response it gets from you is the tiniest little eyebrow twitch inwards, wondering why the steady movements of your transportation seems to have temporarily stalled. “How’d you know I left my armor?”

“Hmm?” You ask again, not really hearing him.

“Hey, stay awake for a second,” he bounces you and you groggily mutter something under your breath that even you can’t comprehend. Din glosses over it while you blink your eyes open. “Tell me how you knew. You didn’t go back to the Crest.”

You drag your head off his shoulder and squint around, looking around at the edge of the forest and the flowing grass beyond and trying to think with your stupid, tired brain, really needing to focus on the question. “…No?”

The curiosity in his voice can’t be masked, not by him nor the filter through which it’s processed. “So how did you know I left my armor on it?”

“You would’ve left a trail,” you shrug. “The grass is tall.”

“I could’ve just taken the path we made earlier,” he eventually proposes, still completely motionless in the middle of the relatively sparse number of trees leading to it. “Gone back to the ship exactly the way we came.”

“Y’could’ve,” you admit with a yawn. “But the ship is that way,” you lazily raise your arm and point a good fifty or so degrees to the left, and Din follows his own outstretched gauntlet you’re still sporting around your hand with the visor.

“I’m impressed,” he finally says, shifting you on his back but perfectly content to keep his feet rooted to the spot. “I didn’t think you had a good sense of direction. You know where the Crest is on this planet but not when we were on Canto Bight.”

You snort a laugh. No, no you have no such thing—you got lost as fuck in this forest. A good sense of direction counts as a solid survival skill, and you’d say you still very much lack most of those. Besides pulling water out of thin air, you can’t claim to know much of anything at all in that department.

“Mmm. No, that was just—“ you shake your head. “Y’know, jus’ some… panicked? Math? That’s all.”

“Panicked…” Din repeats slowly, “…math.”

You nod, frustrated that he’s still not moving, clearly waiting for you to explain your rapid, chaotic thought process from earlier. Still, you do your best for him, trying not to slur your words too much. “We… walked towards the sun this morning to get to the field. I remember, because your shiny ass was blinding me the entire time, what must’ve been like. A whole fucking hour? At least. And… and then we walked a little less to get here, forty-five minutes probably, then me ‘n the kid watched the sunset leaning up against that one log, which was at a solid angle—little more than fifty degrees to the right from the path. You could’ve retraced your steps from earlier if you really wanted to, but taking the shortcut would’ve shaved off about...” you snuggle your face into his shoulder deeper for a moment and think really hard about it. “Thirty minutes? Or an hour round trip. Give or take, since the kid slowed us down.”

He still doesn’t move, and you huff quietly, feeling like you’re on top of a stubborn blurg that just can’t be fucking bothered. Should you squeeze your legs around his middle? Will that work?

“You… went on a hunt, sweet girl,” Din finally says, bluntly, after way too long of a pause. He sounds vaguely impressed for reasons beyond that of your comprehension right now. “In your own little… panicked way. How does it feel?”

“Unsuccessful,” you breathe, burying your forehead into his shoulder once more and blinking your eyes shut. Too much thinking, too much thinking. You need to sleep.

“You were on the right track,” he hums, bouncing you up and setting off again, and you can’t help yourself. It’s completely involuntary, tumbles out of your mouth without thought.

“Craziest bounty hunter in the guild,” you slur, and Din doesn’t give you even a shred of the laughs that deserves.

“I should make you walk just for that,” he threatens instead, though he does no such thing. He just keeps leaning forward in a position that can’t be comfortable for him and lets you fall asleep on his back, holding you tight to his body as he finally breaks out of the last trees and continues hiking through the familiar field to go back home.

***

You rouse twice. Once, when hands allow your legs to slowly slide down a firm body and settle on solid metal. He spins around to catch you before you can collapse, and then slowly eases your exhausted body down to the floor.

A bare hand cradles the back of your head until that finally settles down, too.

The second time, you can’t quite be sure of. One of those moments where you’re barely conscious, drifting to the point where everything around you could be part of your dreamscape, where you can’t trust your own ears or mind to differentiate between what is real and what isn’t. All you’d need is a single person telling you this didn’t actually happen and you’d accept it without question.

Pacing. Quiet footsteps moving back and forth across the floor as you sleep, pausing every once in a while to stand in front of your slumbering figure. Something unintelligible is mumbled as he walks away, the hollow thunk of boots clambering up a ladder. Engines rumble to life under your ear, and gravity gently pushes you deeper against the flat metal supporting your body.

The footsteps soon return and start to pace around once more.

***

“Hey,” a quiet voice murmurs, your shoulder rocking back and forth slightly. “Wake up.”

You blink your eyes open to a familiar visor looking down at you, his hand quickly leaving your shoulder and brushing a gloved thumb across your cheekbone when he sees you’re awake. “Mm? Din? Wha’s—” you glance around you at the dark hull of the Razor Crest, before blinking your tired gaze back to him, “—s’going on? Wha’ time s’it?”

“Late,” he whispers. “We’re in the air. I had to wait until the kid was asleep, but I want… I want you to see something.”

“What is it?” Still blinking blearily, you sit up, but then Din grabs your hands and keeps your momentum going until you’re slowly dragged to your feet. What you do when you’re standing upright doesn’t really qualify as standing or upright—you just sag against him with exhaustion as he wraps his forearms around your lower back, keeping you pressed tight against him as your ankles drag uselessly against the ground.

“Use your feet,” he reminds you quietly, and you harumph in a grumpy response. Maker, you want to go back to sleep. You’re sure you tell him as much, but he just shushes you and encourages you to hold yourself up, letting go while you steady yourself but hovering his palms a few inches away from your arms just in case. “I want you to put my helmet on.”

“Excuse me?” You ask him, swaying slightly and rubbing one of your eyes, not feeling amused. “Is this some kind of… power trip? Or something? Because you’ve spent the last few days literally beating me up, I’d assume that would be enough for y—”

“I let you beat me up,” he grumbles under his breath. “How are you ever gonna take a punch if it hurts you that bad to just throw one, sweet girl?”

“I’ll punch first,” you respond groggily, trying to move forwards so you can lean on him again, but being stopped by a firm grip on your shoulders.

“I know you will,” he mutters, letting go after a second to brush your hair away from your squinty eyes. “Listen, I want you to put my helmet on, okay?”

You nuzzle your head into his leather palm and hum, giving it some thought. “Are you gonna… turn on the light thingie?” You clarify, not being able to remember what the setting is called, and he nods.

“Yes,” he tells you very seriously. “There’s a… stars, a ‘noise thingie’ that I’ll turn on, too. You won’t be able to see or hear for a little bit—you’ll have to trust me.”

“Is this for sex?” You blurt as soon as the thought occurs to you, and Din sighs heavily, letting his head drop to his chest in exasperation. “Like some sort of a… sensory deprivation thing? Because if so, I can like—I mean I can get into it.”

“If I say yes, will you put it on?” He tries, and. Well, that question shouldn’t wake you up nearly as much as it does. You blink at him, actually registering the sight of the mirrored visor this time. Your gaze drops to see he’s back in full beskar regalia, his body looking even larger and broader with it on.

“Oh,” you say quite suddenly, remembering the question. “Oh. Shit yeah, I will.”

He shakes his head. You’re getting better and better at reading him—becoming more fluent in helmet, one could say—and this head shake says he can’t believe he’s actually surprised that worked. “It’s not for sex,” he tells you immediately, deadpanning the delivery even more than he typically would. “Will you still put it on?”

You look at him blankly, wondering why this is even happening. He said you’re in the air right now, and there’s… something he wants you to see? Whatever this is, it’s spur of the moment. Something he felt the need to wake you up for, but likely won’t push if you decline.

“Yeah,” you nod, “'course I will.”

“Close your eyes,” he murmurs, tipping your chin up slightly in the dim hull so he can watch. Since they already want to do so regardless of the gentle command, your lids readily dip shut and you wait patiently as his touch leaves you for a moment.

You’re already sagging a bit by the time one of his hands returns to your cheek, and then plush lips press gently to yours. The sigh you give him is completely involuntary—aching and quiet and longing as you let it go right in his mouth, your expression narrowing with concentration.

But he’s quick. He leans back before either of you can get lost in it and reminds you with a gorgeous, rumbling baritone, “You’ll have to trust me.”

You nod in confirmation and soon his helmet is carefully being lowered over your head. This is the second time around he’s done this—and you suppose if you couple that with your still lazy demeanor, the silent darkness that comes along with it doesn’t bother you as much as it did a few months ago. The padding still grips your cheeks and you still feel disconnected from your surroundings—even more so now than the last time he put it on you—but it’s welcoming, in a way. Giving you a reason to cling to him and tilt your head with the unfamiliar weight, breathing slow and easy while isolated in your own little pitch black world.

Oh Maker, you could probably fall asleep again just like this, so long as he keeps holding you up. But Din has other plans, clearly. He eases you backwards, continues to walk you back and back and back some more, and you have no problem just going with it. He’s strong, taking almost all of your weight and somehow instinctively knowing how to hold you so that you’re fully supported no matter how you’re positioned. He shifts you to one arm at one point, does something with his free hand that you can’t really figure out but aren’t really bothered by either.

He guides you both a few more steps backwards, and you start to wonder how long the hull actually is. But then he suddenly grabs you tight—tight enough to make your eyes pop open to the black void in front of you and panic slightly, before he tilts you back even more and suddenly the ground is dropping out from under your feet, the air rushing silently around your entire body.

Okay, now you full-on panic.

He doesn’t let go, thank the stars, even when you scramble up to straddle and cling to him, heart clanging hard against your sternum at his fucking audacity. The jet pack? Are there just no fucking rules anymore?

Sure enough, the thrusters kick in and he’s good enough with the phoenix to counteract the gravity shift as much as possible, making it a gradual thing instead of a rapid change in motion. You’re almost confident you would’ve slipped out of his grip and gone slamming to the ground had he not done the preventative maneuver.

Regardless, you’re gonna fucking kill him. You’re going to murder Mando and get your own bounty puck, one with your name on it. It won’t end well; everyone after you will have a personal vendetta considering you offed one of their own. If you survive the confrontation then you’ll likely get taken to mine spice somewhere for the rest of your miserable life, probably Kessel—that is, assuming he doesn’t kill you first, within the next however many minutes.

And oh, he seems like he takes his sweet fucking time, hauling your fuming, decapitated ass along on a late night joyride. Every second he continues to allow you to fly in blind, deaf isolation is another butt whooping you’re vowing to give him, and it pisses you off even more that you can’t even express your righteous fury because you can’t let go of him. You’re a parasite in midair, clinging to his metal body while he slowly descends, navigating you both down until you feel his boots finally meet solid ground.

You carefully reach for the ground with one foot and try to feel it with your tippie toes just in case he’s somehow tricking you, until Din drops you down and your feet mercifully meet dirt. As soon as you find your balance, you shove an open palm against the metal of his chestplate in anger and Din quickly catches your wrist, the beskar shaking slightly under your hand like he found the whole thing rather humorous.

You don’t have much time to fuss. He spins you around and then his hands settle on your shoulders, and for some reason… you only notice it now. The fabric covering your torso and legs is gradually becoming damp for some reason. You can’t feel any real splashes of water—no raindrops or anything, but it gets worse and worse the longer he holds you steady in front of him.

His hands eventually drag down your arms and elbows, until they’re catching your wrists and slowly pulling both of them up. Din cradles the backs of your hands as he presses your palms against the cold metal helmet around your head, and then he gradually begins to pull it up, and—

—Loud.

You stop for a second.

… Tears spring up.

Din keeps pulling.

What starts out as a dull hiss continuously amplifies as the beskar slowly lifts, growing louder and louder in volume until it’s a deafening, violent, thunderous roar.

Yet still, you don’t open your eyes. You just… listen to it. Let the sound of it fill your heart, the same sound you caught earlier in the forest but now amplified exponentially, almost surrounding you with reverberating white noise. Your whole body is practically drenched in water by the time you finally open your eyes and blink through the heavy mist.

He said no oceans, and he was right. It isn’t an ocean—it’s… something so unbelievably beautiful that you don’t even have a name for it. You don’t want one, not really. There isn’t a name that would be good enough. It’s easily—by and far, in your measley handful of decades of existence—the most majestic thing you’ve ever seen. A gigantic, enormous cliff dwarfs you on three sides, with tens of thousands of tons of water arcing over their sharp edges and plunging into the rocky lake below.

The cloud of droplets ricocheting from the base of the jaw dropping cascade is massive in and of itself—easily taking up a good quarter of your field of view even from this distance away. The shore sits close enough but the spectacle is still somewhat distant, remaining an untouchable heaven, a gorgeous lake separating you from it and rippling with waves that settle to lap at the sand.

The rest of the setting comes later, after you’re able to process the main event. You’re in the middle of the forest from before—familiar colossal trees wrap around the shoreline and vibrant shrubbery blankets the edges of the falling water, evergreen and fed by a constant nourishing mist. The sun is also beginning to come up. You can’t see it yet, but you can see the way the sky is starting to gradient itself from a starry midnight blue to pale lavender, the first rays beginning to peak over the treetops.

You feel yourself take a few, slow steps forward, but leather catches your hand from behind and gives it a firm squeeze before you can move completely out of reach. You don’t even have to look back at him to know what it means. The sentiment transfers seamlessly—be careful, he says, before dropping it and letting you continue forth.

Reaching the shore brings even more beauty to a backdrop you didn’t think could get any better. You have to carefully step over—oh, heavens—small, transparent crystals tinted every color you can imagine to reach the water, sparkling under the gently lapping waves. They’re like thin, flat shards of glass, and you know that if the sound of the falling water wasn’t so deafening, you’d probably be able to hear the muted crunching noise they make shattering under your boots with every cautious step. Jagged edges and multicolored powder is all that’s left in your wake, no matter how careful you try to be.

You almost don’t want to move since they’re so delicate and everywhere, probably blanketing the entire floor of the lake, but you push forward with purpose until you’re just close enough to squat down and dip your fingers into the cool water. It’s crystal clear and reflects the lightening sky with every gentle ripple and disturbance. You study the pieces of glass as the repetitive waves distort their shape, the colorful shards turning to smooth, round pebbles the closer they are to the water. A large green one catches your eye—circular and comparatively tiny, but standing out amongst all the rest.

You pluck it from the shore and let the almost perfectly round emerald sphere roll around in your palm, scanning the shallow water once more. Then, ah—there, you reach out and grab a slightly larger, heavier, unassuming brown one that you have to hold up to the gradually rising sun to see its sparkle. It’s got harder edges and feels rougher in your hand but you like it that way. You like that there’s a bit of a warm amber at its center when the light hits it right.

Perfect. Taking another moment to study your choices, you eventually end up finding a gorgeous, slightly pearlescent piece that sits just between the size of the other two in your collection. It’s tinted a pale, off-white amongst a sea of color and there’s something gentle about it that speaks to you, something that feels right about the gradual sloping curves and how it sits in your palm.

Carefully pocketing the three pieces of fragile glass and rising up, you glance back to see Din standing there, helmet on once more and frozen right where you last left him.

He looks… awkward, almost. Holding his hands behind his back, all his weight shifted to one foot while the other twists back and forth against the ground just slightly. Nervous, for some reason. Feeling unsure of his place. The posture tugs at your heartstrings, as well as the spectacular gesture, and you soon make your way back to him.

“Where did you… where did you find this!?” You have to yell over the rushing water once you get close enough. “I didn’t see anything on the navcomp—”

“—wasn’t—navcomp—” he replies, barely just loud enough for you to hear. You miss most of it, but you’re able to piece together the gist based on what little you can catch. “—quarry—isolated sector—uncharted.”

Uncharted. It’s uncharted, the navcomp wouldn’t register it. Untouched by millennia of progress. Plenty of people have probably seen it before, but apparently none of them have ever told anybody about it. The universe is vast but it’s also old—it’s unbelievable that cartographers have plotted almost the entire galaxy but they still missed something like this.

The roar of the marvel is so deafening, it takes you a moment to realize he’s still speaking

“—nobody—yet—it—” he nods the helmet out at the spectacular landmark, “—it’s yours—you want—”

“My what!?” You bellow, but he doesn’t clarify or add anything new. He just spins you around again, extending his arm out over your shoulder to point at the breathtaking view and then dropping his helmet down next to your ear.

“Yours,” Din repeats firmly, resolutely. Nothing more to be said.

You’re not sure if you’re crying yet, there’s too much water in the air to tell. All you can do is just instinctively lean all your weight back into his chest and let his arms lace around your body, and you have to blink the droplets away as they start to trail down your forehead and into your eyes. He keeps you like that until the rising sun begins to reflect off the cloud of mist at the rocky base of the monument, scattering light in all directions and splitting it into a beautiful spectrum that reflects every color.

You wonder if Din can see it. You wonder if there’s a filter on his helmet that isn’t infrared or night vision, where a computer isn’t constantly alerting him to movement or sudden changes in atmospheric pressure. Just… pure, unobstructed, visible light. You know there’s probably all sorts of tracking measures programmed in, you know he can zoom and spot a sniper from a vast distance—you know he sees things you don’t. Things you won’t ever see. But you also hope the visor isn’t shaded too dark—you hope there’s a setting that works like a one way mirror, if only so that he can also see the beauty of this planet the same exact way you can.

You eventually turn in his arms and take one small step away from him just so you can look at him, and sure enough, the visor is tilted up towards the natural beauty. Your eyes study every inch of him as if you’ve never seen him before, as if he may as well have taken the helmet off right in front of you. This is thoughtful. It’s so fucking thoughtful of him. For being such a mystery, this right here… this is soul bearing. It’s not an ocean, it’s a million times better than one and the fact that he not only remembered you telling him something like that, but he actually flew you out here to see it. It makes your chest ache with an unknown feeling, one you still have trouble recognizing. It settles down right in the softest part of you, makes your mouth open and give it a four letter name.

You say it so softly, confess it knowing he’s not looking, knowing he’d never be able to hear above the sound of the cascading rapids crashing against the rocks below. You can’t hear it either, but you can feel it. The way the word lilts off your tongue, the simple truth in it that’s impossible to hide from any longer.

He glances back at you, before doing a double take. Gently, Din pushes at your shoulder and urges you to face forward again, to take all of it in while you still can, and yet.

All you can see is him.

His head slowly turns back down to face you, and your eyes keep shamelessly scanning every bit of him, watching the mist droplets chase each other down the reflective metallic curves and contours of his helmet. Din slowly leans in, carefully eases his arm under yours and wraps tight around your lower back to bring you closer to his side. You sigh and press up against him, your palm creeping up the damp fabric wrapped around his throat. The visor doesn’t leave you, even when your temple comes to rest against his pauldron. No, he just allows the smooth metal covering his forehead to gently touch yours for a moment and hold there. Both of you tucked away in the middle of a hidden paradise, standing in front of a gorgeous monument crafted by the hands of the Maker himself.

And, like the two starry eyed idiots you are, neither one of you can seem to look away from the other.

You mouth a silent thank you to him, hoping he can read the heartfelt candor from your lips. Something tells you your message was received, because his grip tightens. As if in slow motion, his whole body lazily drops down just enough to scoop you up with an arm hooked under your knees—before Din suddenly rockets upwards.

You squeal and cling tight to his shoulders as he lifts you up higher, and higher—he slowly rises across the considerable length of the lake and closer to the falling water. You’re already beyond drenched but as he gradually approaches the base of the falling water, it starts raining down and splashing you in buckets.

Once he’s near enough to the powerful, arcing column pouring over the long rocky edge, Din carefully spins around and hovers until his back faces it, which means you can hide your nose and mouth from the splashes against the armor shielding his shoulder. He slowly rises up the length of the natural landmark and lets you watch the rushing water up close behind the safety of his body, sacrificing his own view so that yours can be all the better.

Eventually the falling waves break and you look down at the broad, gorgeous rapids flowing out towards you, the sun casting its dawning light over their foaming peaks. Din spins around and you adjust yourself accordingly against his chest, knowing you’ll never have a view like this again. He flies low along the river and you can see the colorful glass sparkling through the strong, yet completely transparent current. Soon he levels out and you cling tight to him, burying your face in the soaking wet fabric of the cowl wrapped around his neck and sighing, unable to recall a time you’ve ever been happier. It swells in your heart and warms your entire body even as it’s drenched in cool water, and you wonder again how he could’ve ever thought you were running from him. How could he ever think you’d run from him when all he’s ever done is give you wings?

***

The Crest hurdles through hyperspace while Din silently removes his armor and then strips you both of your sopping wet clothes. You remember your glass souvenirs at the very last second and carefully remove them from your pockets despite your closed eyes, reaching out to hand them to Din without looking. His palm catches the pebbles with the quiet sound of them clinking together, and you feel him pause for a second, probably studying them as he cradles them in the dim, single fluorescent light he left on.

You feel him leave you momentarily, hear him gently set them down someplace safe without a word. When he comes back and his warm arms snake around you once more, he lowers you down to the blankets and then proceeds to make the softest love to you he knows how on the floor of his ship.

A small part of you wishes you were still on Naboo, but somehow. Somehow, despite the dead quiet hull, it’s better than anything you can remember.

His naked body presses tight to yours, his mouth always open and tasting wherever you’ll let him venture, never letting you forget for a single second that he’s just as bare and exposed as you are. Your hands take full advantage, feeling everything. The strong, rippling muscles of his back as he props himself over you, the soft hair curling at his nape, the length of his spine shielding you from the rest of the ship, allowing you the opportunity to pretend you’re somewhere else if you really tried. If you tried, you could convince yourself you’ve got a mattress beneath you instead of a blanket draped over hard steel. You could convince yourself your eyes are open while he kisses you, despite knowing it’ll never be allowed.

But… you don’t. You don’t need to. There’s nowhere else you’d rather be.

And then at one point, his mouth is between your legs and you see a flash of his forehead on complete accident.

To see it on any other person would be nothing, it would mean absolutely nothing. It’s not like it somehow makes him anymore recognizable to you—plenty of people share the same exact features, you still wouldn’t know him out of a trillion different faces. He could walk right by you and you’d never know. Technically, it’s not even his face—it’s just a small fragment of it. But to you, the quickest glimpse of dark, wavy locks curtaining over the smooth, golden skin just below his hairline… it means everything to you. You sear it into your memory, right alongside the sight of crystalline water roaring over an enormous cliff edge.

You never tell him you saw. He never finds out.

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian x you #the mandalorian x reader #din djarin x reader #din djarin x you #din djarin #fanfic #reader insert

5K notes · View notes

knightyoomyoui · 2 years

Text

Momo x Reader- “Nobody’s Love”

"Momo, the moon is beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is." , she said, also looking up to the dark sky where a full white shiny moon is clearly visible to the sky. You looked at side profile features and boy oh boy, she looks so perfect.

Her smile faded as her eyebrows starts to meet each other. Then she looked at you with curiousity in her face. "Wait, do you something... Y/N? You know that phrase is..."

"I am, and I did it on purpose.", you looked back on her.

"Y-Y/N, what are you implying at?", she turned you around, grasping your arm.

You breathe deeply then released it with the same amount too. You slowly looked up to Momo while maintaining your seriousness. "Before you leave Japan, I just want to finally do this. To... release something off my chest. I don't know how I will be able to keep this as a secret for you knowing that you won't gonna be near for a very long time.

I like you, Momo.", with that, her eyes widened slowly. She continued to watch and listen you speak as you pour it with all your heart.

I really do, since we entered high school I started to get attracted to you. I can't help it, it feels everything is fine when I'm with you. Just with the sight of you makes me feel like i'm in heaven. Now I wanna know, do you feel the same too?", you stared at her eyes as you wait for her to answer, and you were hoping that the answer you're expecting will come out of her mouth.

"Y-Y/N... I... I don't know...", Momo looked away, scratching her arm gently.

"What do you mean?", you confusedly asked her.

"I-I'm sorry but, I don't see you as something m-more, Y/N.", you heard that... and it felt like your heart is cracking up. Your face starts to crumple slowly, with your eyes getting teary while watching this woman you were dreaming to be with... turns out it will remain as a dream.

You were my friend, nothing changed. Forgive me, I don't want to break y-your-", she slowly turn her head back at you. She was embarassed that she is making you feel a thing you don't even want to feel from from her. She didn't want this, but hey... guess it's better to be honest than to lie to yourself.

"I-It's fine, atleast I got my answer now.", you forcefully smile at her, hiding all the pain behind in it. " I g-gotta go now... I need some time b-be alone, please.", you rotate your body, your back now facing hers. Before you start to run away, Momo asked you one last time.

"T-this will not ruin our friendship, right?"

*TUT TUT TUT TUT TUT*

Your eyes rapidly opened, making you stare at the ceiling to figure out what the hell did you just dreamed of. Feeling irritated at the repetitive sound of your alarm clock, you hastily pressed the off button.

You rubbed your eyes first before slowly sitting up from your bed. Alarms are pretty irritating sometimes but today, you were thankful that it woke you up... because what you just had in mind earlier isn't really that beautiful for you to remember at.

You stroke your hair gently before stepping away from the bed. You head to your kitchen to start preparing food right away. ---------------------------- "Y/N! ARE THEY LIVE NOW?", your friend Byung-han asked you. The way he did it was almost like he shouted with all his might, so you couldn't help but to distance your ear away from your phone a bit.

"Yeah, they only have 10 mins before the countdown.", you said while gluing your eyes at the huge screen in front of you, showing Youtube as it presents a live featuring your favorite K-Pop girl group TWICE as they were doing a premiere live for their 1st English Single called "The Feels".

"Aish, goddamnit. Stupid traffic won't let me enjoy this much.", you heard a loud thud behind the call. Actually it was Byung-han smacking the steering wheel in frustration.

"Hey, don't stress yourself, just watch their MV and I'm pretty damn sure you will forget that you're stuck in traffic.", you smirked, sipping your hot coffee.

"Well you're right though.", you heard him sigh. "Agh, fine. Still, being in the house with pure silence is much better."

"Where the hell did you went anyways?", you asked him because it made you think why is he stuck in the traffic right now.

"At the bank, withdrew some money.", he replied. "Alright gotta go, I'm gonna watch their live now too. Finally it's moving now.", you heard him start driving again.

"Enjoy dude."

"You too, bro.", after that, your friend ends the call. You placed the phone back at the table and then you continued to watch TWICE happily talking about something while the clock is running out.

But, your eyes can't help not to look away at Momo, she's just too damn gorgeous for you to leave your sight at her even if its just a short period of time.

5 minutes later, the music video has finally revealed. You watched the whole thing and oh god, you were drinking too much water especially when Momo appears on her parts. You lost it even more when she was wearing a crown on her head then she winked. You touched your chest to feel how your heart is abnormally beating.

Aside from how her and the other members' visuals shined the most, you were impressed at how the music video was made. It was so cutesy and bubbly which matches perfectly with the mood of the song, making it even more bop. You always do observe focusedly on every details from the music videos you watch because in the present day, your job is actually a music video director.

You are learning too and when you got something useful in it, you're experimentally applying it on your future projects... as long as it fits and needed.

Some info about yourself here, you are a half Korean, half Japanese. You are actually living in South Korea now along with your father. Your Mom who is a Japanese, passed away and your father decided to go back to the country where he was born and you respect her decision. After college you started to find a job based on your chosen career and with that, you finally got one.

You directed some other music videos from some well known K- Pop groups, hiring you by their agencies. Sadly, the one you wanted the most isn't part of them though... and you are still hoping that one day they will call you to work with them.

The agency you're referring to is JYP Entertainment and ofcourse, the group you want to work with is TWICE.

Well, mainly because the love of your life is part of them.

Hirai Momo. Your childhood bestfriend. Your longtime crush up until now.

You are proud of her on how far she reached on her journey. Seeing her accomplish her goal of being a K-Pop idol, ofcourse it makes you feel so happy for her.

But at the same time it saddens you, knowing the fact that this is the reason why you two didn't see each other anymore for 7 years.

Yeah, you two are both in Korea now but it doesn't mean that you can just approach her anytime. Ofcourse she's an idol and it's not easy to get close to her. She still has the privacy and reputation to protect and you want to ruin it just because you're missing her so much.

Back at what you're doing right now, you noticed something at the end of the music video. It shows a poster containing some announcements, all of them made you excited but there's one thing that made you interested the most.

"A 3rd Full Album this coming November?! Ooh so they have a comeback.", you gasped while reading the poster. You saw the social media going wild too at the announcement.

"I wish I could make a MV for them.", your face dropped as you start to imagine again, looking out of nowhere while stroking your chin with your thumb and index finger. ---------------------------- 5 DAYS LATER

"Boya boya boya know... I know y- now what.", your sing-along plus dancing on "The Feels" got interrupted when it stopped due to a incoming phone cell from someone. You grabbed your phone, wanting to know who called you.

But in your disappointment, the number isn't familiar to you. That made you curious.

You just answered it instead to check who is this. "Hello, who's this?"

"Good morning, I am Bae Hae-soo, a staff of JYP Entertainment. If I'm not mistaken, you are Mr. Y/N L/N, a music video director sir; right?", the feminine voice behind the call said. It made you froze on your position when you heard the name of the agency.

"Y-yeah I am... wait, JYP Entertainment as in... the company that is owned by JYP himself? The Asiansoul?!", you panickedly asked. You can't believe what is going on. You were just wishing days ago and now it seems like it will finally be granted.

" Yes sir. "

"Is this a prank or something?"

"No sir, this is true.", Haesoon still calmly answered. You kept your composure as you let her talk.

"I would like to ask you if you are available to visit the building this Saturday at 3PM? Mr. Park Jinyoung would want to meet you to discuss about something important.", you felt like your going crazier now as you heard the mention of the boss too. Yeah, it is really happening... but you wonder if its gonna be what you're expecting.

"Sure. Sure, I'm in. Tell him to expect me on his office this weekend.", you said with full of energy, huge grin appearing in your face.

