stacy is sooo interesting because she's in love with house but knows that they will never ever be able to have a healthy, stable, sane relationship because they're too similar so. she finds house-lite instead and marries him and. essentially moves on with her life! and is successful in this because she's a moderately well-adjusted person!

wilson, in contrast, never manages to escape the inevitable, in spite of his best efforts to find a house-lite of his very own, because he's an absolute fucking freak and ends up glued to house to the bitter. bitter end

The Last Descendant (Sam Winchester x Reader) pt.4

Disclaimer: Tumblr is being weird again so if you’re using the app, the ‘Keep Reading’ cut off line may not be visible inspite of the fact that I always insert one.

Summary for pt.4.: You split up into two search parties to look for Dark Kaia in order to obtain the spear and your teammate turns out to be an outstanding company. When you find her an unexpected turn of events ensues.

Warnings: cursing, some really awful smut (sorry for that)

Word count: 2.820-ish

PART 1.  PART 2.  PART 3.

The car ride to the location is pretty much the epitome of awkward. Dean drives, Sam sits by him and you and Cas have to share the backseat. He sits as far away from you as possible, which you guess is the normal reaction to almost being stabbed to death by you. Nobody utters a single word. You are kind of still pissed at Sam a little for expecting you to just fess up and of course for keeping a teeny-tiny bit of an information from you such as Lucifer has a son. Once you catch him staring in the rearview mirror at you, but as he realizes he’s caught, he looks away. You’re thankful when the car finally starts to slow down and then stops. You leave every belonging of yours in it. When you get out you notice a police car just a few meters away, a lady is leaning to the side of it. Her face lights up when she sees the boys and starts off in their direction.

„Sam, Dean!” she hugs Sam first, then Dean, but her eyes widen when she reaches Castiel. „Oh my God, Cas, what happened to you?!”

„She did.” he points towards you and you shoot a smile to the astounded lady.

„Oookay?” she looks at them confused but as none of them seems to be keen on offering explanation, she turns to you with an extended hand. „I’m Jody by the way.”

You look at Sam.

„So, you say she can be trusted?”

„Absolutely.” he nods in reassurance.

„Very well then. I’m Nat. Nat…Colt.” you take her hand and squeeze it. It feels a bit strange to use your real name again after all those years.

She suddenly appears to be thinking hard.

„Why does this name sound familiar to me…? Hey – isn’t your omni-killing gun called Colt?”

„Yeah, it is. It’s named after its creator, Samuel Colt. You just met his last living descendant. But I should warn you, her identity is not quite public and she can get stabby so��� ” Dean shoots you a sarcastic look.

„Oh, wow, okay. Got it. I’m keeping my mouth shut.” she jabbers.

„So, how are we going to team up?” Cas takes the chance to speak up.

„You and Jody are with me ’cause I doubt that Little Miss Trust Issues over here is gonna go with anyone else but Sam.” Dean replies.

You roll your eyes as a response.

„So, Jody, where did your men see Dark Kaia?” Sam clears his throat and asks to switch the subject.

„They saw her west of here, but she’s been moving around, so basically the whole area is ground we need to cover.”

„Fan-freaking-tastic.” Dean pulls a face.

„I suggest we start moving. The sooner we find her, the better.” Castiel speaks on everyone’s behalf and so you all do as he says so.

The other bunch starts off to the direction Jody has mentioned and you and Sam take the other way. You’re a little bit ahead of Sam, trying to avoid any interactions at all costs. You really don’t feel like doing a heart-to-heart in the middle of the woods. Whenever he catches up with you, you start walking even faster. You probably keep on doing this for about a good twenty minutes when he finally grabs your wrist and turns you to face him.

„Okay, that’s enough! I know I screwed up by not telling you everything - and I’m sorry for that – but you haven’t been the most honest either so I don’t exactly think I deserve the silent treatment.” he bursts out, looking intensly in your eyes. You hold his gaze.

„I’d let go of me if I were you and wanted to keep my hand.” you say calmly.

He lets out a breathless laugh.

„Right. Empty threats. Your speciality.”

He’s crossed a certain line and before you know it, your free fist is on its way to collide with his jawline, but he catches it mid-air. Only a couple of seconds pass and he lets go of both your hands just to grab your face and crash his lips onto yours. You totally freeze because of his unexpected actions and forget to kiss him back. He pulls away, visibly puzzled from your lack of response. You realize your mistake and immediately yank him back by his plaidshirt. Your positive reinforcement really escalates things. In just a fraction of time he pins you against the nearest tree with his body, kissing you passionately. You bury your hands into his hair, getting entirely lost in the moment. His kiss is hot and wet and everything you imagined it would be like. He tears off your shirt, leaving you in your bra and that’s when you get back to reality.

„Sam…Sam! We…” he kisses your neck and it takes everything within your power to suppress a moan. „We… we can’t! Okay? Just – just stop!”

He pulls away just enough to be able to look in your eyes.

„We can. And we will.” he says out of breath and returns to kissing your neck. „You have no idea how long I’ve wanted this – how long I’ve wanted you!” he growles against your skin while his hands are traveling all over your body, making his argument even more valid.

„But..but what if the others stumble upon us, huh?” you give rationality one last try.

„Well, Dean’s a big boy, he can handle it and Cas is not as innocent as he seems. As for Jody… she’ll look away. I want you. Now.”

You don’t need to hear anything more to be convinced – the probabilty of an unwanted pregnancy equals zero, your pill makes sure of that. And as for other concerns…you hope for the best. Sam doesn’t strike you as the sleeping around type.

You take off his jacket and start to unbuckle his belt. He does the same for you and as a final step of the process, he yanks down your jeans as far as he can. You can see the lust clouding his eyes as he looks at your black lace panties. Soon enough he pulls it to the side, caressing you with his index and middle finger. Despite all your best efforts, now you’re not able to withhold a moan. He grabs you under your thighs and lifts you up gently so you would be at the same level he is.

„So wet…” he whispers against your lips and he pulls out his length to push into you. The first couple of thrusts hurt a little, but then it’s just pure pleasure.

You both know exactly that this is not a romantic act. It’s an act of passion and longing and displaying feelings – everything that have been held back for a long time now. His movements are fast, but gentle at the same time and you can’t help moaning his name. He moans yours in return before he starts moving even faster and it’s not long before you both reach bliss. Even though he’s released into you, you stay like that for a moment or two, panting. He kisses you one more time before putting you down. You take your torn shirt and use it to clean yourself up. In approximately three minutes both of you are dressed fully – well, almost fully. Your upper body’s single coverage is your bra thanks to the younger Winchester.

„Here! Take this.” he chuckles as he hands you his plaidshirt. ”I’ve got a t-shirt under this.”

„Oh yeah? And what should I do with it? It’s at least three times my size.”

„I don’t know… Put your belt around your waist, it’ll look like a dress.” he suggests.

„Dress on jeans? Sam, I hate to break it to you but we’re not in the eighties anymore.”

„Relax a bit, Nat. You’d even look smokin’ in a potato sack, a little dress on jeans won’t make you any less attractive.” he tucks a strand of hair behind your ear and gives you a long kiss, which earns him a warm smile from you.

After you’re both ready, you continue your journey of looking for Dark Kaia, walking hand in hand.

„Jesus, Sam, you’ve been smiling for three consequtive minutes, are you alright? I think this is a new record for you, by the way.” you tease him.

„Very funny, Nat. I’m-I’m just happy, that’s all.”

„Really? And why is that?”

„Because of you.” he admits shyly. „I’ve been waitig for someone like you for a while now. You know, I used to think I can only have healthy relationships with women if I get out of this life. Been there, done that, got back in and I thought I could never have anything that even remotely resembles to it. But then you appeared in my life and messed up everything I believed in.”

„Same here, Sam. Same here.” you confess as well, squeezing his hand harder. Since the death of your family, Sam’s the only person who’s managed to break through to you, demolishing each and every one of the walls you built to protect yourself.

You stand on your toes and kiss him. As a result, he pulls you flush against his body, but both of you freeze upon hearing the horrible screams that – judging by the volume - come from a frighteningly short distance.