"Glad to hear, sir! I will inform him about this. Have a nice day!", she said before ending the call. After that, you went jumping in glee on your couch; as you finally taste the success of having one of your wish coming true.

You are finally be working for JYP Entertainment!!!

But your fun didn't last long when you immediately stopped, saving the rest for the next time after you learn what will be your task for the agency.

"What would be my next project this time?" ------------------------------------ SATURDAY

You just arrived in front of JYP Entertainment. Gotta say, it feels surreal to see yourself standing here. You looked up to view the towering structure. It made you amazed knowing Momo works in here.

You entered the building then you walked to the assist section first to ask your concern.

"Hello sir, how can I help you?", the female staff asked you after she noticed you walking towards her.

"Hello, is Mr. Park Jinyoung here today? I have an appointment with him.", you also showed the email coming from Haesoo, informing you about the scheduled meeting.

"Name sir?"

"Han Y/N.", then she starts typing on her keyboard. After a few seconds of searching for your name, she speaks again.

"I see. Okay sir you're good to go, sir.", you smiled at that. "Just take an elevator and go to level 5. Find a black door that has a namecard pasted on it with his name. That's his office.", she said as she demonstrating the directions.

"Got it, thanks.", you nodded at her and she gave you a "no problem" response with a warm smile before you went next to the elevator.

After reaching level 5, you start to wander around the hallways as you look for JYP's office. It didn't took long for you to find it when you stopped in front of a door that stoods out from the rest of the doors of the rooms around here. Just like what the helper said too, it has a placard with his name in it too.

You knocked on the door 3 times and with that, you heard a voice shouting "come in" from inside. You slowly opened the door and there you saw JYP writing something on his notepad.

"Good afternoon, sir. It's nice to meet you, Mr. JYP.", you shyly greeted first. JYP stopped writing as he starts to stood up from his seat to welcome you.

"Good afternoom to you too, Mr. L/N.I'm so grateful that you spared some time for us to have a talk.", he said, offering you a handshake and you willingly accepted it. He also gave you that smile you always see from him everywhere. "Please, take a seat.", you followed and you sat on his comfortable chair for guests.

"Well, I'm free these days. Nothing much work being offered. Why do you want me here, sir? Mind if I ask?"

"I have a girl group in my company that is having a comeback this November. It's a third full album-"

"Oh my god, is it TWICE?", you quickly imterrupted JYP which made him flinch in shock at you sudden action. You felt really embarassed, knowing how disrespectful for you to do that on one of the biggest Korean superstars in history. "Sorry sorry I.. I'm a huge ONCE thats why I know.", you scratched your nape.

JYP then chuckled after, looking at your embarassed sight. "No no it's ok, I liked it. Atleast I have another reason too why I chose the right one for this project.", he waved it off at you.

"P-project?", you asked for clarification.

"So for their album, they are now prepared. Songs, album copies, dance choreos, but they only have one lacking left that definitely suits for you.", then he paused for a second. "Guess what it is."

"Music video?"

"Correct!", he tapped his ballpen. " Now that leads us to the main point of our conversation today. We searched for someone who could be a director for the music video of their lead single titled "SCIENTIST" and I heard you are a rising star at this career, based from what I saw of your works from other groups... I must say I can't blame them for saying things like that.", JYP said as he showed you some pictures showing positive responses from the fans praising what they just saw in your works. He even listed the artists and groups you collaborated with so far.

"That made me interested of you so I would want to choose you as the music video director for TWICE's single.", JYP said, clasping his hands then placing them on top of the desk while looking at you straight in the eye.

"O-oh my god, I-it would be a great honor t-to work for one of the most successful groups in the history of K-Pop. THE NATION'S GIRL GROUP, THEY SAY.", you acted like you are getting dizzy, placing the tips of your fingers on the sides of your head. "This is a big blessing and opportunity for me! I accept, sir. I really do.", you looked back ay JYP whose smile is still not disappearing from his face.

"That was easy.", he chuckled again. "Well then, thank youand welcome to my entertainment. Don't worry, you'll have fun working with them, Y/N. I swear what you see in camera is just like them in real life. My 'daughters' have the purest hearts you will ever witness.", he confidently said.

"I know sir. Oh haha... yeah, it will be fun.", your smile went down a bit as you remembered that you will finally get to see Momo after many years of not meeting her since that awful moment you two had. You really want to see her but knowing how you two said goodbye to each other and how she made you feel before she left you for a long time still gets in your mind.

"Thank you really again, Mr. Y/N. I appreciated all of this. Don't worry, you'll get the amount of money you deserve after the MV has been released.", JYP said. The two of you stand up again, shaking each others hand to seal the deal.

You exit JYP's office, ending your schedule with him for today. Mixed reactions are getting into you but you're trying to get rid of the negative side and instead focus on the most important part which is getting a glimpse of one of your most favorite views to look at: the outstanding figure of Hirai Momo.

Before you walk out of the building, you saw a picture frame containing a group photo of TWICE during their Alcohol- Free era. You saw Momo in the picture, putting a smile on your face.

"I can't wait to see you again, peach.", you murmured to yourself. ------------------------------ The day has finally come and it is the first day already for the shooting of SCIENTIST MV. You arrived at the set with your crew preparing the equipments for the filming. While you help the others on what they're doing, a short haired woman wearing all black approaches you, stopping her tracks behind you.

"Mr. L/N, the girls are already here.", she pointed at the door where you saw Jihyo , Jeongyeon and Nayeon entered the set first, followed by the rest.

And there, you finally saw her, breaking the streak of not seeing her in person.

All you can say to yourself right now is she looks so damn gorgeous. Her looks really leveled up after she finally became an idol.

Her attention turned to you while they prepare a horizontal line in your front. Her eyes squinted while looking at you, as if she's checking you or something.

Your eyes widened at that. You gulped hardly as the nervous and anxious feeling striked you out of nowhere.

"Na dul set!, one in a million annyeonghaseyo, TWICE imnida!", they bowed their heads at you. "It's nice to meet you, director-nim!", they daid cheerfully.

"I am Y/N L/N, your music video director for SCIENTIST. It's nice to meet you too, T-TWICE. I am a ONCE by the way, that's why.", you scratched your nape, looking away from them while they laughed at how adorable you looked.

"I want us to be comfortable at each so- j-just call my name if you girls want."

"Sure, Y/N!", they all answered again. You may think all of them are speaking in sync but there's actually one who doesn't move her mouth right after you revealed your name to them.

She recognized you now as her childhood friend she used to have before back in Japan days and as the first man she broke a heart. She just keeps on watching you, in disbelief that you're actually here in Korea.

"Who's your bias then?", Sana asked you, smirking. You became even more shy abd nervous to tell them.

"I love all of you girls but...

Momo is my bias.", you gave a quick look at Momo who became even more speechless. Her jaw is slightly dropped and that's what made the other members tease her.

"Ooh did you hear that, Momoring? You have a fan here.", Nayeon says to Momo.

"She's too stunned I guess, hey don't blush!", Jeongyeon noticed Momo's pinkish cheeks turning red.

"H-huh? No i-it's a misunderstanding."

"Alright, now go prepare yourselves so that we can finally start", you said to them then gave a nod with a smile at the end of your words. They followed their staff onto the dressing room. Before they vanish on your sight for a while, you noticed Momo turn her head at you while having that warm smile you always loved from her.

"This is gonna be one hell of a day.", you thought to yourself. -------------------------- It's now breaktime and you just took out your lunch out of the bag. You didn't prefer to eat other foods because you already have one, something gave you the passion to cook for yourself today; you guess.

You sat at your black wooden chair and start taking a bite out of your delicious bibimbap.

While you're busy eating your own cooked lunch, you didn't noticed that someone was walking towards you, all smile on her face.

"Y/N?", you heard that familiar voice. You slowly raised up your head and prepared yourself to look at the owner of that voice.

You rotated your head on the side and the sight of Momo with her 'Break It' version outfit appears on your sight. She looked so fine in red, you thought.

"Hey, Momo.", you gave her a smile. The eye contact still never leave each other.

"It's a long time no see.", she chuckles softly. Oh god, just seeing her doing everything makes you melt like a butter on a hot pan.

She walked even more closer to you and grabbed your rught shoulder, you gulped hard at that. "Is this really you? Wow... y-you looked very well", she said while looking at you from head to toe.

"I-I could say the same too. You look so good today, Momo.", then she left you for a second to grab some chair. He then placed it beside you and sat through it. Now you two are sitting together.

"How many years it has been? Is it 2015 when I left Japan to train here?"

"Yeah it is.", you nodded, a small smile flashed on your face.

Momo then frowned, lowering her head a bit, looking at her lap. "I'm sorry if I need to left you. I didn't even had a time to contact you. I made you feel that I completely forgot about you.",she said in a low tone.

"Don't be, Momo.", you shook your head, still eating your food. After swallowing it, you continued to talk. "You're just chasing your dream. Sometimes, you have to sacrifice things to achieve something in life that you knew you wanted it for your future."

" Also, I'll admit I was kinda disappointed that you and I aren't talk anymore even if its just through calls ot texts, but I get it. You are a K-Pop idol now and you have to focus on your activities with your group, now that you guys are a famous now even in the Western.", you looked at her who is still pouting, the guilt on what she did. You slowly risen up her head by lifting up her chin. "Don't be sad, c'mon don't let those moments ruin your vibe today."

"Our goodbye isn't that great, right?", you immediately halted. All those flashbacks runs on your mind so fast after she reminded you that.

That night at the beach.

One of the most hated moments you had.

But not because of her, its because of what happened to your heart back then.

Yet you can't even do anything because you can't even force her to love you back just to satisfy your needs.

While you froze, you're unaware already that you've been staring at Momo while still holding her chin. Anyone who can see you both might think already that there's something going on between you two.

So with that, Momo slowly removed your hand off her chin and that made you bring back to the reality.

"S-sorry... I got... uhm..", you tried to come up with some reasons but Momo interrupted you quick.

"Don't mind it.", she shook her head. "Actually I- I was scared becausd I- I know you remembered that night and I thought you're going to be mad at me for dum-"

"Past is past, Momo. I already accepted it.", you said. You took the last bite of your food to finish it. " Don't worry we are fine. I would never let that ruin our friendship we built for so long.", you gave her an assuring smile.

"Thank you and sorry again, Y/N.", she grabbed your arm and slightly shaked it. You blushed at what she did. "I promise you, now that we had our reunion today... we'll gonna have more time together again!!! I missed you so much, Y/N!!!", she proceeded by ruffling your hair after. You just huffed at the return of Momo you knew for years.

"I m-missed you too, Momo.", you shyly said to her, fixing your hair back again.

"Let's talk while there's still more time. I want us to catch up on everything that's happened in our lives inside that 7 years of not seeing each other.", Momo recommended.

"Not a problem to me.", you just shrugged and the two of you continued to talk.

Little did the two of you know that the other TWICE members are secretly watching you both suspiciously as they think that there is something going on between you two, especially to that part wherr you unconciously stared at her while holding her chin.

It looked like you were preparing to kiss her. --------------------------- "I heard you had a boyfriend who's also part of K-Pop industry. How's he?", you asked her while sipping your iced cappucino coffee you bought from Starbucks.

"He's good. Too bad his attention is slowly going away from me. Not because of schedules by the way.", Momo said straightly.

"That's sad. It was 4 years isn't it? That was one hell of a relationship run."

"Yeah. I wished we could've reached longer you know... until the end?", the pain is now visible on Momo's face. "I really loved him, but sadly... we exist in this world where we are not meant for each other.", she sighed heavily.

You two went silent for a second to focus drinking on your respective drinks. It's already 2 mins left before you two return back at work.

Then, Momo decided to be one who breaks the silence as she came up with a new question. "How about you? Are you seeing some girl these days? Do you had a girlfriend now?", your expression changed from relaxed to tensed again.

"N-no, actually. I'm not interested."

"Why not? You should try it. You are a whole package anyways, such a waste if no one will experience how great of a boyfriend you will be.", Momo said it confidently.

And I want you to be the one who will experience it. No one else but you. You thought.

You don't know what to say next but glad thing that the bell saved you. It's now the time for the shooting to continue so you took it as a chance yo end your talk with her for today.

"Oh, time's up. Call the girls now, break's over. ", you quickly stood up from your seat, throwing your empty cup at the trash bin. Momo did the same.

"Okayyy... thanks for a nice talk, Y/N!", she hugged you tightly, burying her face on your clothing which made her voice muffled. You were completely stunned so you didn't able to hug her back. You just stood there like a statue.

She walked away to return back to her co-members, leaving you panicking inside.

You just received a hug from Momo for the first time in 7 years.

And god, it felt so good. The wait was worth it, you missed this cuddly and loving Momo you knew as a childhood friend. ------------------------------- 2 days have passed, you got introduced more to other TWICE members, and because of how you two interact and feel so comfortable to talk to each other... you became close with them already.

They were glad to find a new friend who just look at them as just a normal person rather than seeing them as idols, and they liked it so much. It made them really feel that they are also humans like everybody around them.

You also having time with Momo, living up to her word that she will include you on spending her free time. The more she's doing this, the more you're being postivitely sure that you will never ever gonna move on from her. She is and always be the one you will love truly, despite of the pains from the heartbreaking truth she slapped on you.

It is the last day of the MV shooting for SCIENTIST. During the break, you were just busy eating your food along with TWICE members this time, laughing at some topics that many of you are relate with.

The convo stopped when their manager called Momo about something. "Momoring, he's here!", their manager said to Momo, pointing at the door where it shows a man holding some flowers and some box of god-knows-what.

Your eyebrows furrowed asking to yourself what's with all of those for?

All of your sights turned to him. Momo stood up and left you nine to approach that guy.

And it made you weak when you saw Momo being handed by a bouquet of flowers and that box.

That gave you an answer to your question.

He is Momo's suitor.

"Who's that?", you asked, your voice got a bit deeper.

"Oh, that's Kim Changwoon. Brother of Kim Sangwoon who is an idol an member from Go1ng Up.", Jeongyeon introduces him to you.

(A/N: Yup that group doesn't really exist in real life. I just made it up lol.)

"Really?"

"Yeah. Too bad, if his brother has a great personality... he's the opposite.", Nayeon clicked her tongue in disappointment.

"What do you mean?"

"Dahyun, tell him.", Nayeon commanded Dahyun who is beside her.

"One of my friends outside of industry became a part of his collection.", Dahyun starts her story. "She told me that he is treating women like trophies and toys... like when he finally gets his hands on them, he will slowly lose interest then he will look for another one again to play their feelings.

In short, he doesn't truly like the girls he gets. It's unknown to her how many exes he already had though... but with all of that, it's not right at all.", she said.

"That's why we despise that bastard.", Tzuyu said while giving a death glare at Changwoon who is talking with Momo.

"Language, Tzu.", the leader Jihyo warned her maknae. Anyways, What Tzuyu meant is that.. we don't want him for Momo. Momo don't deserve a guy like him who's using her because she's popular. We tried to tell her about it but sadly... she won't listen.", she said, pointing her hand at Tzuyu.

"And why's that?"

"She doesn't believe what Dahyun's friend shared about.", Sana explained. "She thinks that he is not that bad and he's treating her nicely.", she looked at the two on the door after. "If only we have proof to show to her.", she said in a low tone.

"We really want to try convince Momo more but we don't want her to feel upset on us. She may think that we're holding her in control.", Mina said with her typical soft voice.

"But we're doing our best to finally capture that trash so that Momo can realize what kind of a person she's facing at.", Jihyo said, raising her voice a bit to express how frustrated she is seeing her friend getting manipulated by Changwoon.

"No I understand that. Thanks for the information by the way.", you flashed a flat smile. "Now I got curious about this guy, I can help you guys.", you said while looking at Changwoon.

"All I want too is for the best of my..... f-friend.", you stuttered at the end before you knew to yourself that it's not only the reason why you want to pull her away from Changwoon.

The girls nodded as they understand you, except for one of them who just rolled her eyes at the mention of the word "friend" then she returns back on eating. ---------------------------

The day before the celebration of TWICE's 6th anniversary, you went to a restaurant along with The School Meal Club trio: DubChaeTzu because of the punsihment you got for losing to a bet. It was actually about the drama you four are watching.

Your guess is wrong while theirs are right so to face the consequences, they asked you to treat them at any restaurant you pick as long as it is well-known. You have no other choice but to follow the maknaes because this is the only escape anyways.

"Please wait for the orders to be served, thank you.", the waiter bowed his head and the three of you did the same as an appreciation. He walked away after, leaving the three of you to finally start a conversation.

"I will surely get my revenge next time.", you pointed at the mastermind behind this punishment: Son Chaeyoung.

"Try if you want oppa, but you know we ain't gonna let that happen right?", Dahyun said, giving you a smug look.

"Yeah, free food is life!", Chaeyoung exclaimed, forming her hands into a rock-and-roll hand gesture.

"Shall we make it even more intense next time? Loser will treat ALL the members?", Tzuyu asked with her evil grin plastered on her face.

Your eyes widened in shock. "WAIT WHAT? NO, THAT'S IT I'LL PASS.", you said, swaying your hands parallel at each other.

"Why no? You said you have plenty of money, remember?", Dahyun teased you. She went laughing after that.

"You're rich, Y/N. It's not a problem to you.", Chaeyoung said.

"Wow as if you guys ain't also just l-", your words got cut off when Tzuyu interrupted you, shushing to silence you, placing her index finger in front of her pointing lips.

"Ssh! Guys, uhm... you should look what I am looking at right now.", you three followed the direction where Tzuyu's sight at.

There, you saw two person on a table. A man and a woman, eating together.

And they both looked familiar.

Momo and Changwoon.

Momo looked so happy while talking to Changwoon. She even bursted in laughter, as if Changwoon shared a joke to her.

The two are really enjoying their time together.

Ofcourse, your heart slowly shattered into pieces, your chest felt like it didn't move to the beat. Your mood just dropped at the sight of the two.

You can't help but to let the tears form in eyes as they start to overflow.

"What? W-whe- Omg that's-", Dahyun was about to finish her words but Chaeyoung continued it instead.

"Momo-unnie! Wait, they are dating here? Wow, coincidence that we are going t- Y/N? Y/N?", Chaeyoung just noticed you walking out from your group's table to head outside the restaurant. Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu exchanges worried look at each other.

"What's wrong with him?", Tzuyu confusedly asked. They stood up from their seats, ignoring their orders completely because their priority right now is you.

They head outside of the restaurant to look for you. They saw you in your car, sitting in the driver's seat so they went inside, with Dahyun now sitting beside you. "Y/N what happened? Ar- wait, why are you crying?", Dahyun worriedly asked as he saw you covering your face, muffled sobs can be heard from you. She placed her hand on your back, rubbing it gently to calm you down.

"What's happening, oppa? Is there a problem?", Chaeyoung asked, leaning her face near behind you.

"The problem?", you tried to speak despite the fact that you're having difficulty keeping yourself still while crying. You removed your hands, revealing the tear stained messy face of yours. "There, inside. That's the answer.", you pointed at the restaurant outside.

"Oppa, y-you're jealous of them? So... you l-", Tzuyu seems to understand now what is going on with you, but still you didn't let her finish instead you knew it already what she's about to point to.

"I am. I love Momo, so much... and this stupid self can't even get enough of her.", you furiously poked your chest.

"I've been suffering in this pain for so long and I just don't understand why- why is my heart still choosing her. I can't take this anymore.", you said, sniffing between some of those words you said.

"You have feelings for Momo way back before?", Chaeyoung asked.

"Yeah, back at the time when she was preparing for audition to be a trainee at JYPE.", Dahyun lend you a tissue to wipe your tears and you accepted it. " I was there with her at all times, supporting her and inside me I started to developed this feelings for her that I couldn't control anymore. "

"I stopped fooling myself and there I accepted the fact that I- I'm really in love with her. It just sucks that she don't feel the same way.", you started to sob again, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu joined Dahyun on comforting you, with Chae patting your head while Tzuyu is on your shoulder.

"Oppa, it must've really hard for you to love someone for a long time whom you knew she will not love you back.", Dahyun said in a low tone. " I may not relate the same way but we knew for sure how it hurts so bad... and we're here to help you, okay"

"Just let it all out, it will help you feel better.", said Chaeyoung.

"I- i don't know why I didn't completely moved on from her when after I found out that she was dating an idol too.", you stared at the steering wheel, the tears flowing in your cheeks went slow this time. "She's just too special. Too unique, I guess. That she's the only one who make me feel this way that no one else can do the same, myabe that's the reason why I'm still into her... why I am not looking for many fishes in the sea."

"Funny how I'm enjoying torturing myself letting the painful reality just for the woman I would never have a chance with.", you chuckled crazily, slapping your lap.

"Let's go to the dorm, oppa. Comfort's way better to do in there. We won't mind the dare for now, what matters is that you need somebody to help you... and that's us.", Tzuyu said. You were about to refuse it at first but they won't stop offering you so you just let them instead. Dahyun switched her seat, now at the back with Tzuyu. You switched beisde the drivers seat while Chaeyoung took the wheel.

Minutes later, you four arrived at the dorm. The trio opened the door of their dorm and immediately called the rest to join you four. The 5 remaining members entered the School Meal Club's dorm and after they saw you with your reddish eyes and messy face.

They asked what happened and you just quickly cried again. Jihyo went to your side quickly, like a loving mom she is to her other members. Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu shared it all and after they understood what happened, they gave you advices one by one. You gratefully took it all because who are you anyways to mind off their help.

You just stayed there for 10 minutes and went home. It was a relief that you didn't met Momo on the way outside, because you don't want her to be curious. You even requested to the members to keep it to theirselves.

Meanwhile, 8 TWICE members are discussing about you, until Mina came up with a plan. -------------------------------

The next day, you are directing their 6th Anniversary Celebration live. All the time you were pretending to be fine, masking up your pain as you're still unrecovered from last night. You were avoiding Momo's look at you because it just reminds you what you saw last night with DubChaeTzu.

After the end of the live, Momo teased you but you acting cold. You felt bad ofcourse, you didn't want to do it anyways but oh well your mood is affecting you that much. Good thing Momo didn't noticed your cold presence today.

Later in the evening, you got a call coming from Nayeon. You were curious why she called you so you answered it.

"Hi Y/N. We gotta admit, we were impressed by how you're able to show others like what happened to you last night is just nothing. As if you didn't cried like a baby.", Nayeon spoke fast already after you started the call.

"Let's cut to the chase, what is this for, Nayeon?", you asked her curiously.

"Mina, tell him.", you heard another voice from the background. You knew it wasn't Nayeons because it sounded more like Jihyo. Also, she's the only one who commands like that... mainly because she's the leader of the group.

"We come up with a plan and we need you for this Y/N.", Mina was the one who speaks through the phone this time.

"About what?", you asked, furrowing your eyebrows.

"W- we want you to make Momo fall in love with you instead.", your mind went blanl after. You can't believe what Mina just said so you asked it again for clarification.

"D-did I h-heard you right?"

"You did, Y/N.", Jihyo said.

"Are you guys serious? I- I can't do this. It's not gonna work, I swear.", you said, chuckling while swiping your hand in the air. "Almost 8 years of chasing her feeling and did something happened magical? No. Present will have no difference like in the past, girls. Nice try but... no thank you."

"So you're just gonna let Changwoon make Momo as her newest addition to her collection?", Nayeon asked you.

"Just stop that.", you huffed. " We don't even know... maybe he finally changed. Also, he's making Momo having fun on his presence. I just can't ruin her happiness just because I want her to be... mine.", your lips are twitching as you felt yourself about to break down once again with the sudden drop of your emotions.

"Look at this, now tell me if you can still tell that he changed.", Jihyo said as she sent you something in your account. You looked up to it and there, it shows a picture of Changwoon with some two other girls about to enter a bar. The two women are clinging onto Changwoon's both arms.

"What the hell... w-when did you guys took this? ", you said while zooming even closer at the prick's face.

"We were going to Jeongyeon's house at that time, and at the exact moment we noticed Changwoon entering a bar along with two women on his arms.", Jihyo explained just like what you suspected as you looked in the picture. "It really seems that he had a great time at that night."

"That bar he's visiting in is just near at Jeongyeon's place.", Nayeon added.

"Now I ask you again, Y/N. Would you let Momo lend her heart on this playboy?", Mina asked you again. You keep on staring at Changwoon's face and you swear that your eyesight is going blurry and darker due to the burning anger you feel at this man. How dare he come near at Momo being like that.

They were right, Momo don't deserve a guy right him. She deserves someone better, a man who would treat her right. A man who will surely give her everything: love, care, time and many more.

With the girls opinion, you are the only best option for that, especially because you are the closest one to Momo.

And now... thinking about all of it deeply, you're starting to finally make up your mind.

"Admit it, Y/N. You wanted this. It's your opportunity. We're giving you already this moment to shine. Show her and prove it what's better for her... and that is you!", Mina continued to encourage you up even more. It gave you more determination to do what is right. "So, are you in with the plan or not?"

Seven years, she rejected you... but that was in the past.

Trying something is always free to do, and you won't lost anything if you do it.

Now in the present, being on her side once again... you don't know if this Momo still feels the same as what she felt about you in the past.

The chance... you need to take it this time. She free and single.

You need to take your turn now before it's too late.

"Show her and prove it what's better for her... and that is you!". Those words by Mina echoed in your mind.

"Don't worry, Y/N, you got our back. We will make it easier for you. You deserve it, you went through a lot now.", Nayeon said, adding the strength of encouragement gave by Mina.

You finally stop deciding what to do, because now... you finally chose the best option.

"I- i.... I accept.", you finally said it, the one they've been wanting from you to say.

"I'm doing this because I love her so much. I'll get rid of the trash and I'm doing my best to win her heart this time. I never had an oppurtunity before, so I must do it at this time where I have one already. Whatever it takes."

"Finally. Go get her, Y/N!", Jihyo cheered for you. You can't help but to mumble how thankful you are to meet these girls in your life. It's been only weeks but you felt this strong bond with them.

"Thanks, girls. Appreciated it.", you ended the call. You placed your phone in your desk and then you sat at your bed. You inhaled and exhaled before going to sleep as you prepare for what's about to come for the plan to start tomorrow.

Meanwhile... "You're a genius, Mina.", Nayeon said, standing up and pats Mina's shoulder before walking out of their dorm.

"Mission success.", Mina said, showing her proud gummy smile which Jihyo did the same. ------------------------------

More days have passed and yeah you started to perform the plan. You acted different this time to Momo. You became more sweet, caring, funny, hell... you're even giving her some slick moves as a tease. You also thank the girls again for keeping Momo's focus at you and not from Changwoon.

And it is improving, sometimes you noticed that Momo is being distant from Changwoon and rather be with you instead. That left Changwoon confused why Momo is like that but he just shrugged it away, thinking that maybe Momo is just too busy.

But ofcourse, that's not the main reason.Well, he had many girls. Why would he feel sad, sulk and disappointed if he still has many replacments or reserved women to play with.

Momo didn't even invited him on hrr birthday, but you were instead. Happiness overload indeed.

What you didn't know is that just before Mina came up with a plan and while Changwoon is courting her, she started to feel somethjng different from you. Almost a week after each other's reunion.

It's like... way more than a friend, like what you just feel for her.

She may be enjoying having time together with Changwoon but there's nothing any more than that. And when you started to act different from her, she just let herself go with flow with you. She's taking your attention and she's willing to give it to you.

And since she's enjoying it, it's not that hard for her to distance herself away from Changwoon sometimes because she didn't even liked him though. She's doing it just so that she can have time with you.

Back at the present, you are now inside their dorm, celebrating with the members on Momo's 25th birthday. You all did a karaoke session and now it is your turn to sing.

"It's your turn now, oppa! Sing for us pleaseee!", Sana said, giving you the mic while pouting.

"B-but I can't-"

"Liar, don't hide your great voice to them. Don't lie to me, I heard how well you sing before Y/N.", Momo said seriously. She also wants to hear you sing that's why she don't you to reject it.

"Alright, give me the mic.", Sana lets go of her hand as she finally gave it to you. Now, you were the one holding the microphone this time.

",Yeheyyy! Omg we're gonna see Y/N sing! Let us hear it!", Sana clapped in glee, as well as the other members. Momo even smiled at the sight of you clearing your throat as you looked at the songbook to choose the song you will sing.

After picking it, you pressed the numbers and saved it. You stood up, standing in the middle. Now you're facing all of them, which looks like you were there to perform in front of them.

"This is for you, birthday girl. I know how special this day is for you... so let me give you something special too. You'll love this.", you pointed at Momo which made her smile. She was really touched knowing you will dedicate a song for her.

Welcome back to you, indeed.

The title of the song starts to appear on the screen as the countdown starts to run out. As the voice from the karaoke finished counting 3..2...1, the music starts to play as you were about to sing "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John.

Momo immediately noticed it as all the nostalgia hits her. She remembers the first time she heard that song from you as you're singing it if you are bored. Then, it coincidentally happened that it was Momo's dad favorite song that he used to sing to her many times.

You loved to listen at this song because you think that the title suits her so well.

Back then, you were a boy who loves to listen to music and then sings as much as you want anx then one day you met her as a little girl who loves to dance... ended up building a friendship that lasted long until it was stopped when she left Japan for her dream.

Blue-jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band Pretty-eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man Ballerina, you must've seen her dancing in the sand And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand

Jesus freaks out in the street Handing tickets out for God Turning back, she just laughs The boulevard is not that bad

Piano man, he makes his stand In the auditorium Looking on, she sings the songs The words she knows, the tune she hums

But, oh, how it feels so real Lying here with no one near Only you and you can hear me When I say softly slowly

Hold me closer, tiny dancer Count the headlights on the highway Lay me down in sheets of linen You had a busy day today

After you repeatedly sing the lyrics again for the second time, the song ended, earning you a loud round of applause from the girls. Momo was completely blushing, it felt so great to see you singing that again for her.

"Momo unnie is right! Wow you're talented, Y/N!", Dahyun said while clapping with her hands.