You both start running in the direction you think they come from and soon enough arrive at a small glade. The scene playing out in front of you is anything but encouraging – Jody is laying on the ground unconscious, blood trickling from her forehead; Castiel is kneeling next to her attempting to heal her wound, but you weakened him significantly in the diner so it’s going a lot slower than usual; and Dean is getting his ass kicked by a girl prominently smaller than him. Based on the stories Sam would tell you about him before you fell asleep together in the bunker, you imagine this is gonna shatter his ego.

The girl they referred to as Kaia is about to stab Dean with her spear, but she stops when Sam yells at her. Instead she just quickly delivers a punch to the older Winchester and turns to hurl the weapon at Sam.

“NO!” you scream and push him out of the way just in time, but consequently your left shoulder gets grazed by the pointed head before it settles in a tree trunk.

“Well, you’ve just ruined my shirt.” you exclaim indignantly, while you examine the hole that the weapon ripped into the fabric. Slowly, blood begins to soak the frayed ends. “Agh, and blood, too?? You can’t wash that out! Now it’s personal.”

You both start running at each other and upon colliding, you both manage to take in a hit. A long, tiresome combat ensues between the two of you – the others are too mesmerized by both of your grace and all the beautifully executed motions to join. A busted lip and several bruises later you see an opportunity to render her harmless by bringing her to the ground and you go for it. In a blink of an eye she’s down in the grass and you’re on top of her, holding her in a way that’s impossible to escape without obtaining serious injuries.

“Would you just stop it already?!” you hiss into hear ear, panting heavily. You consider yourself fit, but this little match made you sweat like a pig. “We don’t want to take that stupid spear of yours for good, girly! We’d just like to borrow it for replication so that we could kill an archangel named Michael with it! He’s gonna eradicate every reality you’ve ever known if we don’t stop him. And right now, it looks like our best bet at doing so is your pointy stick.”

“Well, your friends kind of failed to bring all of this to my attention!” she hisses back just as equally out of breath as you.

You let out a frustrated sigh.

“Alright. Promise me you’ll stay calm and I’ll let you go.” her lack of response makes you motivate her into cooperation by pulling back her arm just a bit more, making her scream out in pain.

“Alright, alright! I promise!”

You let go and both of you jump to your feet. When Kaia realizes Sam is holding the weapon, she goes over and takes it from him then brings it to you. Judging by her facial expression, she would have gladly punched Sam in the face for touching it, but a promise is a promise.

“That man you mentioned has sent his minions to get this from me. They’ve almost killed me twice now. If what your saying is true, take it. Make a copy then get the original back to me. Although I’m uncertain if it’s replicable. “ she says, handing the spear to you.

“Well, this is kind of my job, so I’ll try my best to replicate it.” you say as you take it. Sam, Dean and a now-conscious Jody with the help of Castiel all come closer to take a look.

“Your job is replicating weaponry?” she inquires, curiosity taking over her.

“Well creating and replicating. Whatever the customer pays for. But I make things for myself as well, just look at this ring.” you touch the ring on your right middle finger with your thumb. “This has angel grace in it. It glows when it comes in contact with angels. All I need is a handshake and I’ll know if the person is an asshat from upstairs or not. See?” you touch Castiel’s shoulder and the ring starts glowing with a bright blue light. “But when I touch Dean for example, it’s not glow-“ the words freeze in your throath as the ring burns brighter than ever.

Everybody stares at Dean expectantly, who seems utterly shocked for a minute, but then the mask falls off - he rolls his eyes and a look of indifference appears on his face. He straightens himself, even the tone of his voice changes when he speaks up.

“Alright! I must admit I did not expect such turn of events that would lead to my untimely exposure... I planned on pretending to be Dean for a much longer period to get what I want.”

“Michael…” Sam breathes out.

“In the flesh and bone.” he smiles coldly as he raises his arms and an invisible power pushes each of you against a different surrounding tree. Before your back collides with the trunk and the air gets pushed out of your lungs, you manage to throw the spear into the tall grass. If he wants it, he might as well just look for it.

To the biggest surprise of everyone present, the weapon is not the thing he opts for.

It’s you.

He calmly strolls over to you.

“My, my…” he says as he grabs your chin and scrutinizes your face. “You look just like her. Tell me, Nat, what is your story.”

Your eyes snap to Dean’s green ones, though he’s unmistakably not the person looking back.

“My story?!” you almost can’t contain the rage rising within you “You slaughtered my family when I was a kid, asshole, and I’ve been on the run ever since! That’s my story!”

“Interesting. In my dimension, I murdered your family, but you did not escape. You chose to serve me instead.”

“No!” you feel tears starting to sting.

“Oh, yes...” he tucks a lock of hair behind your ear. “In fact, your services covered a much broader area in life, including warming my bed. I have to admit, I felt a pang of jealousy when you appeared here in Samuel’s flanel.” he whispers the last sentence, his breath fanning your face.

“DEAN!” Sam’s voice rips trough the air all of a sudden. “I know you’re in there! Fight it, man!”

Michael appears to be a bit irritated by this and turns to walk in Sam’s direction. Your thoughts are racing, so it takes a couple of seconds to realize that what Sam’s doing is distraction. While Michael is set on him, he would concentrate on restraining the others less. It takes all your physical power to move your hand, but you succeed. You are able to dip your fingers into your bleeding shoulder wound and start drawing the angel banishing sign on the tree.

“Samuel. You know, your brother is pushed back so far in his own mind, that he cannot hear you. You might as well just stop talking.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Then I’ll make you.” with a snap of his fingers Sam’s begins choking on thin air.

Your heart rate rises seeing Sam in agony. You swiftly dip your fingers one last time to finish the sign.

“Hey, Michael!” you scream, immediately earning a head turn from him. “This isn’t over, asshole!”

You slap your palm against the sign and both him and Castiel disappear.

Towards The Sun- Chapter 8

Title: Towards the Sun: Chapter 8

Series: Voltron Legendary Defender

Rating: PG

Characters: Keith, Thace, Shiro, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Allura, Coran and OCs

Summary:  After the rebels escape, Thace is now staying at the Castle of Lions and Keith has questions for him that can no longer be put on hold. However, once he gets his answers, Keith is afraid how everyone else will take the news.

Archive of Our Own

Keith always did enjoy the observatory. He would often come up here by himself to look at the stars when he needed to think. Often, he would find himself being joined by Shiro, or one of the other paladins. It was nice. Everyone just sat silently as they watched the stars and comets go by.

He never dreamed he be doing the same thing with Thace...his father.

Neither of them had uttered a word as they stared up at the window and watch the stars twinkle. Keith rotated his shoulders as his mouth refused to budge. Should one of them just start talking? Lance would give him an earful if he found out they said nothing to each other the whole time, but did that mean Keith had to begin it? Or was he overthinking things again? Did he-

“It is a nice view,” Thace said as he gazed up.

Keith blinked, his rapid train of thought gone as he tried to recompose himself by tucking his hands into his pockets. “Yeah,” he replied and clicked his tongue. “I like coming up here, it’s quiet.”

Thace gave a nod. “I will admit, growing up I took it for granted,” he said. “I was on so many ships, I forgot what a sight it was..until I met your mother.”

Keith frowned and looked up curiously. “Mom?”

“She loved to stargaze,” Thace explained with a fond smile. “I often caught her standing outside watching the stars.” He gave a small chuckle. “She made me memorize the constellations near Earth.”

Keith gave a small smile as old memories of leaning against his mother with a mug of hot chocolate in his hands as they sat and count the stars came to him.

“Mom did it a lot with me too,” Keith admitted and turned to him. “She...also loved listening to the rain.” He licked his lips. “Did she..um..do that with you too?”

“Very much so,” Thace replied. “It didn’t rain on my homeworld and I thought I would never get use to it.” He crossed his arms as he lifted his head up. “Ironically, I find myself missing the sound now.”

Keith’s smile faltered as he began tap the floor with the heel of his boot. “Me too,” he said, “but I miss her more.” He took a deep sigh. “It’s been a long time since I got to talk about her to anyone that actually knew her.”

His mother had no living family, and Keith hadn’t been close or met anyone in a long time that had known her personally. He had often told Shiro and his parents about her, but it wasn’t the same. Keith had been so young and he always felt there were sides to his mother he didn’t get to see or understand as a child.

Thace’s eyes softened as he gave a nod. “Yes, it’s the same for me,” he explained as he patted Keith’s shoulder. “None of the other rebels had ever met her. It’s always been me telling them about Amy.”