"Hehe, thanks.", then you went back at your seat. You looked at Momo which she did the same too, and both of you exchanged a smile at each other, not knowing that there's much more meaning those curves in each other lips you both showing. ------------------------------- "Well yeah, so this is it. I have to go now.", you said after wiping your hands as you just finished washing the dishes. You and Momo volunteered to clean up the leftovers. Jeongyeon was about to join but knowing about the plan, the girls just let the two of you instead.

You opened the door of their dorm, about to head out."Thank you so much for coming, Y/N. You don't know how it meant for me.", Momo said, caressing her arm.

"I will do everything for my friend. Happy Birthday again, peach.", you said then you pinched her cheek. She got fluttered on what you did, but it hurt a bit too when you said the f- word.

Looks like she was way too late now. It was all gone already, she thought.

But she didn't care, she still initiated what she wanted to do. She then gave you a tight hug after. She will not let you be the one who will gave a heart fluttering gesture. "Have a safe way to home, Y/N."

"I-I... I w- I- will.", you stuttered. You waved goodbye at her. After she closed the door, she placed her hands on her chest, feeling the fast heartbeat she's having.

I can't believe this, I'm literally falling in love for my friend. she thought to her.

Meanwhile, you were squealing inside because of that skin to skin contact you had with Momo. You will never get tired locking yourself up on her arms. ------------------------------ The day before the SCIENTIST MV premiere, you arrived at JYP Entertainment to have a meeting with the staffs. While walking towards the elevator, you saw something in the end of the hallway.

It was Momo and Changwoon talking about something.

But it didn't felt right as you saw Momo's irritated face. It made you think that maybe Changwoon is disturbing her or something.

You continued to wach them until suddenly, you saw something that completely crossed the line for you.

Changwoon grabbed Momo's arms and tried to forcefully pull her for a kiss. Momo was fighting back, not wanting to give it to him.

You ran towards them and then you moved Changwoon away from Momo who is now getting uncomfortable.

"Hey! Can you leave her alone? Don't you see she's getting uncomfortable on what you're doing?", you madly saidto Changwoon who is fixing his sleeve.

"And who the fuck are you to stick your nose on others's business?", Changwoon then pushed you. You stepped backwards by the impact.

"I'm her friend and protector, so you better watch your damn mouth and don't you dare lay your hands on her again.", you gave her a warning sign by just staring at him as if you can clearly see his soul inside.

"I don't have time to confront tou so better step aside as we talk more about us. Now, piss off.", he shoved you off aside as he was about to approach Momo again but you immediately blocked your arm at his way.

"No can do.", you shook your head.

"You really want the hard way do you?", he starts to clench his fist and pop the bones of his knuckles, signalling that he is ready to fight. Momo is getting worried now, not wanting to something worse about to happen next.

"Changwoon, stop! Just leave him alone, okay?"

"You don't want to do this.", you said to him.

He looked away for a second then he tried to gave you a huge blow out of nowhere but you caught it. You bumped his fist to his chest then pushed him through the wall, giving a pain on both his front and back. The employees in JYPE starts to notice you and Changwoon having a brawl so they immediately called for a security.

He then kicked you the gut and slammed his elbow at your back. He was about to throw you in the wall but you catched his leg and flipped him on the floor. The guards arrived early and separated you two from each other.

"This isn't over yet! Screw you for ruining my moment!", Changwoon angrily said while he is being grabbed by the guards to kick him out of the building.

You didn't have any more time to argue with him so you quickly checked on Momo who is silent but the worried expression can be seen on her face.

"Are you okay?", you asked her, holding her arms and lifted it.

"N-nothing.", she shook her head. "I should be the one asking you that.", she then placed her hand on your torso, she can feel the hard pecs of your body. She was blushed by this but she didn't mind it, all she cared about right now is what you just did for her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry.", you gave her an assuring smile. Changwoon's kick is a no joke, mostly because the shoe he's wearing is pointed and it hit directly at the bone of your rib cage. Good thing it didn't fractured your bone.

"Good to hear you're okay too.", then after that, an employee informed you that JYP wants to see you ASAP on his office. You saw the other members of TWICE coming at your way. "Now stay here while I talk to JYP.", you said to Momo. The girl reached you two. They were about to ask what happened but you didn't mind it for a while because the boss wants you for a talk right now.

"Girls, join her for a while please.", yiu left them and walked hurriedly through the elevator. While on your way to JYP's office, the girls checked on Momo. ------------------------- 20 minutes later, you stepped out of JYP's office. You return back at the spot where you left them but they aren't there so you went next at the place where they are usually staying in this building: the dance practice room.

And you were right, they were there but Momo was waiting for you outside. She ran ahead through you and gave you a crushing hug, placing her face just near at your collarbone.

"Y/N... I just want to say thank you so much... for what you did earlier. I shouldn't give her chance to court. If only I knew he was a-",

"Hey, Momo don't worry it's okay.", you patted her back gently.

"Atleast you finally know the truth and you admit the mistakes you did. You know I will do anything for you, right? I will not let anything happen to you because you're my-"

"Bestfriend, yeah I know.", Momo cutted you off, releasing herself from the hug. She looked up to you but with frown on her face. "...but, am I too late now, Y/N?"

"What?", your eyebrows furrowed.

"I know this is shocking but... Y/N, I like you. I don't want you to look at me just as a friend.", she said, lowering her look at you. Your eyes blinked repeatedly, trying to process what did she just said to you. Did she really confessed? And you are so puzzled to make yourself believe that this is true.

You knew Momo rejected you before because he didn't liked you too but... what's happening right really turned a lot of tables. You can't believe that all of what you were thinking about while Nayeon, Jihyo and Mina told you about the plan is all coming together now and is about to give you the best memory of your entire life so far.

"Now I understand why I feel something lacking on what Changwoon is giving to me. I can't find on him that something I was looking for... because all I was searching for, I found it on you. Like I said, you were a whole package and a true ideal man for any girls out there. I never thought that there will be a time that I will finally fall for you, Y/N... and now here I am... telling you this.",

"I'm sorry if I never gave you a chance before.", she started to cryas her sniffs can be heard from her now. With this sight you can't help but to feel your heart is slowly tearing apart because first of all you really don't want her looking like this. "If only I let myself became yours way back 7 years ago. If only I feel the same for you at that time. I shouldn't left you brokenhearted Y/N. I shouldn't made you wait for so long.I regret it. I regret it so much. I wasted the opportunity. If only I could love y-", her sobs are getting louder so you wanted her to stop already so you cupped her cheek and then wiped the tears on her eyes using your thumb.

"Stop it. You should stop now, Momo.", you said breathily. You cleared your throat as you sensed that your voice is a bit shaky now, controlling your emotions. "Don't blame yourself on everything. I also have fault here, not only you. Im still in love with you, Momo. I do. Time passed but nothing changed, and I'm still into you.", her eyes widened as she gasps from what you just said. The black orbs of her eyes went all glittery and shiny while she astoundedly stared at you while you pour your heart onto her too.

"I took so much pain and suffering believing to the fact that you and I will never be together... but I didn't stop because I just can't get enough of you."

"Now here we are. Who knew that one day will come that this will all turn out unreal. So don't cry, okay? All that matters now is that we finally know you and I both love each other... and I will prove to you that I am the one who is right for you."

"I love you, Hirai Momo. Always and forever."

"I will never gonna need nobody's love because all I need is yours.", you placed some strands of her hair behind her ear as you said those words in a low tone.

After you finally confessed to her too, she didn't waste any more time as she pulled your head on hers to connect each others lips, sealing it all with a kiss made with pure love. You two gave a gap at each others faces and breathes for a second to calm each other down.

"You have my trust, Y/N. I love you too. Thank you and I'm sorry for everything. I will repay you the same, I promise.", she holds your hands and squeezed it gently.

"The kiss... wow, it was...magical.", you chuckled. She laughed at it too, because she can't deny that it is true.

"Yeah, it is.", Momo said, nodding her head. Her expression changed again from joy to sadness. "Anyways, what happened in there? D-did JYP sunbaenim asked you to leave n-now?"

"Actually, no.", you snapped your fingers. "He heard my story and after that he didn't scold me actually because I was just protecting you, Changwoon started it anyways. He even made me as your group's personal content director because there was like... something happened from your group's previous director, I guess?", you shurgged your shoulders. "So from now on it means.......... I ain't going nowhere. You and I will always be on each other's side from now on, and we will spend our time together so well.", you cupped her cheeks again.

"Glad to know you are.", and then, you two went for a hug again, both grateful for this fresh start of this new relationship with your childhood friend turned girlfriend and maybe... soon to be your wife in the future, Hirai Momo. ------------------------------ The day has come. It is now officially the start of their new era as their comeback SCIENTIST along with its album and music video all will be about to released today.

As their new personal director, you will once again directing their live today.

While waiting for the time to start the live, you were talking with the girls who are just chilling out beside the set. They were all dressed up with their "Study" version attire, looking like a college science professors.

"I really can't believe my plan worked.", Mina said while tapping her heels on the floor.

"So all of you were on Y/N's side all along huh?", Momo snorted then smirked after.

"You should thank us for that.", Jihyo said. You gave Momo a thumbs up, showing that you agree with what Jihyo said.

"I am.", then she clinged on your arm. You placed the side of your head on her crown.

"Well then, let's go to the set now cuz the boyfie's is here anyways. Let's not disturb a lovey dovey moment between these two honeybunches.", Jeongyeon teasily said and even pushed your shoulders, making you bump even closer at Momo. All of you went cringed at how Jeongyeon said that last word but she just laughed it off.

Ahh, the pranking/teasing queen on TWICE herself.

After they went through the set, Momo removes herself from leaning at the wall. You faced her to look at her, tracing every side of her appealing face. "Hey, you ready?"

"As always."

"Good.", you nodded. Then you looked at her from head to toe, appreciating her alluring look. " Dang, you look really good in professor outfit. If you're my teacher, I will never going to be absent."

She laughed while blushing, shaking your arm playfully. "Silly, Y/N. Well, if you're my student then I will never going to get tired teaching. ", she then traced her finger on your jawline. You gulped hardly because you admit that what Momo's doing right now is freaking sedictive. "I would love to even give you a high grades... if you will just be a good student for me.", she smirked.

"Oh yes I will, maam.", you rolled your eyes as your snorted at your remark. After that short fun you two are having, your expression changed, biting your lip as you felt anxious immediately. Momo noticed that also.

"Is there something wrong?"

"I hope the fans will like what I did to the MV.", you gave her a small smile then you sighed.

"Believe in ONCEs like I do. They will surely like it. Trust me.", she grasped your hand then intertwined her fingers with yours. With that assuring smile she gave at you, it calmed you down slowly.

You checked the time on your watch. 3 minutes remaining. before the start of the live. "Yes, I do.", you gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"Alright, now let's get into work.", you two both walked across the set as you two went to each respective positions. Her in front of the camera with her other TWICE members while you on behind, guiding them on what they should do during the live.

-🍑-

#twicemomo twice twiceau twicexreader twiceoneshots

13 notes · View notes

queerconfusionthings · 4 years

Text

Pockets and Gifts

Thirteenth Doctor x reader

A late birthday fic for @kinglivv. Sorry it took so long but i hope you had the Best birthday, ily babe. it's short, and i never proofread, but hopefully it's sufficiently soft

(Also, i intended to start adding the 'read more's to my fics after actually learning how to do them, but my tumblr mobile is still being fecky. they'll be there from now on though)

Taglist: @psychobitchtess @dykecious @osterhagen @lostshadow12 @thejinxmaster @bitemealiienboy @im-tired-24-7 @sweetlittlesoufflegirl @truthbehindthemysteries @startrekkingaroundasgard @ettorah @theaussietimelord @captainlgordon @findingyouagain @fabulous-jj-style

When travelling in time, there becomes a tendency to lose count of the real hour of the day, or indeed the day itself. This is why you were absolutely meticulous about it. No matter where the Doctor took you, far into the future or past, or onto a planet with an entirely different time rotation, you'd make a habit to know what time it would be on earth since last leaving.

It was pointless of course, the Doctor told you so many times, as she'd often take you all back home either at the same time as leaving or an accidental few hours late. But it grounded you. It grounded you back to a small sense of reality and a slight normality. And the Doctor wasn't one to deny you that luxury, even if she often stated that it wasn't technically a 'tuesday' or 'wednesday' like you insisted on mentioning back on earth.

She'd even told you that there was no point in celebrating your birthday on the technically correct time relevant to you. You'd go back home and have to do it all again either a few days or few hours later. And if it was a few hours later, she'd said, you'd have to eat a second lot of party food after already being full.

"Don't have to celebrate it, just like knowing that it technically will be my birthday."

She'd only hummed, launching into a rant about the effects of time travel on someone's internal body clock. You hadn't quite listened.

Besides, you hadn't even mentioned it on the day. You'd just thought about it silently to yourself. A year older. And any adventure from the TARDIS was like a giant sized birthday treat in itself. No one else had really mentioned it either, you'd all celebrate eachother's birthdays back on Earth. It was much more simple. Besides which, you preferred to have it as your own little uplifting secret.

Though, on the way into the console room, Graham had patted your shoulder with a muffled "Happy birthday, mate," mouth filled with a half eaten jaffa cake. That was more than enough for you, especially added to the unusual ease the TARDIS had given you in navigating her halls that morning.

The adventure had seemed fairly common place too. A misdirection by the TARDIS on where the Doctor had intended to go, which meant a fun, slightly dangerous and adrenaline inducing adventure. Run around a bit, run around a bit more, listen to an inspiring lecture on morality from the Doctor, and get back inside with smiles and cups of tea. No getting stuck in a jail cell with the latter after all devices useful to an escape had been taken away.

No getting stuck in a jail cell.

Huh.

"We'll be out in no time, don't you worry. Good in a tight spot, me, always 'ave been. Sonic's just a conveniance, a proper nice conveniance, but I can do without it."

She was pacing around the limited space, boots hitting against the dampness of the floor, hands absolutely flailing as her nose twitched in thought. You'd opted for sitting back against the wall instead, arms loosely leaning on your outstetched knees, looking up at her with an encouraging expression. At least you hoped it was an encouraging expression. You really had nothing else to offer. You'd even told her so when she'd asked for any ideas.

"Nonsense. Full of good ideas, you are. Catching Yaz up with points too," she said, before spinning on her heel to look upon the whole cell. You assumed she was remembering that the others were in seperate cells, her brows furrowing and lips pressing together in a manner that suggested this was simply inconveniant.

"Aren't you doing gold stars?"

She snapped out of it and swung back to you, face animated in rememberance. "I knew I'd gotten it mixed up. Gold stars, points, they're all the same. You can have one now! Gold star, for bein' a great listener."

"I've just sat here," you told her quite frankly, not too bothered one way or the other.

She seemed oddly offended by it however, walking straight towards you with her arms flailing. "You've done more than just sit there. Been handy to bounce my thoughts off, and you're calm! Calm in a prison cell, and on your sort of birthday no less."

You managed a barely audible laugh at that, smiling up at her with barely contained amusment. "Thanks, doc." Besides her praise at your supposedly helpful calmness, you were honestly a little surprised. She hadn't even said the word 'birthday' so far, nor had she alluded to it in any sense. It'd be a very odd thing to notice if it had been anyone else, but the Doctor always looked particularly awkward at any mention of it, and often started talking a mile a minute at how the widespread human tradition confused her.

She stopped then, arms falling to her side as she resigned to rather dramatically falling to your side.

"You alright?" You ask.

She only hums.

"You sure you don't have anything in your pockets. They only took your sonic didn't they?" She'd taken two barbie dolls out of one pocket before, much to everyone's confusion. It would've been sinister if it had been anyone else, but it convinced you that she hadn't been lying about her 'pocket innovation.'

The Doctor pursed her lips. "Nothing." Very unconvincing.

"You know when you told me I'm a bad liar- "

"Nothing I want to use," she clarified, recluding back into her standoffish mode that was so common place now. You tried to avoid it as much as possible, but she had a tendency to be dramatic.

"That's fine and everything, but the others..." you attempted softly.

She was silent and still for just a moment, before turning to face you. There was a slight panic that you'd done something wrong, but she seemed more gently saddened that anything else. "I'd have to take it apart." You were silent as she reached inside of her coat and pulled out a small, square, black shaped box. She held it in her hand for a moment longer. Then it was passed to you.

You furrowed your eyebrows. It was yet another two moments before she seemed to realise that she hadn't explained anything, but simply handed you a mysterious box with a saddened gaze. "Oh, right. A present. Your present."

"My present?"

"Honestly," she chastised, "that's what I just said."

You shouldn't have been mentally mocking her for taking so long with every action taken in the cell, because here you were staring, wide eyed and open mouthed. To be fair, it har been highly unexpected. First of all, she'd been very elusive and vague as to what was in her pockets, and second of all, this didn't seem like her at all.

You opened it nonetheless, as careful as possible and placed the lid down. A pocket watch. A deep blue and silver outlined pocket watch, with a rather intricate looking face. Since you made no move to touch anything other than picking it up, she leaned over to twist a button on top. The time changed, and the date above it shifted. "The time on Earth in relation to when you were last there. It'll change every time you go back home." She twisted the button again. "How old you are, the time in relation to how long you've been travelling in the TARDIS. She helped me with that bit."

You seemed to just keep staring at her. It was incomprehensibly thoughtful and infinitely more personal. An oddity for someone who often tried to keep her feelings hidden.

"I, uh, used the parts of an old watch of mine."

She seemed nervous now. You should assure her. You should assure her and stop staring at her, because that was strange. "Thanks." Shit, that sounded apathetic and ungrateful. "I mean, I didn't- it's amazing, Doctor. Didn't expect it."

"Only thing I have on me that can get us out." Oh. "The springs," she elaborated weakly. Oh.

You looked down at it, stroking the pattern on the back with your thumb. "If it's the only thing," you said, somehow even more weakly.

You were very close to eachother now. She'd leaned in to adjust the watch and apparently hadn't moved. The warmth was nice. It'd be nicer if she didn't look so much more upset than you.

"I can just keep asking you for the times anyway," you attempted to reassure her. "Probably much more interesting if I keep annoying you, especially for me."

The laugh was more of a puff of air akin to a scoff than anything else, but it was something. And then there was something more. "Don't think you're capable of annoyin' me, Y/n." Your throat dried, and your lips turned up. You vaguely remembered that she had once mentioned how her biology meant she could hear as much as a heartbeat increasing. You didn't quite believe it, but it made you a little nervous in than moment nonetheless.

"I'll continue to try then." You tentatively uncurled her hand and placed the watch on her palm. "Trips with you a- and the fam, are beyond gift enough, Doc."

The smile on her face was more than genuine, and you reckon that your rapidly beating heart had suddenly stopped. It certainly felt like it. But it seemed justified. A rare sight that you alone just got the pleasure of witnessing. Maybe the happiness that came along with that was selfish, but you couldn't say you minded all too much.

"Happy sort of birthday, Y/n."

#doctor who #13th doctor #thirteenth doctor #13th doctor x reader #thirteenth doctor x reader #doctor who x reader #13th doctor imagine #thirteenth doctor imagine #doctor who imagine #jodie whittaker #jodie whittaker x reader #jodie whittaker imagine #the doctor #the doctor x reader #the doctor imagine #dw #dw imagine #dw x reader

158 notes · View notes

love-and-monsters · 4 years

Text

Demon Shopkeep

You stumble into a magic shop and find the friendly shopkeeper wants to test your magical ability! What happens when you find out you’ve got quite a lot of potential?

M demon X GN human, 4,579 words

Shopping in town was something you really only did on special occasions. You’d never been super enthusiastic about crowds. They were always noisy and they made you feel like something was crawling along your skin when you tried to move through them. But your best friend’s birthday was coming up and you wanted to get her a neat gift. So, you went into the shopping district in town.

Your work schedule was flexible, so you went into town on a Monday afternoon, when the crowd would be at its thinnest. But it was a warm summer day, and you hadn’t factored in tourist season. There were plenty of people moving through the street, chattering and pointing to some of the shops. It was nearly impossible to walk down the street without bumping or brushing against someone.

You managed to walk through the street for about ten minutes before the awful feeling of pressure pushed in around you. The people around you felt like a rising tide, like they were coming in closer and tighter all around you. If you didn’t get out, they were all going to crush you.

Panic surged through you. Blindly, you scrambled to a shop door and yanked it open.

A small bell jingled as you stepped inside. The shop was dimly lit. Even the sunlight filtering in through the showy front window seemed unable to brighten anything. The walls were painted a dark blue and there were shelves of curiosities on dark mahogany shelves. Little golden lights glittered along the ceiling and clumped around a counter. Leaning over the counter, looking perfectly at home, was a dark blue demon.

You were pretty sure he was a demon, anyway. His skin and hair were the same tone of blue, but the nubby horns that sprouted from his forehead were bone-white. His tail was long and thin and tufted at the end. As he looked up, a chunk of his shaggy hair fell over one of his silver eyes.

“Hello!” he said. He smiled, showing off all his sharp teeth. “Welcome to Astral Curiosities! What can I help you with?”

You threw a glance over your shoulder. The crowd was still present and you didn’t feel ready to go back out into it. You turned back to the demon. “Sorry. I just ducked in here for a moment. I wasn’t really looking for anything.”

That didn’t seem to deter the demon whatsoever. If anything, his smile got bigger. “Really? You’re a first-time customer, then?” He clasped his hands together in excitement. “Then let me show you around and introduce you to the store!”

He stepped out from behind the counter. He was wearing a button-up white shirt with a blue star design on the pocket. “My name’s Imp. It’s nice to meet you!” He stuck out a hand and, uncertain of what else to do, you shook it. “Welcome to Astral Curiosities! Oh, I said that already, didn’t I? Ah, well! Let me explain the store to you.”

He gestured broadly with one hand to the shelves. “All of these,” he began, “are tools for witches! We’ve got books, focuses, familiar summons, spell supplies, runic tomes, magic languages, anything you could need!”

There was a soft click as he moved across the hardwood floor and you realized he wasn’t wearing any shoes. His claws tapped against the ground every time he set a foot down. “We’ve got all sorts of items for specializations! Life magic, nature magic, aether, fortune telling, spirit magic!” He pulled a few items from the shelves and looked at them fondly. “What’s your specialization?”

You mouthed wordlessly for a moment. He was so enthusiastic, you felt a little sheepish trying to say a word against him. “I didn’t come in here for anything. I don’t even have any magic. I was just trying to get out of the way of the crowd.”

Imp turned to you. His pointed ears drooped back a little and, for a moment, you thought you’d finally managed to dampen his spirits. Then his tail whipped with excitement and he grinned. “Everything happens for a reason!” he said. “If you’re here, there’s almost certainly something that drew you in.”

The crowd, you thought. The crowd had driven you inside. But Imp was already moving toward the back and you had to admit that you were curious. He darted through a set of velvet curtains and emerged with a large, pale stone surrounded with wires.

He went to the large, wooden table in the middle of the room and sat down. You glanced back at the door, but decided you’d rather see what he wanted than go back into the crowd. Imp almost wriggled in excitement as you sat down across from him.

“This is a vocal stone,” he said, tapping it with a clawed finger. It was large, slightly bigger than your palm, and, though you’d thought it was white from a distance, it was actually multicolored. There were ribbons of every color of the rainbow shot through it, only appearing when it was set in the right light. “And these-” He gestured to the wires around it. “- are conductors. If you have any magic, this’ll spark it and we’ll see what kind it is.”

You looked skeptically at the stone. The whole contraption seemed pretty haphazard. Still, you were pretty sure you had no magical talent. Neither of your parents had any skill and you’d never had the typical magic hiccups that accompanied growing up as a magic kid. So you allowed Imp to take your hand and wrap the wires around it.

“Oh.” You gripped the side of the table. A rush of something moved through you, like there was something swooping under your skin. Your head spun and a wave of tingling spread over your skin. You felt something in you shift, almost like what your stomach did before throwing up. A wave of power rushed out of you, knocking Imp back out of his chair and sending the wooden shelves rattling.

You snatched your hand back. The odd sensation stopped, though your head was swimming a little. “Are you all right?” you managed, peering over the table at Imp.

He popped up so suddenly and with such force that he nearly cracked your foreheads together. “Goodness, you have one hell of a voice!” he said, apparently completely unperturbed by being bowled over.

“A voice?” you asked. He hopped back into his chair and gathered the vocal stone back toward him.

“Mm. It’s what a person’s specific magic is referred to as. Your voice. And you’re loud. One hell of a scream, really!” You blinked at him, a little confused. “Who told you you didn’t have any magic? You have a lot.”

You worked your mouth, eyes wide. “I didn’t… I don’t know. No one ever really told me. My parents didn’t have any and I never did any tricks as a kid. We just all assumed that I didn’t have any magic.”

Imp pursed his lips and looked down at the stone. “Hm. That’s unusual.” He lifted the stone and rotated it in his hands. The multicolored threads through it had changed, all becoming a uniform shade of light green. “Life magic, and very strong, too.” He looked across the table at you, expression changing from excessively enthusiastic to gently sympathetic. “You don’t like crowds, do you? Or zoos, or anything with a lot of living things? But I expect forests are nice for you.”

You blinked at him, a little startled that he managed to correctly call all that. “Well, yeah. I live in a forest, actually.”

“Plants are much less demanding with their presence than people or animals. Most life witches find themselves as loners with very impressive gardens.” His ears twitched rapidly as he looked at you. “I expect you’ve actually been choking it back for most of your life. It’s probably a good thing you came in here when you did. Can’t hold all that magic back forever and when it does come out, it can get messy.” He wrinkled his nose. “But you’ll be all right! Promise. I can be a good mentor. I mean, technically I’m into spirit magic, but they’re close! You’ll be able to get something out of it!”

He moved so quickly between thoughts that he was really starting to lose you. “What are you talking about?”

He’d sprung out of his chair, but, hearing the worry in your tone, he swung back around to look at you. “I’m going to mentor you,” he said. “In magic, obviously.”

You stood up. “I don’t need a magic mentor. I’m okay. I’ve gone this long without one. I’ll be fine to keep going.” You scrambled back out of your chair and started to back toward the door.

“Wait!” Imp sprang forward and grabbed your sleeve. “You can’t leave! I mean, I understand if you maybe don’t want me, but you’re going to have to get someone. You’re a powerful witch, even if you don’t know it, and if you’re not doing any tricks, that magic doesn’t have an outlet. It can’t go on just building up forever. You don’t need to do magic, but you at least need to find a way to let it out sometimes or everything will get worse.”

Carefully, you extracted your arm from his grip. “What do you mean?”

Imp stood still, except for his tail, which whipped wildly. “Well, you already don’t like crowds, right? People? It’s the magic, you feel it coming off all the people and pressing on you. Right now it’s just uncomfortable, but eventually it’ll get to be too much and that extra jolt of magic will just-” He made a hand gesture that seemed to indicate something exploding. “And the magic will be uncontrolled, so no one will be able to predict what will happen.” His voice started to rise again and he lowered it with obvious effort. “It’s not safe, really.”

You grimaced and lowered your head. “You’re willing to teach me?” Imp nodded rapidly. “All right.”

“Great!” He gave a tiny, enthusiastic hop. “That’s good. Um.” He glanced around the shop, pointed ears flattening back. “Do you mind if we do it at your house? It might get to be a little much and I don’t want to destroy the shop.”

“Fine,” you said. It meant you at least wouldn’t have to go back through the town. You scrawled your address on the piece of paper he offered, along with your phone number, and handed it over.

“Great! I’ll gather the supplies and be over tomorrow.” He glanced around the shop. “I’ve never mentored anyone before! I mean, I know how. I do, I swear! Anyway, I’ll see you later. Head back home and get some rest. It’ll be a lot of work.”

Not terribly reassured by that, you left the shop and returned to your home. It was secluded in the woods, with no neighbors but the trees. Technically, you still had some freelance writing to do, but you spent most of the rest of the night straightening up. You hadn’t had guests in forever and your house wasn’t exactly in a state for entertaining.

You jerked awake the next morning to the sound of very enthusiastic knocking. Bleary, you staggered out of bed and headed over to the door.

It was Imp. He was clinging to a bag that was bulging with books and strange implements. He was bounding on his toes, looking irritatingly cheerful considering that the sun had only just risen.

“Hello! I thought we’d get started nice and early. Make the most of the day and all!” He trotted past you into the house and dumped the bag onto the table. “Okay! Ready to start?”

You looked down at the books that had fallen onto the table. Several of them were rather childish, with thick pages designed for young hands. There were also several instruments with gemstones attached. They looked a little like measuring tools, though you weren’t sure what they were intending to measure. Magic potential, maybe?

“Sorry about the books! Most people learn when they’re young, so…” He shrugged. “But I’ll teach you most of the stuff! The books are just for later reference.”

He settled into a chair, tail whipping eagerly behind him. “How are you feeling? Had breakfast?”

You fixed him with an irritated stare. “I just got up.”

He blinked at you for a moment, then seemed to realize exactly how ruffled you looked. “Oh! I’m sorry! I have to get up early to work at the shop and all that so I usually assume everyone’s an early riser too.” He shuffled in his pocket for a moment and pulled out a phone. “I’ll order us some breakfast. Anything you want? The café in town delivers! And they’re very nice!”

“They have French toast?” you asked. He nodded. “I’ll have that, then.”

Imp took a few minutes to put in your order and you excused yourself to shower and get dressed. When you returned to him, he had organized everything on the table and was peering in your cabinets.

“You don’t have a lot of food,” he said. “You should take better care of yourself! Do you just live off ramen?”

“A freelance writer doesn’t make a lot of money,” you said. “I have a garden I get vegetables from sometimes.”

“Well, that’s good,” Imp said. There was a knock at your front door and he sprang off. You followed him just in time to see him fling it open.

The delivery man was a cervitaur. He had a runner’s build and a his front hooves tapped constantly at the ground. The bag of food was slung over his back, like saddlebags. Imp greeted him like they were old friends and took the bag. “Never delivered here before,” the cervitaur said with a polite nod to you. “Had a good night, Imp?”