Keith took in a deep breath as he shut his eyes. “I miss her,” he said. “I still miss her a lot.”

Thace said nothing, but his face seemed full of pain and regret. His shoulders slumped slightly as he shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he said.

Keith looked up to him as he took his hands out of his pockets. “For what?”

“For abandoning you,” Thace said, his voice thick with emotion “For not acting like a father when you needed one,” he took a deep breath. “For leaving you all alone when your mother died. I can only fathom how painful that ordeal was for you.”

Keith went quiet. He hadn’t been expecting that. “It’s not your fault mom died. Those things happen, and you had a valid reason for going.”

That was the part Keith couldn’t deny. As much as it angered him not having a father around, there was no denying taking down Zarkon was a higher importance.

“That doesn’t excuse or change the fact that I left you behind,” Thace said as wrinkles formed in his forehead. “I’ve lost count on how many times I was truly tempted to fly back to Earth, and insist that you and Amy come back with me.”

Keith narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “So...you wanted me?”

Thace’s looked aghast at the question. “What? Of course I did. You are my only child, I wouldn’t trade you for anything.”

Keith’s fists tightened, his mind drifting back to Thace’s words at the meeting. “Then why are you so eager to get away from me?”

Thace frowned. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

Keith twitched. “At the meeting, when Oberon said you would have to live here, you didn’t seem thrilled at the idea.” He tossed his hands up. “ Does ‘it’s not something to rush into’ ring any bells?”

“Ah,” Thace said slowly and tapped his fingers against his elbow. “Keith, you misunderstood. Truth be told...being able to finally get to know my son would be a dream come true for me.”

Keith scoffed. “You got a funny way of showing that.”

“Perhaps,” Thace said with a nod, “but the main reason I was hesitant was because I was concerned about you.”

Keith froze and tilted his head in confusion. “About me?”

“You have lived without a father for most of your life, and suddenly I just appear to you out of nowhere,” Thace said as he leaned against the railing. “I had assumed you might not be comfortable with me living here when you only found out about me recently.”

“Oh,” Keith said as he mulled it over. “So, you were just trying to ensure I wouldn’t feel awkward?”

“Yes,” Thace replied, “but was I wrong?”

Keith opened and shut his mouth. “Not completely? I’ll admit, I’m not sure how I feel about you yet.” He took a deep breathe. “However, I was rather annoyed you were just going to decide that without asking my opinion.” He turned his head at him with a glare. “You have a habit of doing that.”

Thace gave a small chuckle. “Your mother accused me of the same problem.” He paused. “Although, there is Shiro to also consider. I fully realize that having a Galran around, especially one that was part of Zarkon’s high command, would likely bring back ugly memories for him.”

Keith rubbed his neck. “Shiro is working through it,” he replied, “but I can’t deny I also had the same thought.”

Thace nodded. “With that aside, Keith,” he said as he brought his face closer, “do you wish for me to stay?”

Keith chewed his bottom lip as he ran a hand over his face. “Honestly...I..I don’t know.”

Thace didn’t look surprise as he crossed his arms. “Don’t rush that decision then,” he said gently. “My main concern is you and I will respect your decision if you wish for me to leave.”

“But where will you go?” Keith asked as he found himself moving in closer. “And it was a major condition for the alliance-”

“I’m certain I can find other arrangements that won’t interfere with the alliance with Voltron and the resistance,” Thace insisted. “I can take care of myself, so don’t let that be one of the factors in your decision.”

Keith shut his eyes. His brain was buzzing with thoughts and he didn’t know which to dwell on. Thace wanted to stay, but did Keith? He didn’t know. He couldn’t decide-

Thace placed a hand on his shoulder, instantly calming Keith. “Let’s discuss something else in the time being,” he said.

“Oh..,” Keith said slowly. “Okay, but what?”

Thace gave a thoughtful frown. “What were you doing before you found the Blue Lion on Earth?”

Keith raised an eyebrow. “Um..not much, quite honestly.” He hugged himself. “It was a rough year. I thought Shiro had died on the Kerberos mission and spent the next year wandering to figure out what to do with myself.”

“I see,” Thace said. “But what about school?”

Keith sucked air between his teeth. “I wasn’t going to school.”

Thace eyes narrowed in a kind of manner Keith had seen Shiro do when one of the paladins had misbehaved. “You dropped out?”

Keith snorted. “Technically, but more like I got kicked out.” He shrugged. “One of the Galaxy Garrison's officers was talking badly about Shiro, and..I kind of punched him.”

Thace’s eyes widened, but he said nothing.

“They ended up declaring I had a discipline issue and sent me packing,” Keith said as he tried to read Thace’s face.

“I...see,” Thace said in an overly neutral tone.

Keith gave a pout as he tilted his head. “You okay?”

Thace rubbed his eyes. “Keith, promise me you will never Oberon that story?”

Keith’s eyes hardened. “Why?” Was Thace that embarrassed Keith was kicked out?

Thace took a deep breath. “Because he will use it to forever mock the both of us.”

“Huh?” Keith replied.

“Oberon and I were in cadets together,” Thace explained, “and, a higher ranking officer had made ‘comments’ about my late father...which I did not take that well.”

Keith’s eyes widened. “Did you punch him?”

“Not quite,” Thace replied as he fiddled with his sleeve. “I at first called him a few names I dare not repeat, but when he grabbed me by the collar...I punched him in the stomach.”

Keith’s jaw fell and then seconds later he burst out laughing. “Ha ha! Oh, man! You serious?!” He snickered. “I guess the ‘apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’ as Mom would always say.”

Thace gave a crooked smile. “Yes, it would seem so.”

Keith took a breath to calm himself down before returning his gaze to Thace. “So, did you get booted out too?”

“They were in the middle of discussing the matter if I should be expelled or punished when I met up with the resistance,” Thace said. “So, in the end, it didn’t truly matter.”

“But Oberon still holds it over your head?” Keith said.

“Yes, and it will be even worse if he learns you did it too,” Thace said as he pointed. “So, keep it to yourself.”

“I’ll try,” Keith said, “but if he’s with Lance, he’s probably already told him about it.”

“Yes,” Thace said in a tired tone, “that is very likely.”

Keith gave a small smile as he return his gaze to the stars above. As they sat in silence, Keith wondered if his mother was smiling at them where ever she was.

08080808080808080808080808080808080808080808080

“Oookay,” Hunk said as he fastened the last screw, “try now, Shiro.”

Shiro nodded and began to bend his cybernetic arm. However, the grinding sound returned and he halted immediately.

Shiro cursed as he gripped it to his chest. “It’s still bad,” he said with a wince, “and if feels like it’s even more stiff.”

Pidge growled as she tugged at her hair. “This is getting us nowhere! Shiro, I’m sorry, but I think we really better take this apart. You’re not going to be able to move it at this rate.”

Hunk slumped in his chair. He hated to admit it, but he had to agree with Pidge. At the rate they were going, Shiro’s arm was only going to become a deadweight by the end of the day.

Shiro looked less than thrilled as he looked to them. “Okay, we’ll do it if we have to,” he stated, “but you’re certain there’s no other way to fix this?”

Hunk removed his goggles to scrub his face. “Thing is, this kind of problem shouldn’t be hard to fix-”

“And it really isn’t, but I’m bias.”

The trio turned to the door and saw Ford standing in the doorway. The old Galran showed them a sympathetic smile and Hunk noticed he held a large tool bag in his regular hand.

“Sorry, don’t mean to pry,” he said as he wandered in. “But I could hear that thing all the way down the hall.” He looked to Shiro with a concerned frown. “If you don’t get that thing fixed, you’re not going to be able to move it by the end of tomorrow.”

Shiro’s eyes widened in alarm. “You’re certain?”

Ford held up his own arm. “Same thing happened to me,” he stated. “Was a huge pain in the rear to deal with too since I was by myself and had no extra hands to help me fix it.”

Hunk blinked and suddenly found his gaze locking upon Ford’s own cybernetic arm.

Oh, my God, I’m an idiot! Hunk thought as he sprang to his feet. “Ford, you know how to fix this?!” he asked as he pointed to Shiro.