His meaning hit you a moment later and you felt yourself flushing. Imp just laughed. “We’re doing magic training! You might be delivering here more often if we keep the tutoring up.” The cervitaur nodded to you with a cheeky smile, then took off, vanishing within a few moments.

“Sorry! He’s a bit nosy. Always likes to get into other people’s business. Especially romantic. Ignore him.” Imp spread the food over the table and you ate. You had to admit, the food was really good.

“Let’s get on with the magic,” he said after you cleaned up. “For our first lesson, we should probably just focus on getting you used to feeling the magic.” He extended his hands out toward you, palms up. “Hold your hands out like this.”

You mimicked his position. He picked up one of the measuring tools and tapped it against your fingers. After a moment of analysis, he lowered it. “You’ve got a lot of powerful magic. And because it’s life magic, I can be your test subject!”

You frowned. “Is that a good idea? I could have hurt you last time.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “No, no, it’ll be fine. I promise! We’ll start slow. You can read my mind or something!”

“I can do that?” you said.

“Well, you can get a sense of what people are thinking, feel their life energy and all that. That’s why you don’t like crowds! It’s all the energy pushing in on you. It’s uncomfortable, I bet. But once we start doing these exercises, you’ll feel a lot better! Promise!”

He offered you a green stone, probably jade, set in an intricate web of golden wires. “Hold onto that. It’s a focus stone, it’ll help you feel the magic.”

You took it from him tentatively. Almost immediately, you could feel something. A buzz of energy around you that you often associated with being deep in a crowd ran through you. “You feel it now, don’t you?” Imp said. “Focus on it. There should be a feeling of energy. Try to gather it around you and use it.”

It was difficult to gather something as intangible as energy, but after a few moments of focus, you could feel the energy shifting. It gathered into a sort of clump in front of you, energy you could project however you wanted.

Focusing the energy seemed to have the same effect as swiping away a thick bank of fog. Without the smothering blanket in front of you, there were points of energy prodding into your mind, each one subtly unique. You could feel each individual plant outside, and little tiny specks of energy you thought, a little uncomfortably, might be bugs.

But the biggest source of energy was right in front of you. Imp glowed like a miniature sun, which felt fitting given his personality. Surprised by the brightness and warmth, you focused in on it.

Images and sounds flowed from him, like looking into a rolling, constant river. Thoughts twisted and branched off each other in a confusing tangle. You fumbled to catch a proper train of thought, until you noticed your face.

Hurriedly, you caught onto it. Imp was thinking about your face. Not just your face. He was thinking about you. And then his thoughts wandered, transitioning from just looking at your face to thinking about you smiling at him. Emotions swelled under the thoughts, a feeling of attraction. A feeling of attraction toward you.

Startled, your focus broke and you felt the magic slip away. Almost immediately, dizziness swarmed through you and you leaned over the table. Imp patted your shoulder and you made an attempt to hide in your arms. Reading someone’s thoughts while they were thinking about you was weird, weirder than you thought it would be. How were you supposed to focus when you knew your teacher thought you were pretty?

“You did good!” Imp praised. “Really good! Not everyone can access their magic like that on the first shot. And reading minds is good for your first go!”

Your head popped up and you stared at him. “You knew I was reading your mind?”

He laughed. “You’re not very subtle! But I don’t know what you were looking at. People’s minds are very complicated, we think about a lot of things at once. And I’ve been told my mind’s got more on it than most!”

You frowned at him, trying to figure out if he was only trying to spare the embarrassment, but he looked utterly guileless. “Uh. I didn’t catch much.”

“That’s okay! It was your first time! It’s pretty impressive that you managed to catch my mind at all.” He tapped his fingers energetically on the table. “How do you feel?”

“Tired.” You leaned back in your seat. “But better?” There had been a tightness inside you that you hadn’t even realized was there until it released.

“You look better! You were all kind of drawn in before.” He hunched over, holding his hands close to his chest. “Now you look relaxed. And your spirit’s all…” He made a wavy motion with his hands.

“My… spirit?”

Imp nodded. “I’m a spirit mage. It’s actually life mage adjacent, but like… more specific? I sense auras, basically! And I can sense spirits, so I’m sort of like a medium! You’re much more in tune with life energy, the magic that comes off of living things. You can draw energy, donate energy, heal small injuries, that sort of thing. I’m better at spiritual aspects, especially healing curses! I actually freelance as a cursebreaker.”

“A cursebreaker?” you repeated. “That sounds dangerous.”

“It’s not! Well, it is a little. But spirit mages are resistant to curses. And I see auras, remember? I usually have a little heads up if someone wants to hurt me.”

“What does my aura look like?” you asked, curiosity spurring you on before you could stop yourself.

Imp leaned over the table toward you. His eyes were dark and glimmering, like polished onyx. “The whole colored aura thing is bullshit. It’s more like… A halo? Like, light or waves around you. Yours is very bright, but very constricted. The light doesn’t travel very far and… auras have this kind of wave to them, and yours was very still before. It waves a little more now, but it’s still very constrained.” He grinned. “It’s very nice to look at. Like an ocean wave under moonlight.”

It was an oddly poetic description, not one you had been expecting from him. You felt your face warm, and you were grateful that Imp no longer seemed to be paying attention. “Now that you’ve actually accessed your magic, we can do some exercises to improve your skills with it. They’re pretty simple, all just breathing and flexing your magic muscles. They’re kind of like push ups!”

“I don’t like pushups,” you muttered. Imp burst into laughter.

“This is easier. Promise! What you want to do first is take a deep breath and close your eyes…”

The exercises took only about an hour, but you felt like you’d run a marathon by the time it was over. Your muscles felt trembly and weak. “You did really well,” Imp praised. “I’ll be back tomorrow. In the meantime, rest up. And read a few of the books! They’ll help. Even if they’re for kids.”

He left and you promptly collapsed into bed. As tired as you were, there was a lightness to you that hadn’t been there before. It was like you’d just had a really good massage.

You skimmed through a couple of the books he’d brought by later. They were childish, but they taught some simple magic techniques. You sat in the garden until late at night, practicing on your flowers over and over.

Imp came back to your house the next morning, and the next after that, and the next after that. He never seemed to lose his enthusiasm, even bright and early. It was nice to have another person over. You’d avoided people for so long, you’d almost forgotten what having company felt like.

Every night, after he’d left, you went out into your garden and practiced on your flower bushes. It was a simple practice, but you were hoping it was impressive. Maybe it would be.

About a week after you’d started practicing, Imp seemed satisfied. “I’ve given you as much of a crash course as I can. All that will prevent you from getting overwhelmed with magic and you have at least a few spells you can do.”

Your stomach tightened a little with disappointment. Despite the short time you’d known each other, you had gotten sort of attached to him. He was sweet and enthusiastic and you found yourself looking forward to his arrival every morning. “Thank you for all your help. I know it was probably a lot for you to do every day,” you said.

“Don’t even mention it!” Imp waved a hand nonchalantly at you. “Magic users have a responsibility to help each other out. And you really needed help.” He clapped a hand casually over yours. There was a slight tingle of magic and you had to carefully avoid peeking into his mind. He had a tendency to project and it was a little difficult to stop from hearing him. “If you ever need anything else, you know where I am.”

He trotted off and you returned to your garden. The flowers you’d been working on for the week were nearly complete. You prodded at the petals, infusing them with a little more energy. They perked up under your touch. It was a small gift, not one you felt truly exemplified the depths of your gratitude toward him, but it was something. Satisfied with it, you went back inside.

The next morning, you gathered up the flowers into a pot. It was much easier to do it with the life magic to guide your hands. You could tell exactly where the root networks were, and how the plant was responding to the touch. Carefully, you potted it and picked it up.

Going into town would have been a nightmare a week ago. It still wasn’t fun. As the amount of people started to increase, you could feel your shoulders tensing and your breaths coming in shorter. But the feeling of pressure around you was much less. You didn’t have the automatic urge to turn and run back home.

You opened the door to the shop and stepped inside. The bell at the door rang and Imp looked up, ears twitching. His face broke into a wide smile when he saw you standing there.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon! Everything okay? Did something happen?” He trotted across the shop toward you, and you shifted the plant behind your back.

“I wanted to thank you,” you said. “For all that you did for me. You didn’t have to.”

“I couldn’t leave you hanging,” he said cheerily. “What are you hiding behind your back?”

He tried to move to peer behind you, but you carefully sidestepped out of his way and backed up to the checkout counter. “It’s something I thought you would appreciate,” you said, setting it down while still blocking it with your body. “It’s something I tried to do with my magic. It worked better than I thought it would.”

“I did say you were strong,” Imp said, trying to peer over your shoulder. “Show me!”

You stepped aside, revealing the flowers. Manipulating colors was apparently a simple form of life magic, when done on plants, at least. Keeping something small was much more difficult than creating something large, but you’ were pretty happy with what you’d managed. The plant was a perfect miniature rose bush, with tiny roses blooming in the deep blue of Imp’s skin and hair.

His mouth popped open and he gave a squeal of delight. He sprang forward, examining it with a childlike glee. You couldn’t help a small laugh. “Oh, they’re beautiful! And you made these? Well, you helped them along, anyway. I love them! They’re so wonderful! It’s very skilled for your first project! Oh, imagine if you made more of them! Mini flowers! It would be soooo cute!” His tail waved with excitement. “Thank you!”

“I’m glad you like them.”

“I love them!” Imp’s smile faded a little. “Oh, but I’m not very good at caring for flowers. I don’t know much about them.” A worried look crossed his face. “What if I kill them?”

“If you’re going to help me with magic, then maybe I can help you with flowers,” you offered. “I’ll show you how to repot it and care for it and all that.”

“You can come over to my place this time!” Imp said, cheering up immediately. He scooped the flower pot up into a hug.

“I’d like to see your place,” you said. Imp skipped in place, grinning broadly.

“It’s a date!” he said, then he hesitated. He glanced at the roses and when he looked back at you, you could see and sense the hope and fear warring in him. “Is that all right?”

You gave a small smile. “Are you asking me on a date?”

Imp lifted his brows. “Are you saying yes?”

“Yes.”

Imp’s face broke into a relieved smile. “Then yes!”

You gave him a smile back. “I’m looking forward to it.” And through your magic, you could feel that he was looking forward to it too.

#exophilia #demon #demon boyfriend #demon lover #monster lover #monster boyfriend #male monster #OC

239 notes · View notes

lemonpeter · 3 years

Text

STARKER, by Peter B. Parker

Chapter 5: Wedding

A/N: because it comes up in this chapter: we took the artistic liberty of changing canon, so our May was not blipped.

and the big day is finally here!! our babies are getting MARRIED!! enjoy all the sap! <3 -bloo and bri 💕

Warnings: marriage, reference to canonical character death

Masterlist ao3

————

"So, Tony," Mary started, leaning against her husband on the couch, glass of wine in hand. "How long have you and Peter known each other?"

Everyone was gathered in the sitting area, having just finished a wonderful home cooked meal of pot roast, potatoes, and roasted veggies, prepared by Mary, May, and Peter. But most of the work had been done by the latter.

Tony smiled softly at the question, casting a glance at Peter, who was tucked into his own side. He took a small sip from his glass before speaking. "A few years. We met through my job, actually. I was in a bit of a tricky situation, and in my search for possible- solutions, I stumbled across some of Peter's work. And I was absolutely blown away."

The statement elicited a hum of pride from Ben as he raised his beer in the air. “That’s our Pete, ever the genius. He gets it from his uncle.” The grin on his face was easy and relaxed as he nudged his knee against May’s.

Peter snorted out a quiet laugh, gazing at his uncle and then landing his eyes on Tony. “I was just happy to help,” he said sweetly. And it wasn’t untrue. He had been beyond thrilled to go to Berlin with Tony. He’d been idolizing the man nearly a decade at that point.

How had that been less than three years ago? It felt like a lifetime had passed since the day they first met, when he walked into their tiny apartment to find Tony Stark sitting on his couch, winking at him.

Mary nodded, an easy smile on her lips. “That’s perfect.” She looked at Richard, holding onto his hand. The diamond on her wedding ring glinted in the light. “Sounds a bit like us, doesn’t it?”

Her husband laughed, pressing a kiss to her forehead, his gaze fond. “It does, doesn’t it? But like father, like son, I guess.” He grinned at Peter.

The young man laughed, smiling sheepishly. He knew it was different, completely so, but he made no effort to correct the statement. He liked the idea that he and Tony were like his parents. That they were just another normal couple, living a normal life. One without extraordinary responsibility, risk, pain, and loss.

The life that they were meant to live, together.

Tony chuckled, hugging Peter closer to his body. He kissed the top of his fiancé’s head, nearly a mirrored action of how the younger man’s parents had acted. And- wasn’t that something? “Well, I’m just glad I found him when I did. He changed me, and my life, for the better and I couldn’t imagine living without him at this point.”

May snorted, covering it with a cough. It wouldn’t have fit the scene for her to laugh at something that was seemingly so random. Especially since she was the only person in the room other than Peter that knew that this Tony definitely wouldn’t be able to imagine life without Peter. Not without direction from her nephew’s fantasy, that is.

Hopefully Peter wouldn’t catch her slip up.

He didn’t seem to, just glancing over to her for a second before looking at his mom as she spoke again.

“Now, what’s the plan for the wedding? When is it going to be? Oh, a late-summer wedding would be so lovely. What are you thinking?” Mary asked, rambling excitedly, eyes wide as she looked over at Tony and Peter. “I can’t believe our boy is finally getting married!”

May wished that she could ignore the way her heart clenched at the words. There was no ‘finally’. Peter shouldn’t have been getting married. He was far too young. She hated the way that no one else there could understand how wrong it all was. She had to keep reminding herself that it wasn’t real.

“Oh, well,” Peter paused and looked at Tony, both apprehension and joy visible in his eyes. He flipped his hand over on his thigh, opening and closing his fist until his partner got the hint and clasped their hands together. “We want to do something soon since everyone is here. Maybe that’s a bit unorthodox but-“

“But so are we,” Tony joked lightly, nodding encouragingly at the younger man.

Peter’s cheeks flushed a soft pink as he laughed. “Well, there’s no denying that.” And it was okay to joke about it. Because none of his family would think there was anything out of the ordinary. They couldn’t. All they’d see and react to was their love. As they should. “But yeah, something...within a few days?” Maybe even less than that.

He wanted to have his dream wedding as soon as he finished what little planning was left.

And with his family surrounding him, everything was almost complete.

It was going to be perfect.

***

With his guest list prepared and everyone nearby, the ideal venue nailed down, and the other details listed out in his notebook, Peter could only think of one last thing that needed to be taken care of.

His vows.

Sure, it wasn’t mandatory for him to write his own. But he needed Tony to know just how strong his love was, and he wanted his words to be something personal rather than the generic cookie-cutter vows. He couldn’t let such a meaningful event go by without taking the opportunity to convey how much he truly loved the older man.

So Peter started on that last step, the words pouring out of him as he wrote them down. It felt as if he was putting his whole heart onto the paper, bearing it for all to see. Luckily, none of the people who would witness the fruits of his efforts would be judging him in any way.

No one other than himself, that was.

***

The night before the wedding found Peter puttering around the bedroom in one of Tony’s band t-shirts and a pair of pajama pants. He ran his hands through his already unruly hair, going down his mental checklist, when the older man walked in. “Hey T,” he sighed, smiling softly in his direction.

“You’re sure I can’t sleep in here tonight?” Tony pouted, sitting down on the edge of the bed. His overnight bag was on the floor by his feet, the garment bag containing his suit already out in the living room for him to grab on his way to one of the guest rooms. Where his soon-to-be husband was insisting he spend the night.

Peter chuckled under his breath and took a few steps so that he was standing in front of the other man. He draped his arms around Tony’s neck, looking down into his eyes. “I’m positive.” When the pout only deepened at his words, he rolled his eyes playfully. “It’s bad luck for you to see me before tomorrow, Tony! I’m serious- You are not to lay eyes on me until I’m making my way to the altar!”

“I don’t think that superstition counts if you’re not wearing a dress,” the sulky man pointed out, grumbling under his breath. He paused, frowning at Peter once more for good measure. “But fine,” he muttered after a moment, having accepted his fate when Peter’s expression didn’t change. “At least give me a kiss to hold me over, then?”

And who was Peter to say no to that?

He leaned down a little, closing the short distance between them as he pressed his lips to Tony’s quickly. Just a peck.

Of course, it couldn’t just stay a soft kiss with Tony. He was immediately trying to turn it into more, pulling Peter closer and nipping at his bottom lip enticingly.

Despite the way his stomach swooped at the sensation, the younger man pulled away, laughing softly. “No, no. That’s not going to work. Don’t even try that.”

Tony hummed, a slightly smug look on his face. He seemed to know just what kind of reaction he’d elicited. “Don’t try what? I can’t say I know what you mean, Pete...”

Peter laughed again, shaking his head. “You’re impossible. You know that?” He kissed the older man gently one more time before sitting down on the bed beside him. Letting his head lean to the side to rest his temple on Tony’s shoulder, he let out a deep breath, just enjoying the warmth of the innocent contact.

“It’s one of my best qualities,” Tony shot back playfully, his own head tilting to lean on the top of Peter’s. He slowly stood up after a moment, stretching his back and rotating his torso a few times. He cast a look in the teen’s direction. “But fine, I’m going now. To that cold, empty guest room. Where I’ll sleep all alone,” he said dramatically, throwing his head back slightly with a flourish. He bent over to scoop his bag up from the ground and took a step away from the bed.

Despite knowing that his partner was joking, Peter couldn’t help the way his chest grew tight. He didn’t want to actually go to sleep without Tony. Just the thought caused his heart to lurch with panic and made him want to cry. He didn’t want to be away from him at all, not even in their current situation. Traditions be damned. “Tony...”

Turning around, the taller man raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?” He caught the look in the other’s eyes and immediately turned around to face him, taking a small step closer. “Peter? What is it, what’s wrong, baby? Is it what I said? I’m just joking, Pete, it’s okay. I’m sor-”

Peter shook his head rapidly. He sniffed softly to try and lessen the stinging sensation in the back of his nose. “No, no don’t be sorry Tony, I know you’re kidding. But- Can you maybe…,” he trailed off, blinking a few times against the moisture that was building up. His eyes locked on Tony’s before darting away.

God, why was he so anxious and upset? Literally all he needed to do was tell Tony that he’d changed his mind.

“I just- Can you stay, maybe?” He chanced a look back at Tony, who was nodding with the expression of someone who had just been asked what they thought was a ridiculously easy question.

“Of course, babydoll,” Tony said, dropping the small duffel to the floor and pulling the young man into his arms. He pressed a kiss to the side of his head and squeezed him tight for a moment. “C’mon, let’s go to bed, we can cuddle for a while.” He smiled softly as they pulled away from each other, ducking down quickly to touch his lips to Peter’s. “We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

***

Everything went smoothly after that. The couple slept soundly, snuggled together all night long with Peter’s head pressed up against Tony’s chest.

And they stayed that way for a while after waking, whispering to each other in the morning light. The two didn’t separate until it was absolutely necessary and they needed to get ready, lest they be late to their own wedding.

Everyone made their way to the venue (although the rest of them would have believed they traveled by car, Peter knew that all he’d done was shift the scene) and settled in their appropriate areas to get ready.

It was getting close to starting time and no one had seen Peter yet. So May decided that it could be a good time for her to fully immerse herself in the illusion once again.

“Not getting cold feet, are you?” She asked gently as she stepped into the room that was serving as the 'bridal' suite. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight that greeted her.

Peter was standing in front of the full-length mirror, his back to the door. His hair was curled haphazardly on top of his head, effortlessly beautiful, a few pieces falling down into his face as he fussed with the white button-up and black vest he was putting on to go with his dark tailored trousers

She was suddenly struck with the memory of watching a much smaller boy get himself ready for a funeral, staring at himself in the too-large suit jacket that had been her husband’s just a few days prior.

Just a little boy playing dress up, trying to be a man.

Peter’s head jerked up at the sound of her voice, and she realized that her sudden appearance must not have fit exactly with his script for this scene.

He made eye contact with her in the mirror, finishing up the last button on his shirt. An excited yet nervous smile tugged at his lips. “What? Of course not.” The tone of his voice suggested that he thought it silly, the notion that he’d ever second guess marrying Tony. That it was a decision he would happily make without thinking at all.

And in her opinion, he kind of was.

The woman held back her reservations and gave him a gentle smile, coming to help with the tie that was hanging undone around his neck. “I’m glad to hear that, bubby.” At least, that’s what she was going to lead Peter to believe. She still didn’t approve, illusion or not.

It was only partially due to the fact that the other party involved was Tony Stark. Her dislike, bordering on apathy, for the man was no secret. He’d gotten her nephew, her baby, killed further away from home than she’d ever even imagined possible. But not before whisking him away on a covert mission to Germany, then abandoning him after burdening him with what was an absurd amount of responsibility for even a grown man. Peter had come clean about everything after he returned from the Blip.

She never forgot the way she felt when she saw the video of Peter being dragged into space by that creature, the panic of not being able to get in touch with him.

Nor the way Tony Stark had shown up on her doorstep, haggard and unkempt, after dodging her calls for weeks. How he wasn’t able to even look her in the eye as he confirmed what she already knew- That her baby wasn’t coming home, that he’d been taken away from her without the chance to say goodbye. The chance to tell him that he was enough, that he didn’t need to save the world to be worthy. That he was her world.

She’d come to a sort of peace about it all after the Blip was reversed. She never absolved Stark of the role he played in Peter’s death, but she was able to reconcile it with the fact that he sacrificed his own life to restore those of half of the world’s population.

With that, she believed that she’d never have to see him again. He was gone. And that was just fine with her.

Yet he was still haunting her. The very man who she felt was at fault for robbing her of five years with Peter was causing her nephew to break, to get lost in his own mind. The ass was dead, but he was still managing to screw things up.

Because even the near-peace she felt she had reached towards the man didn't mean she was okay him marrying, or even dating, her underage nephew. Sure, Peter was the age of consent in New York, but that was just a technicality. She kept having to remind herself that none of it was real, but rather an extremely detailed fantasy that she was experiencing secondhand.

She was definitely going to talk to Peter about the relationship once the whole thing was over. He had to know that none of it was possible in the real world.

Peter couldn’t let go. He’d already lost so much, she could see that he couldn’t bear to lose this too. Not at the moment. It was the one place he felt safe and happy, after not feeling either of those things for who knew how long.

And May was forced to watch helplessly from the side.

She could see that he was different. Even if what she saw wasn’t his physical body, there was a look in his eyes that broke her heart. It was almost wild as he frantically grasped at pieces of his reality, unhinged. But his eyes also held a dullness that she hadn’t seen in a long time. One she’d hoped to never see again.

The same look she’d seen on that newly orphaned little boy’s face on the way home from the service, in the faraway expression on the lanky teen that had lost yet another person he loved.

She had to keep reminding herself of the plan. She had to play along to the best of her abilities and keep Peter happy until she could convince him to shut the illusion down and come home.

Everything in her wanted to beg him to just give up this mess and come home to her already. She’d barely had him back before he was gone again, this time of his own accord. But she knew that she couldn’t. Not yet. She just had to play along.

Hopefully not for much longer.

The woman directed her attention back to Peter after pushing the thoughts away. “It’s about time to get this show on the road, isn’t it?” She didn’t want to give him away. Even if it was just for this fantasy of his. It felt like she was losing him entirely to the world he’d created in his mind.

Peter nodded slowly, hands fidgeting nervously with his clothes. “Yeah, almost. I should probably start...heading out there, huh? Although it’s not like things can start without me,” he joked softly.

May figured that much was definitely true. “Yeah, I guess you should. And I should too. I’ll be right there, bubby. Right next to Ben and your parents.” The words felt wrong to say. No matter how badly either of them wanted it, Mary and Richard were never going to be there to see him get married. Neither was her Ben.

But there they were anyways. Saving a seat for her.

She wasn’t sure if it was any better than sitting beside three empty seats, reserved for people incapable of occupying them.

***

There was an easy smile on Peter's face as he looked around, heart pounding. It was nearly time for it to really begin. Almost time to finally make his way down the aisle.

He was really going to marry the man of his dreams. He was gonna marry Tony Stark.

Then the scene began shifting, the walls slowly disappearing from around him.

His heart nearly stopped. He was worried that the whole thing was all falling apart, melting away right before his eyes. Panic bloomed in his chest. But he was still in control, evidenced by the small bouquet of flowers he thought into existence on a whim, so he didn’t understand what could possibly have been happening.

When the smoke (or pixels, technically) cleared and he could finally work out his surroundings again, he felt tears stinging his eyes as his breath caught in his throat.

It wasn’t the huge, extravagant venue from before. Not even close. Gone was the large ballroom, striking in its opulence. There was nothing grand or luxurious about what he saw now but it felt so much more like them. It was perfect.

All around Peter was a bright, plush green meadow dotted with pastel-colored wildflowers. Tall trees surrounded the perimeter of the clearing, separating them from the rest of the world. Sunlight shone through the foliage in scattered beams, casting everything in an ethereal glow. The air was sweet and calm, instantly calming his nerves.

Turning his head, he saw that he was standing on the porch of a small log cabin. May was standing in the entryway, watching him with wide eyes. It warmed his heart to see how emotional she was, how much she cared about him and his happiness.

And just a few yards away was the ceremony. Tony was already standing in front of the makeshift altar with Uncle Ben, eyes shining as he watched Peter. He smiled softly before biting his lip and winking, the actions at odds with the way he brought a hand up in a slight wave before clasping them both in front of him. His thumbs wrestled with each other, twiddling back and forth.

Peter recognized the gesture as something his lover did when he was feeling nervous about something and trying to hide it.

Too bad Peter knew most of his tells.

The young man smiled from the steps as he began descending them, stepping down into the lush grass in a few strides.

He caught movement out the corner of his eye and he watched as a small pastel yellow butterfly landed on the wildflower bouquet clutched in his left hand.

A soft laugh bubbled up from Peter’s chest. He just couldn’t help himself. He thought he’d had what he wanted, but what he ended up with was so much better than he could have imagined. It was absolutely magical.

He turned around slightly when he heard May come to stand beside him.

“You ready, baby?” Her eyes were shining wetly behind her glasses, the wind gently blowing the skirt of her lilac colored dress.

Nodding, Peter took a deep breath and clutched at his aunt’s hand. “I’m getting married, May,” he said quietly, awestruck and wide eyed as they started making their way to the altar, unable to help the teary smile on his face.

May sniffled and squeezed his hand. “Yeah, you are, bubby.” Her voice was soft, but he could hear the slight wobble she was trying to hide. “You make sure he treats you right, okay?”

“I know he will,” Peter assured her, turning to look at the older man as they walked, the song of the birds in the trees serving as the wedding march. “Tony would never do anything to hurt me.”

May just hummed softly in response, locking eyes with Ben as they reached the beginning of the trail of brightly colored petals leading up to the altar, which had the same blooms intertwined with the lattice of the thin sticks it was composed of. She choked out a wet laugh when the man just grinned and winked at her.

Peter felt something give in his chest at the interaction, struck by the familiarity, and he clutched the bouquet tighter in his hand when Tony’s eyes met his.

The teen didn’t look away once until he and May came to a stop in front of the two men.

His aunt pressed her lips to his cheek in a kiss, squeezing his hand one last time and taking the bouquet from him before going to sit down beside his parents, who were seated on a wooden bench a few feet away from them.

Ben took a small step forward to knock his elbow against Peter’s. “You ready, champ?” His eyes searched the boy’s as the younger nodded. “Great,” he said softly, grinning as he moved back to his spot, glancing at Tony before turning to his family.

“We’re gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of the two men standing in front of me, Peter and Tony. To celebrate their love. Which is something I’m fortunate enough to know a thing or two about, myself. My May, our love and the wonderful life I’ve been able to share with her, that’s the most special thing I’ve ever experienced, and I’m overjoyed that Peter has found his own soulmate.”

Peter sniffled, tears already stinging in his eyes, despite the fact that they’d just gotten started. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides, fingers twitching restlessly.

“I’ll be reading some traditional vows, but first, Tony and Peter have some words they’d like to share with each other. You're up first, right Pete?” Ben turned his head toward the younger man.

The teen nodded at his uncle and looked down at his feet, taking a deep breath before lifting his head up and gazing deeply into the eyes of the man he was about to marry.

"Tony," he said, voice cracking. "I've spent hours trying to figure out what I wanted to say to you, but nothing I came up with seemed good enough. And I realized that nothing ever would be, and that all I could do was try my best to show you how much I love you. And that's just it, that's exactly what I'm going to spend the rest of our life doing. So I- Tony, I promise to always do my best, to be the best man that I can. Because you and your love are the best thing that will ever happen to me." He took a shaky breath, steeling himself for his next words. “And I know that nothing is stronger than our love for each other.”

The older man gazed at him, eyes alight with adoration. “I’ll be the first to admit that I never really believed in true love. Had I felt love, even been in love before? Yeah, of course. But none of that ever felt predestined, none of it felt like fate. None of that was inevitable.” He paused, swallowing thickly. “But then I met you, Pete. And you completely turned my world upside down. You changed everything.”

A soft sound slipped from Peter’s lips, and he slapped a hand over his mouth to prevent it from happening again. “Tony,” he said tearfully, the sound muffled by his palm.

His love just shook his head and shot him a wobbly smile. “It’s true, baby. You are what was always missing, that thing that I never knew I needed, but now know I cannot live without. And I’ll continue to do whatever is necessary to ensure that I never have to. You’ll never want for anything, physically or emotionally. I vow to give you all of me, everything that I am. Because you’re it for me, Peter.” The tears escaping his eyes did nothing to take away from the lopsided grin that overtook his face. “This right here...this is my endgame.”

Peter’s mouth was open before he could stop it. “I love you,” he blurted as he reached out to grab the older man’s hand, biting back a sob. “Tony I love you so much-,” he rushed out.

Tony chuckled, the hand Peter wasn’t holding moving up to cup his cheek and swipe away the tear that was rolling down his skin. “I love you too, baby.”

It was quiet, everyone touched as the love between the two of them was put on display.

“And I guess it’s my turn now.” Ben cleared his throat after a moment in an attempt to get rid of the lump that had formed there. “If you’ll take out the rings, please.” He waited as the men each pulled a thin gold band from their pockets. "Do you, Peter Benjamin Parker, take this man, Anthony Edward Stark, to be your lawfully wedded husband-"

"I do, you know I do," Peter choked out through his tears, unable to keep himself from interrupting yet again. He reached out for Tony’s hand and clumsily slid the metal onto his ring ringer. The chuckles that followed caused a red flush to take over his face, but he held fast to his statement. Of course he did, Tony was the most important person in his life. Getting to marry him and spend the rest of their days together was a dream come true. He wasn’t sorry about it at all.

His uncle just shook his head, smiling fondly at his excitement. "Alright, hold your horses, Pete- And do you, Anthony Edward Stark, take this man, Peter Benjamin Parker, to be your lawfully wedded husband?" He paused there, eyes shining as he playfully glanced at Tony as if he were going to interrupt as well.

Tony just bit back a smirk, eyes moving from Ben back to Peter. His hands squeezed at the younger man’s, and his eyes twinkled in the afternoon light that came through the trees.

Ben continued once it was clear that the man was going to keep quiet until it was his turn to speak. "To have and to hold from this day forward? To love and to cherish for better or worse, for richer or poorer, through sickness and in health, til death do you part?"

“I do,” Tony answered, not breaking his gaze at Peter as he spoke. Then he did look away, taking both of Peter’s hands in his to place the ring on his finger, running his thumb over it once it was in place.

“Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you Mr. and Mr. Stark. You may now kiss your husband.”

Their lips met before the sentence was even finished.

***

Peter laughed as he was lifted into the air, not fighting it as Tony grabbed him bridal-style and carried him into the cabin he had exited earlier. “What are you doing?” His giddiness was apparent in his voice.

“What? I’m carrying you over the threshold,” Tony told him with a grin. “It’s traditional. I was under the impression that you were all for traditions.” He carried his husband through the doorway, leaning down to kiss him gently.

They were officially husbands.

As their lips met, the scene began shifting again.

The soft, homey feel of the cabin slowly melted away, a more sophisticated room developing around them. It was almost like watching instant film develop, though much faster. The sounds of family and nature slowly ceased. All that mattered was Tony and their kiss. The way Tony’s slightly chapped lips were moving against his.

When they finally parted again and opened their eyes the setting was completely changed.

Tony didn’t seem to notice, carrying Peter over to the plush white bed and setting him down. His eyes drank in the way the teen looked in the evening light, bathed in the pinks and purples of the sunset outside. “I think this will be a wonder to sleep on tonight. As well as...other things,” he said suggestively.

Peter laughed, shaking his head as he glanced around the room. The bed was huge, a california king like the one in the penthouse, with crisp sheets and topped with a down comforter that swallowed him up like a cloud as he lay on top of it. Two of the walls were almost completely glass, reminding him of their bedroom and making him feel at home in the luxurious setting.

It was way nicer than anything he’d ever actually been in, except maybe for the hotel they’d stayed in on their ‘retreat’ to Berlin. But this time he wasn’t down the hall from Tony, they were sharing a room. Sharing a bed. And it was perfect. His blood thrummed in his veins. “Oh yeah? That’s some pretty big talk. You sound like you have plans.”

The older man hummed, crawling onto the bed with his husband after kicking his shoes off and leaving them to land on the plush dark gray carpet. “I just might. Would you be interested in hearing them?”

“Hmm. Perhaps I could be persuaded.” Peter stretched out on the bed, stroking one hand through Tony’s hair as the man leaned his forehead against his chest, pressing a kiss over his heart. “Of course I wanna know, I’m just teasing.” One of his hands came up to grab at Tony’s hair.

Tony nodded, a soft hum escaping his lips as he moved up closer in order to kiss Peter again. He shifted and nudged a knee between the young man’s thighs to support himself as he hovered over his body. The kiss deepened, mouths moving together sensually before they pulled apart to breathe, only to reconnect seconds later, neither of them wanting to part any time soon.

They could leave the talking and just do. Following the way they felt, using their bodies to communicate with each other, was so much better than talking it out, anyways. There was no second-guessing, no pausing to try and get the words right.

Their bodies stayed intertwined the rest of the night, the newlywed husbands hardly parting from each other once.

And nothing was going to break them apart.

Til death do us part, their vows claimed.

But not even death was strong enough to do such a thing.

#starker #peter parker #tony stark #tony x peter #tony stark x peter parker #Peter’s EDITH!verse #SbPBP #B&B write #May Parker #Mary and Richard Parker #tw marriage #starker fluff #for now anyways #family fluff

23 notes · View notes

ct-1500-mango · 3 years

Text

Tandem - Platonic Obikin

Hello, welcome to week 3 of Mango drabbles. I have been in the Star Wars fandom since I was six years old and I have been a fan of Pacific Rim since it came out in 2013. Today, some people in the NSWC server were watching Pacific Rim and I thought it would be incredible to do a crossover of the two.

Tandem

Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Marshal Stacker Pentecost, Tendo Choi

Rating: T

Word Count: 1595

I recommend listening to this when you read.

Kaiju (Japanese): Giant Beast

Jaeger (German): Hunter

Drifting (English): Two minds being joined into one for combat

“Rebel Blue, report to Bay 05, Level A-42, repeat, Rebel Blue, report to Bay 05, Level A-42.”

The blaring of the nuclear siren rings in Anakin’s ears as his eyes shoot open. He blearily rubs his eyes as the words repeating over the loudspeaker register.

“Rebel Blue, report to Bay 05, Level A-42, repeat, Rebel Blue, report to Bay 05, Level A-42. Kaiju. Code name: Insidious. Category 3”

He grins, adrenaline flooding his system. He jumps out of his bunk, pulls on a shirt, his dog tags jingling. His copilot, Obi-Wan slept peacefully on the lower bunk. Anakin slaps Obi-Wan’s mattress and then gently slaps his face.

“Obi, wake up old man! We got movement, we’re being deployed!”

Obi-Wan groans and Anakin takes that as a signal to keep prepping. He darts over to their mini kitchen, pulling out two protein bars. As Obi-Wan emerges from his bunk, pulling on a shirt, Anakin throws a bar to him.

“G’morning.” Obi-Wan’s lightly accented voice rings through the air, slurred with sleep. “I see we’ve got a big one.”

“Yep! And before you ask, it’s 1 A.M.”

Obi-Wan sighs. “Can’t these damn Kaiju appear according to my circadian rhythm?”

Anakin laughs and Obi-Wan smiles. They are interrupted by a banging on the door. “ObiAni, hurry it up. Time for the drop.”

Obi-Wan grabs his leather jacket from the chair he draped it over last night and tosses Anakin’s to him. Together, they don them and stride out the door.

They make their way down to the launch bay. The massive steel doors are emblazoned with their sigil and “Rebel Blue” painted in white calligraphy. As the doors creak open, Anakin whoops.

“Let’s get this show started, boys!” He practically bounces into the room.

A small army of techs is waiting for them. They shed their jackets and step forward, taking their positions. Like squires to the knights of old, the techs help them into their armor. As Anakin’s breastplate is being attached, he looks at Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan meets his gaze and winks. About thirty seconds later, they are suited up. The white armor shines under the fluorescent light. Together, they step forward and put on their helmets. The door to their Jaeger opens and Anakin walks in, followed closely by Obi-Wan and three techs. Together, they lock their feet in place. The techs secure their back harnesses and the third hands them their hand consoles. As the techs exit, a voice rings out through their headsets.

“Welcome to the party, ObiAni!”

Obi-Wan grins and replies, “Hello Tendo. What’s the weather like?”

The two men can hear Tendo’s grin. “Ah you know how it is. Cloudy with a chance of Kaiju blue.”

“So perfect weather then.” Anakin rolls his neck, making sure he’s all stretched out.

“If you say so.”

“Engage drop, Mr. Choi.” The stern, no nonsense voice of Major Pentecost interrupts their banter. The two men immediately switch to battle mode. If Pentecost is here, then it’s time to roll out. Making sure their comm channel is muted on their end, Anakin turns to look at Obi-Wan.

“Ready to add another scratch to our wall of kills, Obi-Wan?”

“Only if you are. And make sure to cover our side this time, my side still hurts from the last one.”

“I told you, it came out of nowhere.”

“No, it clearly came out from the left, which is what you’re supposed to be covering.”

“If you recall, I was a bit busy with the prehensile tail!”

The hiss of the pod door sealing interrupts their banter. Both men do a final systems check before Obi-Wan reopens the comm channel. “Rebel Blue ready for the drop.”

With that confirmation, the floor plummets. Anakin’s stomach drops to his feet as the pod descends rapidly down the shaft. Instinctually, he lets out a scream of joy and terror. He looks at Obi-Wan and sees gritted teeth and closed eyes. He remembers that the drop is the part Obi-Wan hates. The pod slows and settles gently onto the shoulders of their Jaeger. A towering two hundred and eighty foot extension of their bodies. The pod, which is actually the head of the Jaeger rotates first left, then right, confirming mobility. Anakin and Obi-Wan adjust to the moving pod as the Marshall orders initiation of pilot to pilot protocol.

Around them, filling their ears, Rebel Blue’s beautiful voice speaks, “Pilot-to-pilot connection protocol sequence.”

Anakin locks eyes with Obi-Wan. The soft blue glow of the helmet coats Obi-Wan’s features. The last time they dropped together, they took a pretty big hit. It took all three of them a few months to recover. Now, Rebel is as good as new and Anakin swears he isn’t going to let anything happen to Obi-Wan. The hum of Rebel’s nuclear core rattles the massive avatar. Obi-Wan nods to Anakin, a gesture of trust and faith that Anakin returns. They are some of the best pilots in the fleet and they know it. They will do their job and return to their friends and family. After all, they have a little sister waiting for them.

Dimly, they hear the sounds of the bay doors opening as Rebel wakes up around them. They stumble slightly, jolting forward in their harnesses as the massive transport begins to roll towards the hanger doors. Through the viewscreen, they can see small helicopters buzzing like bees around their head. As the transport rolls off the launchpad into the unforgiving ocean, Anakin comms Command.

“Rebel Blue, ready and aligned.”

“Rangers, this is Pentecost. As you know, this is a category 3. Last time you fought a C.3, you were nearly split in two. Try not to do that again. Prepare for neural handshake.”

Tendo’s voice takes over. “Starting in 15 seconds. 15…”

As the countdown begins, Anakin mutes their channel. “What are we thinking, Obi-Wan? Music?”

“Oh definitely not. We have been out of it for a while, let’s not get cocky, even though that’s your specialty.”

Anakin rolls his eyes. “Fair enough. Can’t wait to hear your grating voice in my head.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

“3… 2… 1…”

Rebel Blue speaks over Tendo, “Neural Handshake initiated.” Anakin closes his eyes, focusing on breathing. A sensation not unlike drowning overtakes him. His whole body goes cold, spreading from his head, down his torso, through his legs and arms. There is a pressure settling around him from all sides, slowly squeezing tighter and tighter as the memories begin.

Obi-Wan, meeting Anakin for the first time in college.

Anakin, swimming with Ahsoka, shouting and laughing.

Anakin, the day his mother died, face wet with tears as the cancer finally took her.

Obi-Wan, age 5, playing with his parents in a verdant, rolling field.

Obi-Wan’s grief and guilt after his last copilot died.

Anakin’s insecurity at being compared to Obi-Wan’s former copilot.

Obi-Wan and Anakin, the first time they drifted.

Obi-Wan and Anakin, becoming ObiAni.

In tandem, their eyes snap open as the link finalizes. Two men and their hulking avatar, a perfect union of flesh and steel. ObiAni feels cold wind and sea spray on his face. He blinks, trying to dislodge a water droplet that isn’t even there. When you drift, you aren’t just melding with your copilot, you are embodying the Jaeger too. He hears and feels laughter echoing in his head.

I missed this. I missed you.

Was it Anakin or Obi-Wan who said that? It didn’t matter. All that matters is Anakin and Obi-Wan are one. Two halves of a whole, greater than the sum of its parts. ObiAni breathes, feeling his chest rise and fall as the heartbeat of Rebel Blue thrums in his ears.

“Neural handshake strong and holding.” Tendo’s voice brings him out of his reverie.

Right hemisphere, calibrating. ObiAni speaks, raising his left hand out to his side. Metal creaks as Rebel Blue obeys his command. He rotates his arm so his palm is facing up and slowly curls his fingers into a powerful fist.

Left hemisphere, calibrating. This time, he brings his right arm up, repeating the motion. He bends his arms together and thrusts them forward in a powerful double punch.

“Proofed and transmitting.” Rebel Blue coos in his ear, speaking to him and Command. ObiAni flexes his fingers. He curls his left hand into a fist and his right hand he leaves palm up. Fist meets palm in a powerful show of strength and aggression. ObiAni cracks his neck and views the HUD of Rebel Blue critically, making sure all systems are green.

Pentecost begins giving them orders. “Rangers, you are to keep Insidious away from the coastline. Terminate it quickly then get back to base. As you know, breach activity has been increasing, I don’t want you caught in an ambush. Copy?”

Copy that, sir.

ObiAni switches off comms and the bodies of the men that were Anakin and Obi-Wan look at each other. Obi-Wan’s face has a thin layer of sweat. Anakin’s breathing is spiking as adrenaline takes over. Their hearts beat in tandem with the nuclear core of Rebel Blue.

You’re in my head, you know what I’m thinking.

I do.

Let’s go get this sonuva bitch.

Flexing his muscles, ObiAni begins to walk and Rebel Blue follows suit, water sloshing around their ankles. Death could be on the horizon for ObiAni but now, he is whole, he is powerful, and he is going to save lives.

And that’s all that matters.

#star wars #pacific rim #crossover #mango drabbles #obi-wan kenobi #anakin skywalker

19 notes · View notes

honestlywrites · 4 years

Text

Crystal Clear (Anakin Skywalker x Reader)

Request: Can you do the reader and Anakin getting their kyber crystals as padawans? And the reader is freaked out that they won’t find theirs but in the end their crystals are next to each others?

TW: Mild Descriptions of a Panic Attack and Degradation.

Being a youngling on their way to becoming a Padawan was an exciting experience because you had been waiting for this moment for as long as you could remember. Fantasizing about color, type of hilt, style of dueling was the only thing on your mind. You had heard that they would never actually tell you about the true experience but rather that they would summon you on a secret mission.

When Master Yoda called you to the landing pad of the Jedi Temple, you knew in your soul that this was the moment. Walking out onto the landing, you looked around at the people surrounding the ship. Master Yoda, Master Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker were the only ones present. Now, you had been acquainted with Anakin when he first arrived and you observed him from afar. He is quite skilled and learns quickly so you had grown quite fond of him because he had joined the temple at an older age. The two of you talked during meals and he was one of your few friends, you being one of his. Seeing him on the landing pad was one of the best scenarios that could have happened.

“You called me Master Yoda?” you ask, smiling slightly when you see Anakin wink at you.

“Summoned you I did. Join me on this journey, you will,” he nods and begins to walk up the ramp of the ship, Obi-Wan following close by. Anakin lags behind, opting to walk next to you.

“Are you ready to find your kyber crystal?” he gently nudges you with his shoulder and you look up at him, nodding.

“I’ve been ready since I arrived here. Are you?” the two of you walk and sit down in one of the seats, bracing slightly as the ship begins to take off.

“I’ve been ready since I was born,” he challenges you and you scrunch your nose, shaking your head.

“You didn’t even know what a Jedi was until a couple of years ago.”

“Hey, that’s a low blow. Anyways, I still knew. The Force told me,” he turns to face forward and you look up at him again, taking a moment to memorize what he looks like.

The fondness for Anakin takes over your entire begin every time that you talk to him. You know that to be a Jedi, you must have no personal attachments so that you can do your job as a protector without any bias. Your feelings for Anakin would not be tolerated in the future and so you resisted the urge to take his hand in yours as you do when he wakes up in the middle of the night from nightmares about his past or when he longs for his mother on Tattooine. The two of you were far too close for comfort. Listening to the soft thrum of the ship, your eyes drift closed as you soar through Hyperspace.

Your eyes shoot open when the ship touches down. You lift your head, looking around as you notice your head was on Anakin’s shoulder.

“Arrived we have,” Master Yoda pulls on a thick coat and hops down from the seat, Master Kenobi following him. Anakin stands and grabs a coat, helping you put yours on before sliding his own on. You mumble your thanks, your cheeks flushing slightly as the four of you begin to walk out onto the icy planet, the snow-filled winds threatening to push you over.

Anakin wraps an arm around you as the four of you navigate the storm, using The Force to open the cave. Following the two Masters, you and Anakin stare in awe at the tall walls of the cave and wonder when the true experience will begin.

“The two of you have been brought here to begin the process of creating your Lightsaber, but first you will find your Kyber Crystal in the cave. Be careful, for if you do not exit the cave after you find your crystal, you will be trapped in the cave for one full rotation,” Master Kenobi speaks as the ice that formed over the entrance of the cave melts down into a small pool. You nod at the instructions, looking over at Anakin who gently bounces on his feet in excitement.

Once the two of you are given the entire speech, you instantly begin to walk into the monster of a cave. The darkness engulfs you instantly, your sense of sight weakened. The only light that comes through refracts off of the glittering ice crystals, making sharp patterns of light.

“Where are we supposed to go?” Anakin asks, his eyes darting around at the many different entrances.

“I don’t know,” your voice echos and the darkness creeps in, making it harder to see Anakin.

“Why don’t we split up?” he suggests, looking to a tunnel that appeals to him and points to it. “I’ll go down this one.”

You nod, finding the tunnel with the most light and begin to venture down it. As you begin to trek down deeper into the caverns, less light comes through and you are left alone with yourself and your thoughts. Time seems to tick by and you lose a sense of how much time has passed.

You’re so weak.

Hearing a voice behind you, you spin and jump away from the source only to see nothing. You can hear your heart beating rapidly, a cold sweat setting in.

You will never become a Jedi.

Tears pool in your eyes, dripping down your cheeks as the words continue their assault on you.

You are a failure to your people and a failure to the Jedis.

Your breathing quickens and you slide against a wall, sitting on the floor. The cold ice grounds you to the moment, but the words keep coming.

Anakin will never love you.

The words escape you before you can even comprehend.

“Anakin!” you scream out, the tears dripping down your nose and onto your brown coat. Footsteps echo in the distance as you hear your companion cry out your name. You lift your head to watch him turn around the corner, seeing you and instantly running to your side.

“What happened?” he asks softly, taking your hands in his.

“There were voices,” you hiccup, sniffling softly. “Telling me that I would never become a Jedi.”

Anakin pauses for a moment as he shakes his head.

“You are the best Youngling in the entire Jedi Temple, even better than me. They are lucky to have you,” he whispers and your eyes flutter closed as he touches his forehead to yours. “You’re the best of all of us.”

A smile plays on the edges of your lips and you sigh, relishing in the feeling of his warm skin against yours. When the two of you separate, your eyes flutter open and are instantly blinded by the light as two crystals shine by themselves. Behind Anakin is two crystals, not ice crystals, but two brilliant kyber crystals shine directly at the two of you.

“Look,” you whisper and Anakin turns, a grin taking over his face.

“My crystal,” he mutters and stands, taking the blue crystal from its place in the ice walls.

“Our crystals,” you stand and take your crystal from the wall, your other hand interlacing with Anakin’s.

#anakin skywalker x reader #Anakin Skywalker #anakin x reader #obi wan kenobi #yoda #star wars #the phantom menace #attack of the clones #Revenge of the Sith

125 notes · View notes

flightsoffandom · 4 years

Text

Getting Off Scott-Free

Pairs: Scott Lang x Reader

Words: 1954

Summary: After a long day of work, you get home to find that Scott is hiding something from you.

Warnings: None that I can think of

Notes: Left completely gender-neutral. Writing for Scott was hella fun, he is a huge goof. I knew I would like it but didn’t think I would enjoy it this much.

I am wanting to challenge myself by using the same prompt with different fandoms and try to make it as unique as possible.

I found this writing prompt @witterprompts and went with it. The original prompt is below.

“Against my better judgment, I've decided to keep you around.”

Dating Scott Lang was an interesting experience. He could be a dummy but in the best way possible. You met Scott when he came to your place of work, trying to apply for a job. The thing was Scott completely botched his interview because he was too busy trying to impress you. He made you laugh, and he was attractive. So when he got denied the job because of his silly behavior, you asked him out to make up for it. During that date, you both hit it off and continued seeing each other. Your life had become more eventful and fun since Scott had walked into it. After dating him for a few months and getting to know Scott, you asked him to move in. He agreed. It may have seemed quick, but he was sweet. You’d also be lying if you said you weren’t motivated by the fact that Scott living with you put him one step closer to being able to see Cassie. You had grown to love Scott, so it was a win-win situation.

When Scott became Ant-Man, you didn’t know right away. However, it didn’t take long for Scott to tell you. He tried to hide it, but he was terrible about lying about this kind of thing to people he was close to. It was a shock that a goof like Scott had become a superhero, but he was doing good. Scott helped with that whole situation with Pym Tech, and he enjoyed it. So you were fine with it and helped keep his secret.

It had been a long day at work. You were tired and looking forward to going home and relaxing. You pulled into your driveway. Parking the car before grabbing your work bag and leaving the vehicle. As you walk up to the door, you pull out your keys. You unlock the door before stepping in. It was quiet for a second. As soon as you closed the door behind you, Scott practically skids down the hallway. He comes around the corner to greet you, “Hey there, today has been totally uneventful and completely boring.” Scott glance to the side. He was talking so fast it was suspicious.

On top of that, now that you had a chance to get a good look at Scott, you could see what he was wearing. Scott had on a robe and looked disheveled, that wasn’t unusual. It was the fact that he had tried to cover up the clothes he usually wore under the Ant-Man suit with the robe. You make a face at him, “Sure it was…” You try to walk around him, only for Scott to start herding you into the kitchen. You cross your arms, “I want to go change my clothes.” Scott laughs and grabs your hand, dragging you into the kitchen. Scott starts talking again, “Why would you want to change? You look amazing in those clothes?” When you’re both standing in the kitchen, you try to question Scott. He interrupts you, “You must be starving, I know I am. Come on, let’s have dinner.” Scott smiles at you as he backs up, using his body to block the doorway. You huff, getting frustrated, “What are you doing?” Typically his odd behavior was cute. You didn’t mind messing around. But you were tired and at least wanted to get out of these clothes. Scott keeps glancing behind him, down the hall towards the bedroom. “Let’s make dinner together when was the last time we did that?” Scott pauses before looking back at you, “Why don’t we to that anymore?” You find yourself chuckling as you roll your eyes, “Cause the last meal we cooked together ended up ruined because we got distracted ‘fooling around.’ ” Scott makes an exaggerated ‘sexy’ face walking towards you. He wiggles his eyebrows at you as he talks, “Again I ask, Why don’t we do that anymore?” When Scott reaches you, his hands go right to your ass. He squeezes both handfuls of your ass, “Honk, Honk.”

You try to keep a serious look on your face. It doesn't take long for you to easily crack a smile. Trying not to be distracted, you avoid looking at Scott’s face. As an extra measure, you cross your arms to help keep some distance between you and him. Scott, however, is persistent and starts giving you rabid kisses all over your face. You wiggle around as you begin to chuckle. Finally giving in you wrap your arms around Scott’s neck and give him a kiss on the lips. Scott gives your rear another squeeze, “If I didn’t know any better, I would think you have the hots for me.” You chuckle and tease, “You wish.” You kiss Scott again. When Scott starts kissing you back, you get an idea. You let yourself enjoying making out with Scott for a few minutes. Once you can’t stand the feeling of being in your work clothes any longer, you put your plan into motion. As you keep kissing Scott, you slowly rotate the two of you. Until your the one who has your back to the doorway. You break the kiss. Scott immediately starts pouting, “Hey…” You chuckle and back up a little. You wink at Scott, “Can you close your eyes while I get more comfortable?” A huge grin slides onto Scott’s face. He rapidly nods before closing his eyes.

You didn’t know how long Scott would actually keep his eyes closed. So you quietly exited the kitchen. As you make your way down the hallway, you keep an eye out for whatever Scott was trying to hide from you. About halfway down the hall, you hear Scott in the kitchen, “Tricking me like that is against the Geneva Convention, you know.” You call back over your shoulder, “It is not.” You hear Scott coming up behind you as he talks, “Well, its at least illegal. Paxton will totally back me up on that.” You laugh reaching your bedroom door, “I’ll be sure to ask him the next time he and Maggie drop Cassie off.” Scott grabs your arm and tries to worm his way in between you and the bedroom door. You gently push him aside. Scott gives up, getting a guilty look on his face, “Don’t be mad, okay?” You give him a look as you grab your doorknob, “Why would I…” Before you could finish your question, you get your answer. The door immediately falls into your bedroom, revealing what Scott was trying to hide.

Your bedroom door was no longer attached to the wall. Parts of the door frame were still attached to the hinges of the door. As soon as you let go of the doorknob, the door falls on to the bedroom floor. That wasn’t the only thing. The bedroom wall right across from the entrance has a huge chunk of wall missing. This was the last thing you wanted to come home to. You were at a loss for words. You step over the broken door and try to see if anything else was broken. Luckily it seems just the door and hole in the wall were the only issues. It had been a long day. You were too tired to deal with this right now. Scott stays right outside the room, watching you. You turn to look to glare at him, not saying anything. Scott holds his hands up in surrender, “I can fix it” Scott looks at the hole in the wall, “Probably…” He gives you an unsure smile. You just start heading into the bathroom, leaving a trail of dirty clothes behind you.

The shower gave you some time to relax. You cleaned yourself off. Then stayed under the water for a little while longer to let the hot water keep pelting you. When the water started to turn cold, you ended your shower. Wrapping a towel around your body, you stepped out of the shower. As you walked into the bedroom, you noticed your trail of dirty clothes was gone. Before you could think about that too much, you saw something else. There were chunks of the wall all over the floor, including wall dust covering everything nearby. Which would have included your bed, but the sheets were missing. You walk over to your dresser and start pulling out clothes. After changing into comfortable clothes, you go to look for Scott.

You don’t have to look far. Scott is still standing right outside your door, looking like a sad puppy. You weren't exactly mad at him, more annoyed than anything. You sigh, “Where did you put our sheets?” Scott motions, “In the dyer, I wanted to try to get them washed before you got back home… I put your clothes in the washer too.” Scott gives you a small smile. He was trying so hard you couldn’t stay upset with him. You finally smile back at him. Scott perks up when he sees you are officially not mad at him. You look around at the damage, trying to figure out how to fix it. You look back up to Scott, “So what happened?” Scott chuckles and rubs the back of his neck, “Well, see… I was doing some practice runs in the Ant-Man suit and…” Scott shifts on his feet and avoids eye contact, “I may or may not have gotten distracted and ended up taking out the door when I sized up, and then I couldn’t slow down and took out the wall.” Scott smiles at you and shrugs, “But you got no real proof I did anything.” You start laughing, “Why did you need to practice here?” Scott thinks for a second, “Well… I like it here, and I need to stay on top of my game?” Scott says it more as a question than an answer. You shake your head as you chuckle, “Let’s set something up in the basement… So more of the walls don’t get broken.” You grab the door off the ground and drag it into the hallway.

You sit down and start picking up the bigger pieces of the wall off the ground. Scott joins you. As he picks up a few pieces, he asks, “So… You’re not going to kick me out or anything?” You decide to tease him, “Well, I’ve been thinking…” You look up at Scott. Scott looks a bit worried. You wink at him to show him your teasing, “Against my better judgment, I've decided to keep you around.” Scott lets out a dramatic sigh of relief, “Thank goodness… I don't know if anyone else would tolerate me.” You laugh as you finish getting all the pieces of rubble into a pile, “Welp, I more than just tolerate you. I love you.” Scott stands up, bringing back a trash bag, “You love me.” Scott says it in a sing-song teasing tone. You roll your eyes, chuckling, “I know, how silly of me to love you.” Scott holds open the trash bag, “Might be a shock to you, but I love you too.” You start to put the wall chunks in the trash, “I would have never guessed.” You chuckle as you go back to cleaning up. Once all the rubble is in the garbage, you stand up, “We just need to get that hole patched before this weekend so Cassie can come over.” Scott nods looking at the hole in the wall, “Where to start?” You think for a second, looking over the damage. You look down at the dust-covered floor, “Think the ants could at least help us finish cleaning up?” Scott grins and runs to the closet, shouting over his shoulder. “As long as you don’t tell Pym.”

#marvel fanfiction #scott lang x reader #gender neutral reader #scott lang #marvel fanfic #gender neutral #marvel #one-shot #short one shot #fanfiction #fanfic

37 notes · View notes

puddygeeks · 4 years

Text

𝙼𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚢𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 - 𝙿𝚘𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗 𝚡 𝙾𝙲 - 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟹: 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎

Masterlist

Rating: Mature

Summary: A street kid turned starfighter racer from Corellia, born in the midst of the Galactic Civil War, finds her racing career at an end. Determined to seek out a new life, she embarks on a series of misadventures that culminate in her finally enlisting in the Resistance. She’s stunned to discover that her old racing nemesis, Poe Dameron, is a valued member of the organisation and has to confront the maddening effect that his charming smile has on her heart.

Fandom: Star Wars

Pairing: OC x Poe Dameron

My writing is entirely fuelled by coffee! If you enjoy my work, feel free to donate toward my caffeine dependency: will work for coffee

Warnings: Mature content. Language, sex (lack of smut), mentions of torture.