“Course I do,” Ford said as he pulled up a chair. “It’s a common problem with Galra cybernetics.” He narrowed his eyes at Shiro and he pointed at his arm. “Betting they didn’t give ya much maintenance instruction when they attached that thing to ya, did they, Sonny?”

Shiro gave a bitter smile. “No, I literally just woke up to find it on me before they tossed me back into my cell.”

Ford gave a dark growl. “Yup, typical,” he grumbled. “Same with me. Gave me a new arm, and told me to be on my way. Had to figure out the proper maintenance all on my own.”

“And what exactly does that entail?” Hunk asked, intrigued. He was trying not to sound eager, but if Ford could teach Hunk all he knew about Galra tech it could solve a lot of potential problems in the future.

“Let’s fix that arm first,” Ford said as he reached into his bag and brought out a tool. “I’m going to show you what’s wrong with it.”

Hunk froze and cast a sideway glance at Shiro. The rebels were on their side, and therefore were not threat, but Hunk could sense Shiro was uneasy at the idea of letting another Galran at his arm.

Judging by the look Pidge had, she had the same thought. Ford then moved his arm, and Hunk opened his mouth to stop him, but surprised Hunk by pointing to his own arm.

“Mind unscrewing this part to remove the cover?” Ford asked as he looked to Hunk. “Easier for me to get someone else to do it.”

“Oh, uh, sure thing,” Hunk said as he took the tool and began to unscrew. He loosened the cover and carefully set it aside before peering inside the arm. His eyes were glued to the circuits and wire, while he felt both Pidge, and Shiro glancing over his shoulder.

Ford’s arm look a lot more simplified than what they had seen inside Shiro’s arm. Yet, glancing through it, Hunk’s brain was already connecting the basic design for it.

“I’m noticing some pieces here that we haven’t seen in Shiro’s,” Pidge said as she pointed.

“My arm is old tech,” Ford explained with a half amused smile. “It’s not nearly as fancy or advance as his, but the basic design is the same.”

Shiro’s forehead puckered as he looked it over. “So, what exactly is the problem with mine?”

“Something that’s going to make you wince on how easy it is to fix and prevent,” Ford commented with a shake of his head.

Hunk cocked his head to the side. “How so?”

Ford pointed with his other hand inside his arm towards a dark disc that sat in the middle of his arm. “See that? Touch it, don’t worry you won’t damage it.”

Hunk held a weary frown, but did as he was told and brushed his fingers against it which caused it to instantly spin.

“It looks real loose,” Pidge commented.

“Right,” Ford said and gestured to Shiro with his head. “Now, you’ll see one similar in Shiro’s.”

Hunk turned his seat and waited for Shiro to give him an approving nod before he ventured back inside. He spotted the said disc in seconds. It was a bit bigger, but it held the same design.

“Okay, so what do I do?” Hunk asked.

“Try touching it,” Ford stated as he pointed with his free hand, “and compare it to mine.”

Hunk arched an eyebrow, and made certain to put his goggles back over his eyes before reaching inside. He touched it, but to his shock nothing happened. Next the tapped it and then firmly pressed it between his fingers, but it refused to move.

“It’s as solid as a rock,” Hunk said as he looked back to Ford.

“Thought so,” Ford said as he tilted his head to Shiro’s direction. “You need to oil that thing regularly or the parts get jammed up on ya.”

Shiro’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “I don’t remember them ever telling me that.”

“Besides, we have plenty of oil here,” Pidge said as she held up one of the cans Coran used on their equipment regularly.

“No, no, no,” Ford explained as Hunk put the cover back on his arm. “The cybernetic arms built by the empire required special lubricant. It’s their ever so subtle way of forcing you to keep coming back to the army.”

“Ooh, great,” Hunk grumbled as he crossed his arms. “So, where do we get that?”

Ford shrugged. “Normally, you hackle some dealers, but you are lucky enough to know me who can make it from scratch.”

“You can?” Pidge said in amazement.

“Wasn’t by choice I assure you,” Ford said as he leaned back in his chair. “When I left the army it was a matter of survival if you catch my drift.”

“Do you have any with you?” Shiro asked with his eyes full of hope.

Ford nodded and glanced to Pidge. “Look in my bag, Sweetheart, and you’ll see a spray can in there,” he instructed.