Chapter Three

“Honey I’m home!” I called as I stuck my head out of the cruiser that Han and I had built from scrap and climbed out to drop down onto the docking bay. Marching through the Eravana with the confidence of a job well done, I passed through the sizable cargo ship with a comfortable familiarity. I’d discovered that being part of Han’s crew had given me a strange sense of belonging and that sometimes it’s simply the people that make somewhere a home, rather than the length of time that you spend there.

As I entered the cockpit, I threw a neatly wrapped packet into Chewbacca’s expectant hands in a well practiced routine. “You didn’t think I’d forget, did you?” I smirked and he growled back thankfully. I opened my mouth to question the absence of our captain, when heavy footsteps from behind us announced his arrival. Han held his hands on his hips as he assessed me and I knew that he was eagerly awaiting a report.

“Well, were they happy with the donation?” He enquired with a nervous shift in posture that I quickly recognised. He was always antsy when we delivered to the Resistance and although hiding out in the ship whilst I handled the covert supply drops had been his idea, he still seemed on edge every time that I returned.

“They were very grateful.” I confirmed and observed as he released a slow breath that I hadn’t realised he was holding. He visibly began to relax now that he knew the job was complete and I decided that it was best for me to relay my message now, rather than waiting until later when I would make him uncomfortable by bringing it up again. “General Organa sent her personal thanks. After she grilled me on how you were.” I crooned with a sly smile and Han’s face dropped at my words.

“You spoke to Leia? I thought I specifically told you to go through my contact and to keep it under the radar?” He groaned in an exasperated manner and there was a clear hurt in his voice.

Although I hated witnessing Han even slightly upset, I also considered his avoidance of his wife a poor coping mechanism and hoped that in time I might be able to convince him to speak to her. Thanks to Chewbacca, I knew the bare basics of what had occurred with his family, but I could tell from my brief visits to the Resistance that the General missed him. Over our many years together, I’d come to care for and depend on Han, and it was a continuous drain for me to watch him floundering in smuggling, knowing in my heart that he wasn’t truly happy.

“You did, and for once I actually followed your orders exactly. You don’t seriously think the General doesn’t know that they’re from you, just because I attend in my own ship? Even you and I can’t smuggle our way past that woman, she knows all.” I drawled in a light tone in an effort to combat the growing tension in the space and he sighed deeply. His frustrated, jerky movements made it all too obvious that he was distressed by this information and a heavy silence sat between us as he continued his internal battle. The atmosphere always became awkward when we discussed anything surrounding his family and I glanced over at Chewbacca for backup. He rapidly turned away as if he hadn’t seen me and I knew that I would have to take the chance of saying what needed to be said alone, which had become a well practiced routine.

“Look, I know it’s not really my place to comment, but why do we need to keep doing this discreetly? If she already knows who it’s coming from, why don’t we just go straight to the source and find out exactly what they need? Surely-”

“No!” Han cut me off sharply and I startled at his sudden outburst. Realising that he had been unnecessarily harsh, he calmed himself before speaking again but his tone remained firm. “We’re not involved in this fight and we’re going to keep it that way.” He ordered and I threw my arms up in exasperation at his unwillingness to compromise.

“Why are we even here then?” I grilled as I felt the bitterness of disappointment gripping my chest and attempted to remain in control of my temper. It seemed ridiculous to continue in this charade and I couldn’t understand the sense of associating with the Resistance if it was such a strenuous task for him. It seemed that he wanted to remain on the outskirts of something that was too precious to completely remove himself from, whilst his fear ensured that he never invested fully.

“We’re here because it makes good business sense. We’re smugglers, we follow where the money is and right now, the Resistance has the biggest budget in the galaxy.” He justified in a poor attempt to conceal his emotional attachment to this arrangement and I couldn’t contain a disbelieving scoff that escaped my lips.

“Good business sense?! Since when have you ever had that?” I retorted as I crossed my arms and scrutinised him with an unimpressed expression. He squirmed under my gaze as I waited for him to provide another excuse, but eventually it became clear that he didn’t intend to do so. “Are you seriously going to pretend that this is about money? We both know that we’re doing this so that you can help the Resistance and evade her at the same time. I just don’t understand why when she so obviously wants to talk to you. Can’t you just take a delivery yourself, use it as a way to start a conversation?” I suggested in a desperate bid to reach past his carefully placed defenses but I knew from his face that he was about to shut me out again.

“You’re right, you don’t understand.” He stated in a cold tone and I stubbornly fought back the feeling of hurt that lingered at the back of my mind. Every night when I laid in bed, I wished that he would allow me to support him with his pain as he always had for me, but he was never ready to speak about it. It was a struggle not to take it personally, but I tried to remain patiently at his side. “I’m gonna finish the check on the thrusters. Be ready to get going in five.” He mumbled before he turned on his heel and stormed away. A deep disappointed sigh fell from my mouth as I settled into the pilot's seat and Chewbacca groaned loudly at me.

“Well, you weren’t going to say anything. Maybe if you weren’t so soft on him, I wouldn’t have to push him.” I defended, earning an indignant tone in his response and I furrowed my brows at the co-pilot in offense. I was relieved that the mechanic Han had introduced me to during my racing career had been a wookie, as it had allowed me to become well practiced at Shyriiwook and meant that I didn’t have to rely on Han’s biased translations. “Oh, bro-code my ass. You’re a wimp.” I grumbled, to which he promptly rotated his chair so that I was no longer in his line of sight.

***

It had been a year since I first delivered to the Resistance and each time that I saw the General our talks grew a little longer. The routine had become familiar and I found myself growing comfortable in my new role. I busied myself with unloading our latest donation until I had a gentle cough from behind that caught my attention.

“My dear girl, we really must stop meeting like this.” General Organa’s voice was warm and welcoming as she entered our drop off point and I smiled fondly at her. There was an overpowering wisdom about her that encouraged a calmer side of me when in her company and I enjoyed our brief, infrequent talks over deliveries.

“This place has really grown recently.” I stated absentmindedly as I stared through the trees at the rapidly developing base and she watched me with interest. I’d never been inclined toward a lifestyle as structured as the Resistance, nor serving under the New Republic. It all seemed dependent on far more training and commitment than had ever been in my nature, but the more time that I spent in the General’s company, the more I found myself wondering if I would ever grow to become as undoubtedly level-headed and respectable as she was.

“It certainly has. It’s truly astounding what a determined group of outstanding people can achieve.” She commented in her usually wise manner and I hummed quietly under my breath. “It’s far more impressive up close, perhaps I could give you a tour?” She offered with an alluring smile and I felt a guilty tug at my heartstrings as I thought of Han waiting in the ship for my return. I couldn’t deny the temptation of the exciting base, as it’s large airfield called out to me with it’s promise of adventure and I glanced between it and the delivery conflictingly. “Come, it won’t take long and my boys will ensure that your donation is safely transported.” She crooned as she placed a hand gently on the small of my back to guide me and I allowed her to shuffle me along without protest. I knew that Han would expect me to take a while signing over the stock anyway and so resolved to simply ensure that I was quick enough to be back around the same time as usual.

General Organa led me into the bustling activity of the impressive base and I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of people present. There was a strong sense of purpose that was almost tangible in the air and I could feel it’s intoxicating effect washing over me as my guide cleverly presented their fleet. The assortment of craft was dizzying and although there was nothing particularly new or flashy here, I found myself feeling envious of the variety of ships that the engineers were able to work on. The General keenly studied my expressions as I gazed over the hangar with awe and she cleared her throat as she prepared to make her case.

“You know, there could be a place for you here, Jax. A young woman with your kind of skills and experience would be an incredibly valuable asset to the resistance.” She stated calmly and I peered over at her with confusion.

“No offense General, but what would you know about my experience?” I asked with a subtle defensiveness and I was taken about when she chuckled under her breath. My activities over the past seven years didn’t seem the type that would match well with a respectable military organisation like the Resistance and I could only conceive that she’d been confused by the well mannered behaviour that I’d shown in every interaction with her. Although our relationship had grown more casual over the years that I had been supplying for her, I still maintained my respect when speaking to her and couldn’t imagine that she realised how different I was when with Han.

“Oh, I know a great deal more than you would expect. My husband wasn’t the only one to keep track of you when you disappeared from Corellia. If your reputation is accurate, you are reckless, unpredictable and cunning, but according to his description you are also determined, passionate, loyal and willing to fight for your beliefs. Those qualities are invaluable.” She confirmed with a slightly mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she scrutinised me and I shuffled on the spot with embarrassment. I hadn’t ever considered that Han would discuss me with his family and I cringed as I considered the numerous foolish decisions of my past that could have been shared with her. “We don’t discriminate here. If an individual can fly, or fight, or contribute in any way and are willing to be somewhere that matters, we’ll welcome them with open arms. There are people from all walks of life here, I’m sure you could find your place.” She offered in a tantalising pitch and I sighed thoughtfully as I considered the opportunity.

“It’s a very kind offer and I really appreciate it, but I need to be getting back to my Captain.” I answered tactfully, despite the feeling of disappointment that blossomed in my chest and rather than looking disappointed, she smiled as if she had expected it.

“You truly care for him, don’t you?” She enquired, her eyes focusing in to examine me closely so that I felt I couldn’t lie, even if I had desired to do so. I nodded slowly and a genuine appreciation spread across her finely aged face. “I’m pleased, it’s a relief that he has you to monitor him. He can be deeply foolish at times.” She remarked with a far off expression and I chuckled lightly in agreement. “Should you ever tire of smuggling, my offer will always stand. And that applies to your stubborn old Captain too.” She winked for the first time that I’d ever seen and as I strode away from her to return to my ship, her words swirled in my head, leaving me with more to consider than ever before.

***

The clunky fighter ship lurched dramatically and I was thrown in my seat as I struggled to maintain my grip on the control panel. My gunner set up was extreme and difficult to control as a result of being built from a combination of mismatched parts and although I’d been trained to use it before, I’d never staked our survival on it until now. As I frantically fired upon the surrounding fleet, Han & Chewbacca attempted to manoeuvre us out of the mess that I had once again caused. It was difficult not to be overwhelmed by the onslaught of tie fighters that whizzed around us and as I felt myself beginning to crumble under the pressure, I recalled what I had just witnessed.

The bodies that littered the streets, families fleeing in terror, desperately clinging to their children, destruction on a scale that I could never imagine happening in front of me and a pit of anger bubbled from inside me. My hands squeezed around the controls tightly until my knuckles turned white and I threw myself around on the robustly rotating chair with a newfound veracity.

“They’re flanking us!” Han’s panic stricken voice rang loudly through the tight space and I focused on the cluster of ships with a frightening accuracy. For a while, the combination of my fury filled shooting and Han’s legendary piloting seemed to be making quick work of the pursuing forces, until a cruiser arrived to loom over us menacingly. I felt my stomach plummet at the sight of it and my hands began to shake. “Now we’ve got trouble! Hang on back there kid, I’m gonna get us out of here.” Han’s voice, although assertive, revealed his terror and I took a deep breath as I awaited his moves.

I could barely tell which way was up any longer as the ship rocketed through motions that I would never have dared and the force threw me around manically. For a while, I couldn’t tell what was happening, until I heard the telltale sounds of the engine warming for a jump to lightspeed and realised that Han had simply been creating enough space for us to escape. The surging sounds became overpowering as we hurtled through a dizzying display of lights and I prayed that this would be enough to lose the attackers.

I took a moment to catch my breath as we slowed to a reasonable speed, but before I could even open my mouth to question, we were thrown into another crushing journey. After multiple mind bending jumps, we finally emerged into an unfamiliar system and I felt as if my head might explode from the strain. I hesitated for a few moments to ensure that we definitely weren’t moving any time soon and then hastily removed myself from the harness to check on Han and Chewbacca. From the moment that I stepped off the ladder into their floor, Han strode toward me with a fire burning in his eyes.

“That stunt you pulled back there was stupid and reckless! We don’t tangle with the First Order for a reason, do you see that now?” He yelled and I could feel the anger radiating from him in waves. His attitude only further fueled my already frazzled temper and I stared back at him in disbelief.

“They killed all of those people Han, slaughtered them where they stood, for nothing! I couldn’t just leave them.” I defended in a disappointed tone and he scoffed bitterly. He opened his mouth to attack again but I cut him off sharply. “It was a little girl, she would’ve died! I didn’t even think before I acted and I won’t apologise for that.” I spat with a tone of disgust and I noticed that his nostrils flared with the rapidness of his breathing.

“You could have helped her without drawing attention to us. I didn’t give you a blaster to shoot StormTroopers with!” He scolded like an incensed parent and I threw my hands up in exasperation. I couldn’t believe that we were arguing about logistics over such a horrific situation. “You almost got us killed. For the hundredth time, we are not political, Jax! It’s not our fight.” He argued as he dropped from shouting to a desperate plea and I laughed darkly under my breath. The energy of the pent up emotions that I was mentally battling caused me to pace around as I spoke in an effort to maintain control of my words.

“We’re not political? I’m so sick of hearing you say that! We’ve been delivering supplies to the Resistance for 4 years, since its inception. How can you try to separate us from that?” I growled as I concentrated on controlling the flow of my thoughts and although I could tell that Han was simmering back down now, my venom was far from spent.

“We are contractors, that’s it! We’re not part of the Resistance, we’re already separate.” He confirmed in a pedantic examination and I felt the last of my reserve finally snap at his continued agenda. This situation had been worsening between us for several years and I could no longer patiently wait for him to be ready to address it. I’d spent enough time travelling to gather the pieces around his past and discovered the full reasoning for his refusal to resolutely pick a side in the war that was brewing across the entire galaxy.

“Of course we’re not, because you’re not willing to do too much, or to actually include yourself in the organisation that opposes your son! I don’t know how you can watch all those people die and just do nothing?!” I cried with a rawness to my voice that I had never allowed to show before and I watched as a combination of hurt and fresh anger crossed Han’s face. I hadn’t meant to spurt out such a personal attack, but the strain of avoiding the topic had finally crashed over me and I could no longer control the words that fell from my lips.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” He growled in a low voice and I could feel myself being puppeted by the fury that washed over me.

“Well maybe I would if you ever told me the truth! You lay down all these rules for being a part of your crew but you don’t even follow them yourself. You change your mind like the wind. You’ve forgotten all of the smuggler guidelines and morals that you used to preach when I was a kid, you’re backstabbing people and gambling harder with every job. Chewie told me that you almost lost the Falcon twice before someone finally stole it for good! Whether you want to talk about it or not, something is clearly eating you alive and it’s making you reckless. I can’t keep following a Captain like that and ignore the suffering around me. We need to fight!” The words flowed out of me in a jumbled, emotional blur and Han’s brows furrowed together as I revealed desires that I buried from him for a long time,

“If you’re so desperate to fight, why don’t you just go join the Resistance?!” He spat with an indignant attitude that crawled under my skin and I felt my hands shaking in resentment.

“You know what, maybe I will! General Organa has asked me to join every single time I’ve delivered over the past 4 years and I’ve always turned her down. Maybe that was a mistake” I retorted in a childish manner and he scoffed with an expression that revealed that he had long suspected this was the case.

“Go ahead, I’m not stopping you!” He stated firmly as he held out his hands in an offer and I clenched my jaw in frustration.

“Fine!” I growled with a determined tone. “I’ll pack my stuff, you know where to drop me off.” I announced as I turned on my heel to stomp off to my small lodgings in the ship.

In a saddening similarity to when I left Corellia, my modest possessions fit into a single holdall and it took very little time for me to be ready to leave. A heavy tension filled the air as I remained sat on the bed and awaited our arrival to the Resistance. Although the decision had been made in conflict, I felt in my gut that this desire to fight had been lingering inside of me for some time. I’d heard some horrifying things during my time smuggling with Han and we’d arrived to find the aftermath of attacks before, but seeing the devastation that they caused firsthand today had lit a fire inside me.

I adjusted my clothing to ensure that I would look presentable, despite the knowledge that the General at least would be thrilled to see me, no matter what I wore. In the back of my mind, I worried that I might resemble a smuggler too much as I examined my reflection and attempted to push my curly, ebony hair into some kind of style. It fell scruffily around my jaw and there was a thick silver stripe of hair running right from my parting to the tips near my face. I’d possessed this my entire life and regardless of many attempts to cover it, it remained stubbornly visible. The slight hint of my first serious crash was still evident in the burnt section of skin on my left temple and as an adult, I’d grown fond of the battle worn look that it gave me.

I wore a black bodysuit, with open sections on the side that revealed some skin around my waist and a gap near the top. On my bottom half were some standard, tough grey trousers and I slid an old brown jacket with a fleece trim over the top to cover some of the less appropriate clothing. A thin chain hung around my neck with a simple gold circle hanging from it, which was the last treasure of my family. I stared into my large brown eyes and took a deep breath.

The ship touched down on the surface of D’Qar and I snatched up my bag before I could think twice. I marched toward the exit with a forced confidence, despite the nerves that fizzled in my stomach. As I reached the door, I paused and Han appeared at my side with a remorseful expression.

“You don’t have to go.” He muttered as he stared at the door in an effort to avoid meeting my eyes and I steeled myself to contain the tears that threatened to escape. This was the right decision for us both, I knew that in my heart but the reality of leaving my home and the troublesome pair who had become my family was more difficult than I had even anticipated.

“I know, but I think it’s time.” I replied quietly and he sighed deeply. A few moments of silence passed whilst we both remained frozen to the spot, a million unspoken words filling the empty space between us. There was a tug at the back of my mind to stay, to watch over Han and his self destructing behaviours no matter the cost but I felt the call of the Resistance louder than anything else.

“I always knew that I couldn’t keep a young fire like you away from the good fight forever. I’m just glad that you allowed me to protect you for so many years.” He admitted as he finally risked glancing over at me with a sentimental expression.

“Are you sure it wasn’t the other way around, old man?” I teased with an emotional smile. For a moment, I was hopeful that this didn’t have to be goodbye and that he could continue protecting me, even in my new role.

“I can’t come with you, Jax.” He added in a sombre voice and I felt my face fill with disappointment.

“Why not? Every time the General asked me to join, she told me that there was a place for you too. They could really use your experience Han, you could teach them so much.” I pleaded with desperation as I clung to our bond and he smiled at me in understanding.

“I just can’t, kid.” He stated as his voice almost broke and I nodded slowly in heartbroken acceptance. It was gut wrenching to accept that all of my years of carefully attempting to guide him back to his wife had failed, but I finally had to face that he was not able to conquer his fear. The time had come for me to acknowledge that our paths had to split and I sighed at the thought. “Besides, they won’t need me, I’ve taught you everything I know.” He remarked lightly with a proud twinkle in his eye and I forced a sad smile.

“What will you do?” I asked with concern, as I considered the disasters he could get into without my place as his voice of reason and he shrugged casually at me as if it weren’t a big deal.

“It’s a big galaxy, plenty of people I haven’t conned yet.” He jested with a familiar hint of playfulness in his voice and I felt a fond smile spread across my lips. I tried to force down the anxiety that threatened to crush my chest and reminded myself that he had been a successful smuggler for years before me. “Don’t worry, I’ll be better than I have recently, Chewie can make sure of that.” He asserted and I found that this was more reassuring than any level of trying to convince myself to trust him.

Before I could respond, Chewbecca appeared from wherever he’d been eavesdropping with a pained cry and rushed over to pull me into an embrace that almost resulted in me suffocating in his fur.

“I know Chewie, I’ll miss you too buddy.” I crooned as I extracted myself from his grip and craned my neck to glance up at him. “Looks like you’ll have to be the bad cop now, think you can handle that?” I teased, earning a dissatisfied groan.

“You be careful with the Resistance, don’t ever let them ask for too much from you and don’t let them get you killed.” Han ordered in a stern, parental manner and I saluted him mockingly.

“Yes Captain.” I answered in a monotone voice and he rolled his eyes at my performance. “Be careful here too. And tell me when you’re ready to search again for the Falcon! I can’t stand the idea of seeing it in anyone else’s hands.” I instructed with an aggressive point at them both and Han held his hands up in surrender. I turned to press the door release and it opened to reveal the familiar sights of the base.

“If you ever need me for anything, no matter how small, you know how to reach me.” Han added with a sense of finality and I glanced back over my shoulder at him. I took one last scan of the inside of the ship that I had long considered home, before finally stepping onto the ramp to descend into my future.

11 notes · View notes

put-a-lil-alright-in-the-world · 4 years

Note

I am absolutely loving your headcanons! Do you have any for beetlejuice hanging out with the maitlands?

anon....will you marry me? i’ve been waiting for a chance to ramble about my favourite ghosts and their favourite undead guy!!!

ok so the maitlands were pretty wary when beej first made his return, mostly because they were concerned about lydia’s well-being and how his return would impact her

however, once they noticed that him and lydia were back to being BFFFFs forever, and delia was perfectly fine spending time with him, they began to take some steps to get to know him better

after all, they had only really known him for an unsavoury few days, and that version of him was very different from the one that helped lydia with her history homework, or baked cookies with delia

barbara was the first of the pair to actually seek out beej’s company, a few weeks after he moved in with them, when she asked causally if he’d like to help in her garden in the backyard

beej was extremely nervous. after all, the last time he had said more than “good morning” and “good night” to barbara was when he was attempting to exorcise her, and he did NOT want to screw this up because what if she hated him again? what if she decided that she couldn’t live with him and the rest of the family agreed and they sent him back to the netherworld??

he agrees anyways, not wanting to make barbara angry, and follows her out into the garden where she explains that she needs some help planting some flowers that delia brought home from the local nursery (“i chose these because they have very good vibes, you know?”)

the process seems simple enough, and barbara shows him how to properly plant a potted plant before passing him a pot for him to try himself. “dig a hole, pop the plant out of the pot, place the plant in, fill in the dirt”. not too hard, right? right.

he does the first few perfectly, painstakingly making sure not to damage the plants. barbara’s “good jobs” both knock him off his guard and give him enough confidence to start moving a bit faster; a bit more carelessly

on the fourth pot, it hits the fan: he accidentally breaks a few stems when planting a bunch of chrysanthemums, and freezes in place. all he can think is that ‘this is it, this must be it, this is the final straw now I’ve broken stuff like i always break stuff and ruin every good thing and-’

“Lawrence.” barbara’s quiet voice shocks him out of his spiraling and back to reality, where he realizes that he’s been rocking in place, his hands grabbing and pulling at now dark-purple hair. she gently pulls his hands from where they’re wrapped around his hair, and replaces them with one of her own, lightly carding through his hair

they sit out in the garden for a while, just talking about everything: why beej panicked, why he though she would want to kick him out, and why he was so timid around her and adam since he returned. the answer to each seems to be the same: his mother, a response which prompts barbara to say some expletives which i dare not repeat on my good christian blog

barbara does some explaining and clearing-up of things, and when it begins to get dark outside they head into the house. charles, in his infinite wisdom, had thought ahead to order a pizza, so they eat white they talk, letting the conversation slip into more lighthearted topics, like barbara’s choice of topic: “why glass-blowing was her favourite hobby when she was alive”; or beej’s choice of topic: “why barbara was a total nerd when she was alive”

both are entertaining for at least one participant in the conversation, and they both go to bed feeling a bit more comfortable with each other

it’s not very long until adam ends up spending some time with beej too: beej is bored and looking for barbara in the attic, where he finds adam working on the town model.

beej had never really bothered to notice it before, so it takes him by surprise when he realises exactly how intricate and accurate each part of it is. adam, on the other hand, was just thrilled to be able to share his obsession with someone new, so he finds an old miniature house carving that hadn’t made it onto the model (the scaling was wrong by 1/8 of an inch), and offers it to beej to paint

after adam reassures him that no, he won’t be angry if he messes up; and yes, he can paint it whatever colour he wants; and no, he can’t paint a bunch of tiny dicks on it, beej gets to work. he doesn’t have much patience or fine motor skills, and he begins to fidget after working on it for about six minutes, but before long, he’s done

his hair turns yellow when he passes it to adam, but rapidly switches back to green when adam smiles and says an enthusiastic “BJ, this is fantastic!”

though he would never admit it, even under threat of a second death, adam had absolutely no idea what beej had painted onto that miniature house when he complimented it. it was only that evening, after about half an hour of turning and rotating the little house when he finally realized: it was a smudged, not quite accurate rendition of the maitland-deetz house, complete with a messy Big Sandy climbing up the side of the house.

adam doesn’t hesitate to replace the current miniature house on the hill in his model with the one in his hand. the model should reflect the newest member of their family, after all

beej and the maitlands hang out a lot after that. the three of them will often watch movies together. they know that beej is “secretly” (he’s awful at hiding it) terrified of the horror movies that they watch every friday night at lydia’s insistence, so as often as possible they’ll invite beej up to the attic to watch something else

while this does lead to battles over which movie they should watch (adam was absolutely affronted to realize that neither beej nor barbara had ever seen Mean Girls), beej is infinitely grateful to not have to sit through any more slasher flicks, some of which even scare lydia

with barbara, beej keeps helping with the garden. the plants are often askew and in totally absurd arrangements, but barbara doesn’t mind in the slightest. she also teaches him pottery, which he absolutely adores because “hehehe goopy hands”.

he doesn’t make anything recognizable for the first, like, two months, but on christmas he shyly gives her a misshapen, but still functional, pot for her plants. barbara cries, explains to beej that she’s crying because she loves it, and cries some more. beej cant remember being hugged that tightly in his life, but hey, he’s not complaining

adam is the one to teach him how to read. they start small, with lydia’s dog-eared childhood copy of a Dr. Seuss collection. it takes them about eight weeks of hard work, but eventually beej is able to read the entire book himself (which he proceeds to do, aloud, to an uncomfortable, but still extremely proud charles)

adam keeps teaching him, but it’s hard work for beej to struggle through each sentence, so when he wants to hear a story, adam is the first person he turns to to read aloud to him (the second being charles. charles isn’t sure how he feels about that)

anyways yeah they’re hella close and this prompt gave me all the found family feels

#bro i went OFF with this #my final word count was like 1.6K or smt for this #anyways i love writing illiterate beej its so fun #me at the end there: i am once again asking for someone to request charles and beej hcs #hopefully ill get another of these done tonight bc my queue is getting dummy thicc #autistic!beetlejuice #adhd!beetlejuice #did i mention his autism/adhd here? no #are they always inplied whenever i write? hells YES #beetlejuice the musical #beetlejuice #btmtmtm #beetlejuice headcanon #beetlejuice hc #remy writes #hc tag

44 notes · View notes

popcorn-kitten · 4 years

Text

Mallek Week Day 1- Favorite quote

Pairing: MallekXReader Rating: M/18+ only Warnings: bondage (gag, blindfold, cuffs), biting/marking, and teasing Read on Ao3

“What did I tell you when we first met?” He asks, his voice low and almost dangerous. You swallow hard around the gag and whimper in response, unable to actually answer him.

Mallek lets out a ‘tsk’ his cool fingers leaving your over-heated body. You whine at the loss of contact and arch towards where you think he is. The cuffs holding you jingle quietly with your movements and the soft fabric of the blindfold hugs your face.

You were already aching for him, having been teased for what felt like hours now. This game was getting to be almost too much and if Mallek didn’t fuck you soon you were certain you would throw a fit.

Mallek’s claws ran along the inside of your thighs, retracing the long lines he’d already left when he ripped through your clothing. The sting mixed with the gentleness of his movements had you arching your back, begging as best you could through the gag for him.

You feel Mallek move to stand between your legs, but he’s still nowhere near close enough for you. You pull against the cuffs trying to close the distance between you when you hear him chuckle. Mallek lifts your legs so they’re on either side of his hips. Your cross your ankles behind his back and try to bring him in closer, but his stupid alien mid-blood strength keeps him in place.

“You’re so eager, but still haven’t answered my question.” Mallek tuts and his hands move up your thighs and massage against your groin. His cool fingers send chills of excitement through you. He’s so close to where you want him.

You rotate your hips as best you can to try and at least get his fingers on you, but he moves his hands again so he has a tight grip on your hips instead.

You whine low in your throat at how close you were. Mallek chuckles and you jump when you feel the tip of his nose rub against yours.

“Calm down,” Mallek whispers, “It = just me.” He kisses your cheek softly and you whimper wanting those lips to be somewhere much lower.

Mallek moves away then and adjusts your legs so they sit a little higher on his hips. He moves closer to you and you jolt when the tip of his cool bulge finally makes contact with your heated skin.

But Mallek is playing a role today and he isn’t going to give in to your desires so easily. You jump when you feel his lips skim across your neck. You assume he must be leaning forward because the distance between your bodies doesn’t seem to change.

You sigh and tilt your head away so he has more access to your skin. Lips easily give way to teeth that prick at your thin skin, sending shivers of pleasure down your spine. Your attention is split between the teeth marking you and the bulge that is teasingly swirling around your genitals.

You whimper around the gag again and when you move your hips forward this time, you’re successful in getting his bulge where you really wanted it to begin with. Mallek hisses at the quick temperature change and gives you a sharp bite.

“You’re so impatient, but you still haven’t answered me. I don’t think you’ve really earned what I had planned for you.” He whispers, taking a firm grip of your hair and yanking your head back.

You whimper and move as best you can against him, desperate for contact. And even if you could answer him, you don’t even remember what he asked you.

As though able to read your mind, Mallek asks again, “What did I say to you that day we met?” the tip of his nose runs along the underside of your exposed jaw and that’s all the warning you get before he snaps his hips and fully sheaths his bulge inside you.

The scream that rips from your throat is muffled by the gag still firmly in place. Your head falls to the side as your hips buck against him, the sudden fullness almost being enough to push you over the edge already.

Mallek is flush against you now, one hand supporting you on your ass and the other still tightly in your hair. He holds completely still, the bulge inside you squirming on its own. He’s breathing heavily, the sudden change catching him more off guard than he thought it would.

And then he thrusts forward. His bulge plunges impossibly deeper inside you and your back arches into him. You whimper against the gag and your hips seem to move of their own volition against Mallek.

Mallek is quick to get to work, he moves out of you slowly, and snaps his hips back against you, shocking your system and pulling deep moans form your throat. He does this twice, both times have you losing all your senses.

And then he really starts moving.

Mallek increases his pace to an almost painful speed. He moves in and out of you rapidly, his bulge being buried deep for only a moment before leaving you empty and repeating within a matter of seconds. Mallek’s hips press hard into you relentlessly.

Mallek holds tightly to you as he thrusts in to you unyieldingly. His speed is more than he’s done with you in the past and you’d be mad at him for holding back before if you weren’t so lost in the absolute pleasure of it all.

Mallek’s pace shows no signs of slowing and his bulge continues to press deeply into you, squirming and expanding your walls with each thrust.

Mallek’s tongue runs along your throat, feeling your increased pulse. He chooses a spot just below your jaw and suctions his mouth there, sucking hard at your sensitive skin, fully intent on leaving a mark you can’t hide.

You whine at the added feeling and move against him as best you can, trying to get him even deeper inside you. Your head has fully lolled to the side and you can feel the drool pooling out of the mouth from behind the gag. If you were really aware of yourself you might be grossed out, but your body is so stimulated by pleasure you only register it as another reaction.

Mallek pulls away from your neck finally, the area is sore but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t like when he left you with hickies. You hear him grunting against your ear as his hips don’t slow their barrage on you.

Mallek asks again, out of breath, what he said to you on that first day. This time, however, he removes your gag. You pull in a deep breath of air and upon exhaling it comes out as a moan.

Mallek’s words take a moment to manifest in your mind, but before you can even begin to form an answer his tongue is in your mouth. The piercing clacks against your teeth as his tongue explores. You kiss him back just as fervently, not realizing how much his taste heightened the sensations until now.

Your tongues move against one another’s, moans being swallowed by the other. Your tongue is finally able to enter his mouth and you run the appendage across his much sharper teeth, shivering at the sensation.

Mallek’s pace is not slowed by anything. He is moving as hard and fast as he can. His bulge is thrashing when inside you and the feeling of it going deeper on each thrust has you losing all your senses. His movements are relentless against you, and the claws of the hand supporting your ass dig into the flesh of your ass-cheek. The added pain only heightening the other pleasures.

When he pulls away from the kiss you whimper but can’t bring yourself to move your head, your whole body feeling unable to do anything more than being fucked. Mallek moves the hand from your hair down your chest, claws leaving hot marks in their wake, you arch more than you thought you could into the feeling, into him.

You can’t see the grin on his face, the sheer joy he is deriving from being able to bring you to your brink like this. To be the only thing you feel. The only thing you want.

He kisses you hard again, his tongue once again invades your mouth and overwhelms your remaining senses. You kiss back and your tongues run along one another’s. Your so lost in all the sensations already you don’t notice that his hand has come to rest on your crotch until he is pressing firmly against you, heightening the sensations.

When he pulls his mouth from yours you blindly follow trying to regain the feeling only to hear him chuckle. “I told you: I was gonna own your entire system.” He teases, breath and voice hot against your ear. He moves his fingers in the way you showed him and it has you coming completely undone.

Your orgasm hits you like nothing you’ve experienced before. Your back arches and an embarrassingly loud moan is ripped from your throat as your walls tighten and spams around his bulge.

Mallek groans and his pace stutters as your only warning. He reaches his own climax and when the cold rush of genetic material floods your already oversensitive body, you come again. Your hips moving desperately against him as you ride the feeling out.

Mallek kisses you again, much softer this time as he pulls his already re-sheathing bulge from your hot core. He moves closer so your chests are pressing together and removes your blindfold, but you have to keep your eyes closed; the light too bright. You’re both panting, but neither of you move, opting to stay like this for a few moments. Basking in the aftermath and trying to catch your breaths.

“You ok?” Mallek asks quietly, one hand gently rubbing your back. You nod, unable to form any other response and nuzzle against his heated neck as an added affirmation.

“Good; hold on.” Mallek warns before he undoes the cuffs and braces as your full weight slumps against him. You let out a little whine feeling totally spent. You let Mallek man handle you into the bathroom. He sets you gently into the tub.

You hiss as the warm water envelops you, your muscles relaxing. You slowly open your eyes trying to readjust your vision. You watch with half lidded eyes as Mallek wipes his crotch and thighs off. You have a very nice view of his ass from this spot.

Mallek comes back to you moments later and helps you wipe down, your arms too sore from being above your head for so long to do so yourself. You quietly thank him and he rolls his eyes, leaning in to press a kiss to the side of your head.

Mallek holds you and leaves soft kisses along your jaw, you let your head roll to the other side, a soft smile on your face. As he finishes cleaning you up you grin up at him. “Do you remember what you said after fishing me out of the river?” You ask, voice rough.

Mallek glances at you and a smile tugs at his lips. “Not really.” He responds with a shrug, letting the water drain, before putting his one arm under your knees and one behind your back, effortlessly lifting you from the tub. Neither of you care much that your dripping water everywhere

You hum and again lean your head against his clavicle, arms wrapping around his neck. “I said I shouldn’t have been trying to be cute at the edge of a river. You said-”

“You don’t have to try.” He finishes for you settling the both of you into his coon with a practice movement.

You grin and kiss his cheek. “You thought I was cute.” You tease, snuggling against him and laughing along with his dry chuckle. Your chests are flush and one of his arms is loosely circled around your lower back.

“Look who = talking.” Mallek shoots back, a finger pressing into your cheek.

You snicker and rub your face against his chest, wrapping your arms around his middle and giving a squeeze. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” You say with a yawn. You both settle into silence, his claws lightly tracing along your skin.

As you fall asleep to the sound of Mallek’s heartbeat you have a fleeting thought of something not quiet adding up. Something that didn’t happen but being portrayed as a true event. You try to focus on the oddness and figure out what didn’t quite match up, but your body is more intent on sleeping. So, you give in and drift away.

#mallek adalov #mallekweek #mallekweek2020 #mallek #hiveswap mallek #i had...2 favorites

27 notes · View notes

stolethekey · 4 years

Text

if we make it past december (everything’s gonna be all right)

for @capcountdownchristmas!

read on ao3

December has rapidly become Steve’s least favorite month.

December is the start of winter. It means wind, snow that somehow finds a way to soak even the most bundled-up person’s socks, and a bone-chilling cold that bites at the very foundation of humanity’s collective soul.

At least, that’s what Steve’s Californian first-grade teacher used to say.

He didn’t mind it so much as a kid, back when he could bundle up with his mom in front of the fireplace and they could bask in its warmth, finding comfort in blankets and hot chocolate and each other. It was fine, back then – but then Sarah Rogers died right before Thanksgiving, which meant Steve’s first Christmas as a legal adult was spent alone, staring incessantly into the flames while he stubbornly refused to admit that he maybe should’ve taken Bucky up on his offer to spend the night at his house.

It was, somewhat literally, all downhill from there.

Bucky fell off a train in the Alps, surrounded by snow so bright it hurt to look at. Steve watched him fall, then promptly nose-dived a plane into the ocean and spent the better part of a century frozen in a block of ice.

Suffice it to say: he’s had enough cold for a lifetime. And December brings nothing but cold and people celebrating a holiday he hasn’t found joy in in seventy years.

So it’s only natural, really, that his first December out of the ice is spent in relative restlessness. It’s natural that, when Fury sends out a volunteer request for a stakeout that starts December 10th that features an “indefinite length of time – could go into Christmas”, Steve jumps off of his couch and heads directly to Stark Tower.

He fully expects to be the only one there, but as he turns the corner and steps through the door he sees a certain redhead perched on Fury’s desk, leafing through a stack of papers.

It’s hard to say who looks more surprised as they take in each other’s presence.

“I – um, hi,” he stutters, trying not to appear intimidated by his two companions. “I just – I’m here for that stakeout assignment?”

“Oh,” Natasha says, her eyebrows raised slightly. “Wow. Really? You know it’s probably going into Christmas, right?”

“Yeah,” he says, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I mean, I knew that was a possibility. That actually – um, that actually kind of makes it more appealing to me.”

She tilts her head slightly, a curious, searching look in her eyes. Steve shifts uncomfortably, well aware of her uncanny ability to read people.

“There’s always an assignment near Christmas,” Fury says from behind the desk, and Steve looks at him, grateful for the excuse to look somewhere else. “But Agent Romanoff is the only one who ever takes it on. The volunteer request is simply a formality – most people know they aren’t expected to take it.”

“Well, I guess I never got the memo.”

Natasha studies him. “Most people have Christmas plans.”

“I don’t,” he says shortly. Then, in an attempt to appear more amicable, he follows it up quickly with, “But now that I’m here, you can take this year off. Spend some time doing your own Christmas thing.”

She shrugs. “I don’t have a Christmas thing.”

“Great,” says Fury, with an air of general impatience. “Then you can do it together.”

The assignment is fairly simple – a routine stakeout at a surprisingly nice campsite. Their target is a Ukrainian mobster whose drop-house is apparently a cabin at the edge of the campsite, and as the two of them trudge into a neighboring cabin and drop their bags on the floor, Steve casts a cursory glance out the window.

“That cabin looks completely empty,” he mutters.

“I know,” Natasha says, carrying a few grocery bags into the kitchen. “It is. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t have to be here for as long as we probably will be.”

“So we just – what, we just wait until someone shows up?”

She glances at him. “Never been on a stakeout before, huh?”

“Well, not like this,” he says, almost defensively. “Not that I’m complaining, but you’d think they’d have a more precise time period for the drop.”

“I thought you wanted it to go long.”

“I do, I’m just making a general comment on the inefficiency of it all.”

Natasha rolls her eyes, and Steve feels inexplicably as if he has disappointed her.

“Why do you always do these assignments, anyway? Wouldn’t it make more sense for people to rotate by year, or something?”

She shrugs. “Like I said, everyone else makes plans for the holidays. They have people to reunite with, friends to spend time with, family to see. I don’t.”

“You have friends. Clint’s your friend.”

She gives a short laugh. “Clint always has plans.”

“With whom?”

Her eyes narrow slightly as she looks up at him, a familiar guarded expression on her face. “People who aren’t me.”

“Right,” Steve says uncomfortably. “Sorry.”

Natasha sighs as she places the last loaf of bread on the counter and shoves the empty grocery bags into a cabinet. “It’s okay. He invites me every year, but it’s not – I don’t want to intrude on his time with them. We spend most of the year together, anyway. Plus, American Christmas really doesn’t mean that much to me. So I don’t mind taking on a little extra work while everyone else is celebrating.”

“Right,” Steve says again. “That makes sense.”

“What about you? Why did the great Captain America decide to spend his December holed away in a cabin, waiting for a mobster to stop by?”

He hesitates, but as he meets her eyes he can tell that she’s already figured him out. She knows why he’s here – she’s simply giving him a chance to tell her himself, to set the parameters for the rest of their conversations here.

He doesn’t know her, not really, but for some reason he knows that she’ll respect his boundaries. That if he decides to bluff and make up some excuse about spending his holidays doing good for the world, she’ll shrug, say “fair enough,” and won’t bring it up again.

She knows exactly why he wanted to work– he sees that. He also sees that she’s perfectly okay with however he wants to play it. It’s a strangely comforting realization, if a little unexpected, and maybe that’s why he makes the choice that he does.

“I don’t like Decembers,” he says, toying with the hem of his jacket. “My mom died in the fall, and that winter had some of the hardest months of my life. Plus, Bucky died in the snow, I was in a block of ice for a couple decades – ”

“And Christmas isn’t exactly joyful when you’re alone,” she supplies softly.

Maybe she’s guessed even more than he thought.

“I wanted a distraction.”

“A distraction,” Natasha repeats, a small smile toying at her lips. “I think we can handle that.”

They do their job, of course – the drop-house is always being watched. But their cabin’s location makes it fairly easy to ensure that their target is under constant surveillance, and there is plenty of free time to be had, given that their mobster friend chooses to never show his face.

The days are filled with board games and gentle music, thanks largely to Natasha. Steve notices fairly quickly that she has a striking intuition for his emotions – when he wants to be left alone, she’s nowhere to be seen, but when he starts to get restless, Settlers of Catan appears under his nose before his thoughts even have a chance to start spiraling.

She’s good at small talk, he learns. Good at filling the silence with words that would be trivial were it not for their ability to keep an ever-approaching despair at bay.

He hasn’t had this type of companionship in…well, decades, and he’s surprised that it doesn’t make him more uncomfortable. They barely know each other, after all, and it should be unsettling that she can read him as easily as she does.

For some odd reason, it’s not.

She accommodates him as easily as anyone ever has, providing him with companionship when he needs it and leaving him alone when he doesn’t, and the next few weeks pass in surprising comfort.

The days aren’t happy, exactly, but they’re not entirely full of pain, either. And that’s an improvement.

“Hey,” Natasha says one evening, sprawled across the floor in front of the fireplace. “Guess what?”

“What?”

“It’s Christmas Eve.”

Steve pauses, looking up from his copy of Crime and Punishment. “Huh.”

She hesitates, then flips over onto her back to look at him. “Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Do you really believe in God?”

His brow furrows slightly in confusion. “What?”

“It’s just – Christmas is a religious holiday, you know, so I just got to thinking about it, and back when we first met, on that jet, you said that there was ‘only one god.”

He chews his lip slowly, letting the book drop into his lap. “I don’t know,” he says thoughtfully. “I guess I was always taught to as a kid, and I’ve never really thought about it. But I’d like to believe that there’s something or someone out there that’s watching over us, at least.”

She hums.

“Do you?”

She gives a hollow laugh. “I don’t know that it matters. The gods have never cared for people like me.”

He looks at her, staring up at him from her spot on the carpet next to a bowl of popcorn and a glass of mulled wine, and something clicks.

“Maybe not,” he says softly. “But there are people who do.”

Something changes in her expression at his words, and as she holds his gaze a strange feeling starts to form at the bottom of his stomach.

He coughs. “That reminds me – I got you something.”

Her brow furrows as he slips a bookmark into his book and disappears into his bedroom. When he emerges, a wrapped box in his hand, she shakes her head.

“I – um, I didn’t – ”

“I know,” he says, smiling slightly. “You don’t need to.”

“I can’t accept that,” she protests. “Not if I didn’t get you anything.”

He rolls his eyes and tosses the box in her direction. “Open it.” Then, more gently, “Friendship is not transactional.”

A curious expression flits across her face at the word friendship, but she takes the gift without further complaint and slips a finger underneath the wrapping paper.

“Oh,” she breathes as the wrapping paper falls away to reveal a small, black pouch. “Steve – ”

“It’s flameproof, bulletproof, the whole nine yards,” he explains as she flips it over to reveal an hourglass, emblazoned in fiery red. “I have one, too. I keep – I keep the things that mean the most to me in it.

He hesitates. “I just figured – we all have something we really treasure, and nothing in our lives is safe. You can tie that to your belt, stick it in a pocket, it’s a way to keep something with you, you know?”

“Yeah,” she murmurs, tracing the hourglass with a finger. “So, if I put something inside, the only way it gets destroyed is if I die, basically. And maybe not even then.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to be that morbid about it, but yes.”

She studies him for a moment, then grins and sits up. “Thank you. Really.”

“Of course.”

Her grin fades into a softer smile as she reaches for her wine, beckoning at him to do the same.

“Look at us. Two loners, doing okay on Christmas Eve.”

“Doing more than okay on Christmas Eve.”

“To us,” she declares, raising her glass. “For making it through December.”

They clink glasses, and as the blend of wine and holiday spices hits his tongue, Steve feels a sense of warmth start to spread over his shoulders.

The stakeout ends almost as quickly as it starts. The mobster shows up on the day after Christmas, they take him down before he even has a chance to draw his gun, and by 4pm on the 27th, the two of them are back at SHIELD headquarters, debriefing complete.

Steve is on his way to the elevator, actually looking forward to returning to his apartment, when he hears someone call his name.

He turns to see Natasha jogging down the hallway toward him, a slip of paper in her hand.

“I have something for you,” she announces, coming to a stop in front of him. “Consider it a late Christmas gift.”

“I told you, you don’t have to – ”

“But I did.”

“Natasha, really – what you did for me this December is more than anyone could ask for.”

The words fall out of his mouth before he really has a chance to think about them, and a blush creeps steadily up the sides of his face as he waits for her to ask what he means.

Instead, her expression softens. “You did it for me, too. Whether you knew it or not.”

He barely has time to process her words before she shoves the folded slip of paper into his hands. “Just take it.”

Steve unfolds the paper to reveal a sequence of numbers, written in black ink. “What’s this?”

“My phone number.”

“I have your phone number.”

Natasha rolls her eyes. “You have my work phone number. Which I sometimes do not use, depending on my mood, the time of day, and the general urgency of the incoming message. That’s my personal phone number.”

“I didn’t know you had a personal phone number.”

She winks. “I don’t.”

“Right. Okay.”

The corner of her mouth quirks up. “If you ever need anything – food, a bowling partner, someone to beat you at Catan – just let me know. Seriously. I know what it’s like to be new here – in this world, I mean – and feel like you’re completely alone. So use that.”

“Yeah,” Steve says faintly. “Okay.”

“Also, you should ask out your neighbor.”

Steve blinks. “What?”

Natasha pats his arm, as if to say, don’t worry, you’ll get it someday, and gives him one last smile before turning and jogging back down the hallway.

Steve turns back toward the elevator, a smile making its way onto his face. He looks down at the slip of paper again, and notices a few words scrawled hastily underneath the phone number.

Congrats on making it through the worst month! It only gets better from here :)

Steve steps into the elevator. As the doors start to close, he slips the paper into the small pouch tucked away in his jacket pocket, wondering if she might be right.

#my mcu fics #my fics #steve rogers x natasha romanoff #captain america countdown to christmas #romanogers #capwidow #stevenat

34 notes · View notes

27emailsicantsend · 5 years

Text

Hoodies at Midnight: Muffy Fic

Author’s Note: This takes place about a week after Andi’s party (presuming the party was a Friday, this takes place Thursday night). Marty and Buffy have spent every day together, but aren’t official yet. No one knows they are official in this fic, because Buffy wasn’t ready to tell her friends yet. Marty, on the other hand, wanted to tell everyone right away, but Buffy convinced him not to say anything yet.

Buffy was laying in bed, absentmindedly scrolling through her phone after a pretty uneventful day. She was looking at pictures of her and Marty, reminiscing on the time they had spent together yesterday. Today was the only day she hadn’t seen him since Andi’s party.

***

Buffy went over to Marty’s house after school to work on homework. Because winter was just starting, Marty’s mom hadn’t changed the temperature in the house yet to keep the bills low. This made the house feel comfortable at first, but as Marty and Buffy got to question twenty on their math homework, Buffy looked down at her arm and noticed small goosebumps forming.

“Hey Marty, do you have a blanket or something I can borrow? It’s a little cold”.

“I’ve got something even better,” Marty said with a sly smile. He popped up from the coffee table where they were doing homework and returned a few moments later with a baby blue hoodie. He tossed it at Buffy and she caught it, moving it around in her hands and eyeing it suspiciously.

“Well?” Marty prompted. “Are you gonna put it on or what?”

“Oh... y-yeah,” she stammered. She pulled the hoodie over her head, his musk filling her nose. Her heart melted at his scent. He had a cologne smell typically, but he also had a natural musk. She wasn’t sure how, but his natural scent smelled just as good as his cologne scent. Once the hoodie was on, smell surrounded her, making her feel as though he was wrapped around her. A feeling she wasn’t going to forget.

“Thanks,” she smiled as she looked down at the hoodie. It had “SHAW: DISNEYLAND 2018″ written across the front. It felt new and slightly worn. He must have worn it between the summer of 7th and 8th grade, when they weren’t talking. Suddenly, Buffy became very self conscious.

“You know, I really don’t have to wear this. I’m drinking juice and don’t want to spill it. This hoodie seems new and kind of like an antique thing for your family and I don’t want to get it all messy. I can just take a blanket-”

“Buffy,” Marty cut her off. He smiled gently at her with reassurance in his eyes. “It’s fine. I got it on a family trip and I grew a lot since then. The hoodie doesn’t even fit me anymore. I would give it to my sister, but she has her own.”

Buffy laughed sheepishly, but then she perked up. A realization hit her and she started speaking before she had the time to stop herself. “Wait, you’re giving this to me?” She body felt paralyzed after she realized what she had just asked him.

“Of course?” Marty said, as if Buffy’s question shouldn’t have even been one.

Buffy smiled sheepishly again, her blood beginning to rush to her face. “Well... thanks. I do like shirts. I don’t know who wouldn’t”. She laughed a little as she thought of Cyrus giving Jonah the shirt meant for TJ. And how jealous TJ got when he saw Jonah wearing it this week. He practically ripped the shirt off of Jonah and told him “never. again.” in the most threatening TJ voice he could conjure up.

She lifted the sleeve to her nose and took one last sniff. Marty sat down on the ground next to her. She began to start their homework again, but Marty was too distracted. He stared at Buffy as he shook his pencil rapidly between his fingers. He didn’t realize he was staring, but he couldn’t help but savor the moment. Buffy looked so good in his hoodie. The blue meshed well with her chocolate skin, her black curls slightly bouncing, her face slightly scrunched as she focused intently on answering her problem-

“dhsidhgsidofjd shfsdkgn lefnldsgk?” Buffy asked.

Marty shook his head back into reality. “Huh?”

“Do you know if we are supposed to answer this in decimals or fractions?” Buffy said, more clearly this time.

He turned back to his homework and quickly found problem #20. “Oh- yeah- decimals for sure”. Buffy leaned over and looked at the problem he was pointing his pencil to. “Marty, we’re on 23. Have you been listening?”

No. He wasn’t. He definitely wasn’t. “Ugh, ok,” she said jokingly frustrated when he didn’t respond. Buffy began to reexplain the problems, but Marty zoned out again. Nothing she did was going to keep him safe from himself. He ducked his head in under hers and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. She pushed her face into her shoulder and giggled, as if to protect herself. He kissed her cheek again. And then again. And then again, for good measure.

She playfully fought him off, “Martyyy... stop. We need to focus”.

“Ok, ok,” he said, pretending to back down. Buffy straightened her body back to a normal position and started talking again. “As I was saying, I think we use decimals because the answer is looking like a percentage... Martyyy. Stop. We really need to get this done,” she giggled again as he tickled her hip, her weakest spot.

Little did he know, she knew his weakest point too. He stopped tickling her and started to talk about the question. This time, however, while he was talking she reached over and tickled him right under his rib cage.

“I thought I told you we needed to focus!” Marty said, mocking Buffy.

He got up to run away from her, but she began chasing each him all over the kitchen. At one point, Buffy swerved around the corner of his kitchen island a little too fast in her walking boot. It caught on the edge of the wood and made her fall down with a loud thud!

“Buffy!” Marty said as he turned around and ran over to her. “Are you ok?” he asked, now extremely concerned.

Buffy acted a little weak and sad as she said, “yeah, just help me up please...”. She reached up a hand, but when Marty leaned forward to grab it, she yanked his hand down so he was on the floor too, his body in a 90 degree angle to hers. They both laughed until they ached. When they were done laughing, Buffy wiped some tears from her eyes and looked over at Marty.

She felt a sudden surge of confidence and rolled onto her stomach. She held her head above his and leaned in slow until their lips were touching. Like magnets, they reflected each others movements. The kiss being perfectly soft, sweet, and reciprocated. When she lifted her head back up, Marty reached his head to hers and pecked her lips one more time. He then laid his head back down, reached his hand up to her cheek, and began to caress it. Their eyes were locked and their faces close. So close, in fact, that they were practically breathing the same air.

“When are you going to tell Andi and Cyrus about us?” Marty asked softly, thumb still moving gently on her cheek. Buffy’s face dropped. She pulled away from Marty and rotated her body until she was sitting normally. She then pushed her knees up to her chest and locked her arms around them, gently placing her chin between them. “I don’t know. I’m sorry, Marty. I’m just not ready”.

“I’m not asking you to tell the whole school or anything, Buffy. Just Andi and Cyrus. Besides that, don’t you think they already know? We held hands and slow danced at her party while they watched,” Marty insisted.

Buffy started to sound a little frustrated. “Look, I’m just not ready yet. Can we please talk about something else?”

Marty heaved a large breath and scratched his head, frustrated. “Yeah.. ok... sorry. Want to go work back on homework?”

Buffy felt horrible he was upset with her over this, but it was hard for her to talk about. She was ashamed for how they fell apart still. She knew there was a lot of pressure riding on them to make things work this time and she didn’t want to let anyone down. Especially her best friends.

“Actually, I’m kind of done with homework,” Buffy said, smiling. She really wasn’t, but she owed it to Marty to make the rest of the night fun.

He helped her up and asked, “well, what do you have in mind?”

She smiled at him mischievously. In unison, they both yelled, “Ghost Hunters!” They had been binging the show together, so it shouldn’t have even been a question that they were going to do that. Marty pulled out the couch foot rest, while Buffy grabbed a pillow for him and her favorite gray soft blanket in his house. He sat down first and when she walked over to him, with the items tucked under her arm, he patted the spot directly beside him. She smiled, took her walking boot off, threw the blanket and pillow on him, and then hopped into the spot next to him. She scooted close and buried her head in his neck. He put the pillow behind his head and then let his head drop until it was resting on top of hers. She wrapped her arm around his torso and pulled him in even closer.

After one episode, she pulled out her phone and took a few silly photo’s with him (with the bonus of two of him kissing her cheek). She put her phone away and began to get squeamish.

“You ok? Are you hot?” Marty asked as he noticed her getting more and more fidgety by the moment.

“Heck yeah I am and that’s why you like me”. Marty rolled his eyes, “but no. I’m actually pretty comfy,” she said as she forced herself to sit still.

This was a lie. His body heat radiated onto her, so much so that she felt herself begin to sweat, but she didn’t care. She was not taking off her hoodie and she was not moving from cuddling with him.

***

Buffy lifted her hoodie sleeve back to her nose as she kept scrolling through her phone. She put her phone down and sat up in bed. She sniffed it again, and then again for good measure. There was no scent. It was gone. Already? It had only been a little over a day.

She looked at the clock. 11:48 PM. It was way too late to FaceTime, so she texted Marty instead.

Buffy: Your hoodie :(

Marty: What about it? haha

Buffy: It doesn’t smell like you anymore. I need you to come put your smell back in it.

Marty: Buffy do you have any idea what time it is?

Buffy stuck out her lower lip, knowing he couldn’t see her pouting.

Marty: I’m already on my way.

Or maybe he could.

About fifteen minutes later, Buffy heard little taps at her window.

Clink.

Buffy rolled her eyes as she got out of bed. She hobbled over to the window and looked down. Clink!

Another rock was thrown that made her jump. Marty must have not seen her at the window. She slid it open and leaned her torso out.

“You had to be cliche, huh?” She asked, unamused.

“Of course I did,” Marty said, obviously amused.

“How did you get out of your house?” She half yelled-half whispered so her dad couldn’t hear. He probably couldn’t anyway, he was usually in their basement, watching a game, around this time.

“You going to give me the hoodie or what, Driscoll?”

Sheesh, demanding! Buffy thought. “Come around back!”

Buffy quickly put on her walking boot and snuck downstairs to the kitchen. If her dad came up, she was just going to play it off like she needed some water. She slid open the patio door, flicked on the patio light, and stepped outside.

Marty was staring at Buffy again. It was easy to tell he was admiring her, but he wouldn’t say it out loud. She looked beautiful, even in her pajama’s with no make up. It was impressive to Marty how easily beauty came to her. She doesn’t have to do anything, she just is.

“Hey,” Buffy said, a small grin on her face.

“Hey,” Marty said, a slow grin starting to form on his face. Quickly, his grin became a mischievous smile. “So... Buffy Driscoll? Asking for my help? Is this... a new reality? An alternate universe?” he said, with an arrogant air to his voice.

Buffy punched him in the shoulder playfully while repressing a grin. “Stop it! Just fix it,” she said as she stuck her bottom lip out. He smiled as she took the hoodie off and held it in his face.

“So remind me again? You want me to put my smell put back on it?” Marty asked, slightly playful, slightly confused.

“Yeah, I miss it,” Buffy said, still pouting.

“Ok, whatever you say...” Marty said as he put his hoodie on the ground. He then laid on top of it and started rolling on it.

“Better?” He asked standing up and laughing. He handed Buffy back the hoodie. She ripped it from his hand by it’s hood, letting it dangle from the tight grip in her fingers.

“You’re an idiot, Marty,” Buffy said, reciprocating his gut-bellied laugh. She put the hoodie back on and sniffed the sleeve again.

“So?...” Marty asked, intrigued.

Buffy frowned. “It still doesn’t smell like you”.

“I knew it probably wouldn’t, which is why I brought you this”. He held up a small container. “It’s travel-sized, but it’s the cologne I use”.

Buffy had to hold herself steady. She couldn’t believe he was giving her his cologne and hoodie all in one day. He was one of the purest and most gentle human beings she had ever met. He came all the way to her house at midnight, just to make her happy. He helped her get care for her foot. He didn’t leave her during the race. Why shouldn’t she proud to call him hers?

“Thank you, Marty,” she said as she rested her hand on his shoulder and pecked his cheek. She looked sincerely into his eyes as she finished her sentence, “for everything”.

She wasn’t sure if he understood the sublimity behind her words, but his soft dimple-filled grin, gave her the reassurance that he probably did.

“Good night, Buff,” he said as he stepped off the patio.

“Good night, Marty,” she said as she walked back in the kitchen.

What each of them didn’t notice, was that they both looked back one more time at each other.

***

The following day, Buffy was standing at her locker, when Andi’s hand slammed it shut.

“This hoodie?” Cyrus said, interrogating. “Where did you get it?”

“I’ve always had it,” Buffy said, arms crossed.

“Oh, really? Because last I remember, you hadn’t been to Disneyland since we were ten!” Cyrus continued, pointing at the lettering on her shirt.

Buffy tightened her arms and said defensively, “I found it in a thrift store”.

“Too new looking,” Andi countered.

“I really liked the color,” Buffy fought back.

“Or you really like the person who gave it to you. Everyone knows it’s a rule at this school not to wear someone else’s hoodie unless you are dating!” Cyrus said accusingly.

“Back off, Cyrus! It’s mine!”

“Oh, please, Buffy. We all know that I have a thorough recollection of the pieces in your wardrobe and this is not one of them, nor would it be unless it meant something special to you,” Cyrus said, slightly arrogant.

“Wow, you’ve really reached peak gay, haven’t you?” Buffy said, trying to antagonize Cyrus into stopping.

He wasn’t fooled though.”Buffy, you already know I reached peak gay the day I was born! Now let us see it!” He and Andi reached over and fought Buffy’s arms down. Once they were down, “SHAW” was revealed in big letters.

“SHAW?!” Cyrus screamed.

“Are you kidding me, Buffy? This is Mar-” Andi was yelling too, but was cut off by Buffy hushing her.

“Yes,” Buffy said quietly, talking fast. “It’s Marty’s. But I don’t want you guys making a big deal out of it or anything. I got it two days ago when I was at his house-” Buffy cupped her hand to her mouth as her eyes widened. Both Cyrus’ and Andi’s eyes widened too.

“Is that where you’ve been all week? You’ve blown us off every day saying you were helping your grandma! You’ve been with Marty, haven’t you?” Andi accused.

“Yes and I’m so sorry for lying to you. It’s just that... Marty and I kissed at your party and I wasn’t ready to tell you guys. I was just scared that it wouldn’t work out again. But I really was going to go to my grandma’s the first day. When she cancelled, I used it as an excuse to see Marty,” Buffy explained.

“Awww, Buffy. I am so happy for you guys,” Andi said softly. Her face hardened almost instantly after that. “But if you ever leave out details of you and Marty from me -your number one Muffy stan- again, I will end you”.

“Alright, alright,” Buffy said, throwing her hands forward to fake-block Andi.

“I am so excited to tell Jonah, and TJ, and Amber, and...” Cyrus began to ramble.

“Cy, you can tell them, but please only them. Make them promise not to say anything. I want Marty to find out I’m wearing this on his own. Which is why,” Buffy began to take the hoodie off and opened her locker back up. “I am waiting to wear it again at lunch. I won’t see him again until then and I want him to see it before the rest of the school does,” she finished as she tossed the hoodie in and closed the locker door.

At lunch, Buffy was sitting casually on top of the table, in her new hoodie, biting the tip of her fork and laughing. Andi was sitting next to her and Cyrus directly across. Both were putting their pizza bagels up to their eyes, pretending to be zombies with them.

Marty, Jonah, and TJ all walked in at the same time, talking and getting in line to get their food. Marty was busy talking to the short, crotchety lunch lady while TJ and Jonah looked around the cafeteria for their friends. Jonah noticed them first and tapped TJ’s chest with the back of his hand to get his attention. Keeping his finger out of eyesight, Jonah pointed at Buffy.

TJ, oblivious, yelled, “oh yeah! There they are! Hey, Cyrus!” Both Cyrus and TJ waved massively towards each other, grinning from ear to ear. Jonah smacked TJ again with the back of his hand, but much harder this time.

“No, you idiot. Look at what Buffy is wearing,” Jonah said quietly. TJ’s eyes widened. “Ohhhhhh, wow. Is that-?” He nodded in Marty’s direction.

Jonah nodded. Affirming that, yes, that is Marty’s hoodie Buffy was wearing. The one Cyrus had excitedly told them about earlier. Both stayed quiet, as if mutually agreeing that they wanted to see Marty’s reaction.

“Have a good day ma’am,” Marty said as he turned from the cafeteria lady. He popped a baby tater in his mouth as Jonah and TJ watched him turn around. His eyes immediately fixed on Buffy and he almost choked.

“I-I-I’m gonna go sit... w-with those guys?...” Marty stumbled as he walked away from his friends.

Jonah and TJ tried humiliating him him with manly grins and nods as they used their most encouraging words they could for Marty.

“Yeah you are!”

“Yeah go sit down with your FRIENDS”.

“Looks like there is a seat next to Buffy!”

That last comment made Marty turn around and glare at them. He began to walk towards the table again, but this time a lot more confidently towards Buffy. He placed his tray next to Buffy and sat down. She hopped off the table and casually slid into the spot next to him.

“Marty, you’ve got to see this. Do it! Show him the face!” Buffy giggled as Andi and Cyrus started doing pizza-bagel-zombie faces again. But Marty wasn’t watching them, he was watching her. He looked Buffy up and down, noticing every movement. From the way she laughed, to the glimmer in her smile, to the way his hoodie looked on her. That hoodie felt like some form of acceptance that they were finally a true pairing.

A year ago, he couldn’t have ever imagined this happening. He would have never seen himself, next to Buffy Driscoll, making such an obvious statement they were dating, in such a public place. The rejection he faced ran deep to his core, to the point that he never saw her coming back to him. Much less so proud to show that she was with him.

Marty took his chances and slid his arm around the bottom part of her waist. He knew it was risky, but she only scooted closer to him on the bench. He leaned over and softly whispered in her ear, “since when did you start wearing my hoodies to school, huh?”

Buffy bit her bottom lip and looked down. She didn’t want Marty to see how much she was smiling, how much she was blushing, or how much she really liked him in this moment.

What she did want, however, was for the school to know they were together. For everyone to know that she was proud to be with him. The hoodie was the perfect symbol for that. She lifted up her sleeve and took one last sniff. She smiled as she nuzzled her head into his shoulder. Everything was going to be alright.

Requested by: @dancerdramatic14 and myself lol

#Muffy #Andi Mack #AM #fic #Marty from the party #buffy driscoll

52 notes · View notes

besidemethewholedamntime · 5 years

Text

and i will always love you ~ chapter five

Fic Summary:

“He feels sorry for her. It’s hard not to. Except it doesn’t change the fact that she’s still the child of an eminent politician, using her wealth and status to arm herself in ways that others in her situation couldn’t. Fitz has protected all kinds of people who’ve done the same thing, and every last one has been a complete and utter wanker.”

When an accidental discovery causes nationwide outrage at Dr. Jemma Simmons, Protection Officer Leopold Fitz is the one called upon to be her bodyguard. It starts off as one thing and ends quite another. A bodyguard au.

Chapter Summary:

A chapter that contains:

A meeting A pencil and some paper Bobbi and Hunter and the most miserable young man who has ever lived

{Read chapter five here}

{Read the entire work here}

or read chapter five below!

“So, do we have any intelligence on where the leak might have originated from?”

The five heads that sit around the conference room table shake all at the same time. The head that sits at the head of the table looks particularly unimpressed, even if the expression doesn’t change very much. Fitz swallows audibly, knowing what’s coming.

“Do we have anything at least?”

Nobody else says anything and so Fitz finds that he’s the one that gets to impart the meagre amount of information he knows.

“Well, the protesters have left, sir, and the news isn’t running the story anymore, but there’s still the letters that are getting sent to the lab, and they don’t show any sign of easing off.”

He finds his palms are sweating and he tries to wipe them on his trousers. These meetings are always tense, especially when there’s an active investigation ongoing. Fitz doesn’t really need to be here; he was invited as a courtesy. Why he started speaking when he had no need to, he honestly has no idea.

“Useful for you, perhaps, Officer Fitz, but not quite useful for the rest of us who are trying to get to the bottom of this.” The man looks Fitz up and down, eerily reminiscent of the way that Fitz’s own boss does, notes something down and then moves on.

Several other people start venturing tentatively forth with their own meagre offerings. Fitz listens in interest, jotting down some things that could be of use in the beginning, but eventually his mind begins to wander. Jemma’s got another officer for the time that he’s here, and he wonders if she’s as forthright with them as she was with him.

His feelings still haven’t been made any clearer, especially since they’re still in that hotel room, sleeping barely three feet away from each other every night. Each night he goes to sleep with a plan to be more professional in the morning, to be firm and in control. Each morning he wakes up and sees her smile at him from across the room while she’s doing her hair and his resolve dissolves into thin air.

“…possibility of it being an inside job. Someone from her father’s office, maybe?”

He has wandered so far that he misses the first part of the man’s sentence but from what he did hear and the looks on people’s faces he thinks he didn’t need to.

“Well,” the boss says, “that is an avenue that should be explored. I think questioning Dr. Simmons-”

“No.”

Fitz doesn’t shout, he would never dare, but he must have spoken loudly because he hears his voice reverberate off the sides of this wood-panelled room just as everybody turns to stare at him.

“This isn’t your meeting. What, pray tell, could you have an objection to?”

And this is why he had refused this assignment in the first place. Whether it be his age, his nationality, his penchant for some common sense, he has always been looked down upon and snubbed in this job, never being seen as someone worth listening to. Never before has he been brave enough to do anything about it. Apparently it stops now.

“You can’t go around asking her if her family betrayed her? It’s a theory full of holes.”

“I shouldn’t have to tell you this but all theories – holes or no holes - need to be investigated.”

The condescending tone boils his blood and all of his inhibitions evaporate with the steam. “It’s like you want it to be someone in her dad’s office – that way you can explain it away. Someone on the inside leaked the information and that way it saves you from actually investigating it properly because the truth is you don’t have any bloody answers!”

The blood rushes in his ears, there’s a thumping feeling behind his eyes. It’s been so long since he’s been this properly angry, not since the long days in the immediate aftermath of his accident, that he’s forgotten the stars that dance across his vision or the tightly clenched fists that suggest an aggression he doesn’t usually mean.

There’s a clearing of a throat and the stars disappear, the fists unfurl. It’s like the mist clears and suddenly he realises where he is and what he’s done and the first thing he can think is oh shite.

But the boss only shakes his head, and doesn’t demand for Fitz to get out and wait for his P45 in the post. His eyebrow raises a fraction, and something that maybe could be a smile flickers across his face.

“You’re a lot like your friend, Officer Fitz.”

Oh, God… Hunter… Fitz never worked with him directly whilst they both briefly shared the job, but he can only imagine what he got up to.

But oddly it doesn’t seem to be an insult, and the man who must have been Hunter’s superior looks like he almost misses Fitz’s friend when he says, “I didn’t see it in the beginning but now…” He shakes his head, looking down at his notes. “I can see it as clear as day.”

Everybody’s looking at Fitz with barely concealed interest. His tie feels like it’s joking him and he has to fight the urge to loosen it. “S-Sir?”

“Rest assured, Officer Fitz, we’re doing everything we can to find out who the true origin of this leak is. But alright, we won’t question her or her family until we have something more substantial.”

And he has to say something so he mumbles, “thank you.”

“Just try to voice your opinions at a more reasonable volume and remember that you are here as a courtesy and nothing more.” A steely glare for two seconds before it’s lifted, and he looks around to the rest of the table. “Now, does anybody have anything more?”

-x-

He sits at his desk trying not to mull over the events of the morning for the rest of the day but it doesn’t quite work out that way. Mostly he ends up just tapping his pen against his notebook, completely losing track of what he’s meant to be doing.

“Here,” Jemma says out of the blue, and hands him a sketchpad and a pencil.

He takes it out of habit before realising what it is. “What’s this for?”

“You,” Jemma says, stepping back and looking awfully pleased with herself.

He eyes the items as they lie harmlessly on his desk, wondering what exactly they’re for and if he’s been given a task from HQ that requires them. Eventually, after a painful thirty seconds, she takes pity on him.

“I realise that while I’m here working at my desk, you’re also stuck here, too. And while I have plenty of things to keep me occupied, I’ve noticed that the same cannot exactly be said for you so I bought you these.”

“Eh,” he says, scratching his head. The thought is there, certainly. “Thanks, Jemma, really, but I don’t know-”

“It was after our talk the other night,” she interrupts, eyes sparkling. “You told me you used to design all sorts of things before the brain injury, and I see the way you look at the things we’ve got here and the way you talked about the work you used to do and I thought that, well, I thought perhaps you’d like to try again.”

Oh. His eyes feel spectacularly misty as he gently touches the pencil, the type of which he hasn’t touched since the days after his accident where he tried to draw a straight line, couldn’t, and ending up breaking the thing in two with a strength he hadn’t known he possessed.

“This is…” he tries to say, but his throat feels tight and he isn’t able to finish the rest of the sentence.

Jemma takes it to mean something else and steps backwards, looking embarrassed. “Oh. I overstepped, didn’t I? I’m sorry, Fitz, it really wasn’t my place to try and tell you what you’re ready to do.”

“No, no,” he says, managing to clear the tears in his eyes in time to look at her. “This is – it’s great. It’s really,” he breaks off, unsure of what to say and just manages to whisper, “great.”

“You don’t have to use it,” she says, but her smile is wide and he wishes he could see it fully but his eyes are misting up again without meaning to. “But it’s there if you’d like to.”

He just nods, is able to manage, “thank you,” and as she goes back to her desk, he just sits and looks, overcome with emotion and completely unable to show it in this professional work environment that’s rapidly disappearing no matter how hard he tries to maintain it. Just when he thought that perhaps he was able to get a hold of his feelings…

He sits and stares at the pad and paper for a long time. Eventually, he gains the courage to open up the pad to its first page and pick up the pencil. It’s another while before he actually pulls an idea from the ever rotating wheel of ideas in his head and begins to sketch willing, for the first time in a long time, to begin again.

-x-

“Hey, Fitz! Hunter here?”

Bobbi’s greeting is entirely too jovial for the way Fitz feels as he lies on the couch, tie loosened around his neck and belt unbuckled.

“He’s in the bathroom,” Fitz groans.

Bobbi comes over to stand in front of him. “Well don’t you seem cheerful today? What’s up?”

Just then the toilet flushes, the sink runs for a second, and Hunter emerges. His face brightens as soon as he sees Bobbi. “Hiya, love. How’s it going?”

She smiles at him before gesturing to Fitz. “What’s up with him?”

“Ahh,” Hunter says knowingly. “He’s in love.”

“Oh,” Bobbi winces sympathetically, patting his head. “Yeah, I got you there.”

“Oi!”

“I wasn’t even alluding to us. God, you take everything so personally!”

“Well why else would you say that you ‘got him’?”

“He’s young and he’s in love!” Bobbi shouts. “Of course, he’s miserable!”

“Hey, guys!” Fitz decides to join into this spat to stop it going any further. “I’m right here!”

“Sorry, mate.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, Fitz.”

He waves away their apology, wanting to go back to the quiet hell he was enjoying in his mind. Clearly his friends have other ideas. Hunter drags over a kitchen stool and Bobbo perches on the end of the couch and nudges him with her foot.

“This is about Jemma, huh?”

Fitz mumbles that yes, it is. The days just get harder and harder as he lives and works side by side with her and must keep up the professional façade that’s in danger of cracking any second now. Normally a day off isn’t a day he wants, yet this is one he’s been dragging himself to like a thirsty man to water. A day without seeing her eyes and her voice. A day that gives him a chance to forget the daydreams. This is a day that he looks forwards to indeed.

“Oh, Fitz,” Bobbi sighs, sounding motherly. “You have to tell her.”

“He can’t tell her, Bob,” Hunter says for him, all traces of teasing gone from his voice. A cause for alarm. “It’s the job. You know how it is.”

“We both do,” she reminds him, eyes soft. Then she turns back to Fitz. “But this is making you miserable. You have to tell her and get it out in the open, or you have to move on.”

He grabs a cushion and groans into it. “Are those my only options?”

“Well, no…” Bobbi starts.

“Or you quit,” Hunter finishes.

This job was only meant to be temporary a little part of his brain tells him. That little, treacherous part that only thinks selfishly and never about the bigger picture. It’s right: this job was only meant as a way to get him back on his feet after the accident, never a permanent career choice. After all, it’s not as though he has a passion for it.

But what else would he do? Where would he go? He can’t go back to engineering… not yet. He’s just not good enough, not ready to put his ideas out there like he once could. To throw away a steady pay check for a woman he’s unsure feels the same way seems idiotic. Romantic? Absolutely – and something Hunter would do – but sensible?

Well, he feels there’s only one answer for that.

“I can’t quit,” he says quietly. “I just – I can’t.”

Bobbi makes a noise of sympathy in her throat. “Then you gotta move on, Fitz.”

“Nope. Don’t think I can do that either.”

“Well then,” Hunter says, clapping him on the shoulder in a way he hasn’t done in a long time. “I think you know that you have to do.”

-x-

Fitz loves Hunter, owes him a lot, but was never going to follow his advice.

For one, it’s usually terrible and it making semi-sense this time doesn’t make it good. And for second… he’s just afraid.

So he resolves to make good on his previous resolutions, and to suffer through what he’s sure will only be another couple of weeks, at which point he can either part ways with Jemma or muster up enough courage to ask her to dinner.

This is the promise he makes to himself, and it works rather well. Until the day, that is, which Jemma Simmons decides she wants to visit the beach.

#aosficnet2 #fitzsimmons #aos #fitzsimmons fics #fanfic by moi #and i will always love you #exciting times!#a wee bit scary also #not the fic #just that i can't believe the time has come already!#not long to go now!#i hope you enjoy!

24 notes · View notes

monsters-under-the-willowtree · 5 years

Text

My God, They Were Roommates

A Story about New Places, New Faces, and a New Roommate that wasn’t originally in the advertisement but a welcome surprise nonetheless

Ungendered Ghost + Ungendered Reader 3000 words

Holiday wasn’t exactly the kind of town that you expected to end up in after college but it was better than where you’d come from. That much was certain. For one it didn’t have all the drama from where you’d come from. And for two it was gorgeous.

There was so much greenery, old and new growth just bursting from every seam. Charming old homes that might as well be estates and new town houses, ancient taverns with plaques boasting their history and cute modern boutiques all mixing nicely together to create this inviting and unique atmosphere that had drawn you in the moment you’d stepped out of your car.

Plus it was actually affordable here, in spite of the drive it would take to get literally anywhere.

And now here you were, putting away the last of your things as autumn leaves danced past your window. The last cardboard moving box finally stashed under your bed with the others. Technically this was just a studio apartment above an old antique shop but the owner of the shop hadn’t had so much luck with the business and had closed the doors a couple of years back. It was quiet and private and since you didn’t even have keys to get into the shop itself the inanimate housemates on the first and second floors didn’t bother you one bit.

It did have the downside of being lonely though. But you were sure that wasn’t going to be a problem forever. You just needed to meet some people in town, that was all. And in the meantime you could call your family and talk to them when the loneliness got to be unbearable. That was the plan, anyways, but with a whole town’s worth of new places and unpacking and turning the bare attic-type space into a homey spot arranged just how you wanted it to be there hadn’t been a whole lot of time for it just yet.

That and... some little strange occurrences had been happening too. Nothing terribly odd but just inexplicable enough to make you just a bit uneasy. Like this morning, you think as you look down at your thumb. The pad of it had a little smiley face drawn on it. And you had absolutely no memory of putting it there. Boxes had tipped over by themselves while you were unpacking. Two mornings in a row now you had woken up with a shoe balanced on your forehead. And strangest of all, there was a little toy ghost that you hadn’t remembered packing along with you that kept moving itself around your room every time you would leave the house and then return later.

This was the kicker that got you really thinking. In fact you were currently sitting on the edge of your bed looking at it with your chin in your hands. Was it possible that there was a ghost in this building? It hadn’t done anything mean or malicious or creepy yet. But the idea was still a little disturbing. Would you need to get a curtain or something if you needed to change? Would it obey a set of house rules like “no messing with the water while I’m showering” and “no creepy stuff that will give me nightmares?”

After an afternoon of deliberating you finally decided that waiting for it to come to you wasn’t going to be the best way to go about this. So instead.... you went shopping. Nothing extravagant, you didn’t really have a whole lot of funds to put towards much of anything at the moment. But a few things. And then it was time to go to work.

The first thing you did when you got home was tie some fishing line to your shoes and attach that to a shoe box up high on a shelf that you filled with feathers. The first little ghost toy got a second little toy friend to sit next to. And finally a little cheap video camera that you balanced on your dresser on the opposite wall in an effort to capture your prankster in the act.

And then you went to bed. It was difficult, but eventually you managed to drop off to sleep.

In the morning you awoke gently. It was Sunday and you had no alarm, one of your two blessed sleeping-in days. But as soon as you shifted even an inch there was the sensation of things tumbling onto you, things thudding dully against your bed and body, and you shrieked in surprise. Flailing wildly against your attacker, there was a bit more din and ruckus. When all finally came to a stop you stared, wide eyed and breathless, at the shoes, feathers, and shoe box that were now haphazardly resting on you, your bed, and the floor beside you. It took a moment for your brain to catch up with what had happened.

And then you started laughing.

The laughter only grew louder as you dared a glance over at the video camera and noticed the two toy ghosts beside it, arranged like they were holding it up where it stood, now pointing at you instead of at the door where you kept your shoes usually. So your ghost had figured out the prank and had pranked you right back. Classic. The feathers were going to be a pain to clean up but right now that annoyance was nothing more than a fleeting thought as you scurried over to the camera and flipped it over. It was still recording.

Flopping back on your bed you stopped the recording and then played it back, quickly realizing that just watching it straight through was going to take forever. So the laptop was pulled out, memory card inserted, and then the fun really started. Dragging the pointer across the progress bar you started fishing through the data until bam! Feathers everywhere! You rewind by a minute or two and then watch, nose practically pressed to the screen, to see how it happened.

At 2:47 AM all seems quiet. Nothing unusual. Except that, wait... you pause, rewind by 10 seconds, and look harder when you push play. There’s a movement. By the door. Not something you can truly see but just barely detectable nonetheless. And your shoes lift slowly into the air. The box above tips over and a shower of neon pink feathers rains down from above. They don’t exactly land on anything in particular but they do seem to almost bump against and then slide off of something invisible. The shoes drop and some gust of indoor wind sends a bunch of them flying into the air. The feathers fall gracefully to the ground.

And then... nothing. For minutes. You skip ahead carefully, squinting, until you catch a frame of your shoe floating above your bed. Scooting back through time you watch as feathers start lifting themselves back into the box. The camera moves a minute later, changing angles so that it is now pointing at you instead. And then your shoe is lifted, floating silently across the room. It’s balanced on your shoulder and then there is nothing again for a moment. The other shoe is brought over and balanced carefully on the first. Then the box of feathers floats over and is balanced on the side of your head. The ghost toys dance through the air, growing larger in the frame until they are right in front of it. Maybe a little too close, they’re rather blurry. But definitely there on purpose.

You can’t help but notice, while they hang there in the air, that one is very slowly rotating in place towards the other, who is looking directly at the camera. Then moving closer. And then leaning in. The hands on the little toy ghosts can’t move but the one who moves closer to the one staring into the camera tilts, the little hand sliding behind the first until the two ghosts are touching in a juvenile form of embrace. They float there in that position for maybe ten minutes, most of which you click through rapidly. Apparently your ghost wanted to send a message and didn’t want you to miss it. And it was so sweet you can’t even be the smallest bit upset that now you have pink feathers all over your bed.

Your ghost wanted to be friends.

It was such a crazy concept that you didn’t really know what to say or do for a while. Ghosts were real? How was that possible? How could you be friends with someone who was invisible? Could they talk? Were they watching you? How would you communicate? How would you know if they were there? How did they die? Why were they here?

Mustering up a bit of gumption you track down some paper and some pens and leave them out on your dresser with a little note on it.

Hello Ghost! I hope you aren’t upset that I’m living here. I’d like to be friends. Can we talk soon? I want to meet you!

You signed your name, put the box of feathers by it, and then headed for the shower. It seemed like they hadn’t really been doing much around the apartment unless you were out or asleep so you thought that maybe they were shy or were trying to be nice and not spook you too badly. Which was awfully considerate of them, you probably would have screamed if they had just popped out of the woodwork and offered their hand to you. But now that you’d had a little time to think about it you were actually pretty excited to meet a friendly ghost.

It was hard to take your time, anticipation was bubbling in your stomach like soda pop fizz, but you really wanted to make sure that the ghost had enough time to find the note, read it, and reply back. If they were even around. Maybe they were hanging out in the antique shop downstairs? Did they only come up at certain times of the night? You hadn’t really had enough time to learn their patterns yet. But you hoped. And eventually when you were nice and pruned you could finally check.

There was... no reply. And it stung a little. You did try not to be too disappointed. But... wait. The pages had definitely been disturbed. Some feathers weren’t in their box anymore. And... now that you got looking, your favorite pen was missing too. Well, you mused, maybe they just wanted some more time to work on their answer. Maybe writing was hard to do as a ghost? In any case, it looked like they had seen your note and were going to maybe reply back to you on their own time.

With that in mind you went about the rest of your day, still a little bit anxious but trying to be patient. It took ages to fall asleep that night. So long that it was early morning before your eyes finally started to droop. And that was when you heard a little scratch at the door. Just once. And even if your eyes popped open you stayed still, not totally sure that you actually had heard anything. But your suspicions were confirmed moments later when a piece of paper floated across the room. You gasped and immediately the paper dropped to the floor, along with a rattling ting that told you the ghost had been holding your pen too.

“Wait!” You sat up and jumped out of bed, holding your hands out in some vain attempt to feel for them in the dark. “Wait, don’t go. I’m sorry, I just couldn’t sleep. Are you still here?”

Nothing moved, no matter how long you waited there in the dark. With a sigh you shuffled over to the paper and picked it up, turning on a light so you could actually read it. Although once you got there you decided that maybe “read” was a strong word. It was a hand-drawn comic page. No words. But you studied it carefully anyways.

The first panel was a dark room. It took up the width of the page. Big and empty and heavily shadowed and with a dramatic angle to showcase the small bedsheet-type ghost sitting in the middle of it with a frown. Below it were three panels. Side by side views of the little ghost with an “o” mouth and wide eyes peeking around corners at the sight of a person carrying boxes.

Then the bottom panel, again using the full width of the page, showed the same room as above now filled with boxes and music and light and a person (one you had to guess was yourself) with the little sheet ghost grinning enormously.

It was adorable and even at the late hour it warmed your whole heart. You immediately pulled apart an old picture frame and put the page inside of it, snatching up the two little ghosts and putting the two of them next to each other beside it. Maybe the ghost was illiterate and couldn’t read? Couldn’t write? Or maybe they spoke a different language? Had they been an immigrant from another country and couldn’t read the language you were writing?

Whatever the case was, they were a lovely artist and you wanted to make sure they knew you had understood the message. So you grabbed another piece of paper and with what little artistic skill you had tried your best to answer back. Yours was a very basic four panel comic with stick people, the first showing a person standing alone. Then in the second one it showed the first person with a big grin and their hands in the air at the appearance of a simplified sheet ghost. The third showed the ghost and the person with word bubbles and little squiggles inside. And then the fourth was your very best attempt at drawing the ghost and the person hugging. You didn’t really know if ghosts could hug but it was the best way you could draw the hope that you could be friends with your new roommate.

You left this drawing nearby the first, looking around the room for any sign of your ethereal roommate for a few moments before deciding that maybe they weren’t around anymore. It would have been nice to finally see them or sit and chat with them, learn their name or find out if the two of you even spoke the same language. If not then the sooner the better, you had learned a few words here and there in a few other languages but if you were going to need to learn a whole new one well enough to be conversational then you kindof wanted to get started.

Exhaustion pulled you under quickly after that, a small blessing considering that you had to be up for work the next day. It was impossible to concentrate, and sleep was only one small factor in that problem, and the end of your working day could not come soon enough. The comic had given you an idea and even if you were definitely planning on more little pranks in the future you were glad that you hadn’t gone too crazy just yet. That show of restraint had given you a couple dollars left in your wallet to head back to the store and pick up some art supplies. Nothing fancy. Just some cheap acrylics and a pack of plastic bristle brushes. Next paycheck you might be able to afford an array of the small canvases they had for sale but with your last $5 not claimed by groceries or gasoline you purchased two small ones that would at least give your ghost friend something to do with their time while you were away at work.

“Hello?” It felt a little strange to call out to an empty studio as you came bustling in with your plastic bags and keys jangling noisily. But now that you had a ghost to consider it felt rude not to greet them, wherever they might be. “Ghost? Hello? I bought something for you!”

Settling everything on the small folding table you eventually arranged the art supplies in such a way, an old sheet as a tablecloth and toy ghosts supporting the package of paint brushes over their heads, that hopefully the ghost would catch your meaning.

“Listen, I don’t know if you can hear me or if you’re here or not but these are for you! I figured maybe you might like to try painting, since the little comic picture you drew yesterday was so cool. It’s not much but it probably beats wandering around this old place all alone all day. I don’t know if ghosts can paint but it’s worth a shot, you know? Uh…. Anyways… I guess I’ll just leave these here. You can take them somewhere else if you don’t want to paint in, like, the middle of the room or something. Just take the sheet with you so you can keep the floor clean, I suck at trying to get stains out of stuff so I won’t be much help if it gets into anything.”

You looked around again, hoping to see some sign that they were around. Nothing really jumped out at you but you could have sworn the curtains shifted just slightly. Or maybe that was just the air vents. “I have to go out again for a bit, I’m all out of food for the week, but I hope you like this stuff. I’ll see you later? Maybe? I mean I’d like to see you later but it’s cool if you want to stay invisible a while longer. I get being shy and all that. Anyways… uhm… later!”

And though it was still maybe too early to tell but the air just to your left felt abruptly cool as you gathered up the plastic bags and keys, cracking open the paints and brushes for them as an afterthought. How strong were ghosts really? Were there things that you could do to make life (or rather death) easier for them? These thoughts and a cold breeze followed after you as you scuttled back out the door again, still unsure if you were really doing the right thing but pleased enough with your efforts that the consequences of befriending a ghost felt worth the risk that maybe this would be the best thing to ever happen to you in your whole life.

#exophilia #monster x reader #monster x human #monsters #gender neutral monster #gender neutral reader #ghost monster

34 notes · View notes