Pidge poked her head into the bag, brought out the spray can and quickly looked it over before handing it to Hunk.

“Sssoo,” Hunk said as he pointed at it, “I just spray Shiro’s arm with it?”

“Yeah, you don’t need much, but it should loosen up the joints there,” Ford said as he rotated his cybernetic arm. “Give it a go.”

“Well, okay,” Hunk said as Shiro nodded and held up the nozzle of the can. “Here goes.”

A hiss of air was heard as a blue liquid was released and soaked the inners of Shiro’s arm. Hunk stopped after it seemed lightly coated and stepped back. “Anything else?” he asked.

“Give it a tic for it to soak in,” Ford said, “but it should be ready by the time you got the cover back on him.”

Shiro didn’t seem to hear Ford as he became engrossed into flexing his fingers. “It seems to be working already,” he said in amazement. “My fingers already feel less tight.”

Oh, that’s a good sign, Hunk thought as he and Pidge hastily went to close up Shiro’s arm. Once he was done, Hunk held his breath as Shiro moved his arm up, and then down and then up.

SIlence was never such a more beautiful sound to Hunk.

“I know the sound stop,” Ford asked, “but how does the arm feel?”

Shiro rotated his shoulder. “Almost like a brand new arm,” he said. “Doesn’t feel stiff at all.”

Pidge sighed as she picked up the can to look it over. “I can’t believe all it needed was some lubricant.”

“It’s always the simplest solutions that solve the worst problems,” Ford commented as he shut his bag. “You can keep that can. I make it a priority to always keep a few on hand.”

Shiro let his arm drop to his side as he lifted his gaze to Ford. “Um...thank you,” he said. “This is such a huge relief.”

Ford waved a hand at him. “There’s nothing to be thanked for,” he said. “This is knowledge those druid nuts should have told you in the first place, but..that’s a rant for another day.”

Hunk slumped back in his chair as relief washed over him. “Man, that’s a load off my mind,” he muttered. “I was not thrilled with the idea of trying to take Shiro’s arm apart.”

“No kidding,” Shiro said softly as he flexed his wrist and stood. He looked to Ford as he rubbed his neck. “Thanks again.”

Ford gave a nod. “Later, if you like, I can teach what else you need to do to keep that arm going.”

Shiro’s step faltered slight, but he gave a small smile. “Yeah...that would be good,” he said as he headed to the door. “I need to go check with the princess. I’ll see you all later.”

Hunk gave a small wave as Shiro left and Ford grasped his chin thoughtfully. “Still a bit uneasy around Galra, huh?”

Hunk cleared his throat as the leaned on the table. “Not entirely, Shiro knows you rebels are the good guys, but...well…”

“Shiro has a lot of bad memories he’s working through,” Pidge replied sincerely. “So, he’s doing his best-”

Ford placed a hand on Pidge’s shoulder. “You don’t have to explain to me. I’ve been in this war a long time, and I’ve met plenty of people who don’t like Galra.” He gave a deep sigh. “Truthfully, Shiro is the most..shall we say ‘polite’ about it, and I can tell the boy is earnestly trying.”

Hunk frowned as he removed his goggles. “Can I ask on how exactly you lost your arm?”

Ford flexed his fingers of his cybernetic arms and made a fist. “Don’t mind, but not much to tell. Lost my arm while serving in the army and obtaining this new arm was my ‘reward’ for my loyalty. Wasn’t much longer after that I realize on what kind of monster I was giving my loyalty to.”

Hunk drummed his fingers against his knee. He couldn’t help but stare at the old Galran in a bit of admiration. It was one thing for him and the other paladins to decide to fight against Zarkon, but Ford once worked for the empire. It had to have taken a lot of courage to turn your back against everything you knew.

I wonder if I would be able to make that choice if I had to, Hunk thought.

During his musings, Pidge poked Ford’s tool bag with her eyes full of glee. “Sssoo, what other tools you got in that magic bag?” she asked. “And on that note, you mind telling us EXACTLY how Shiro’s arm works?”

“Yeah,” Hunk said with a nod. “Having an actual expert on how Galra tech works would be a huge asset.”

Ford gave a smirk. “I’m hardly an expert, but I’ll tell ya kids all I know. We’ll be in this war together for awhile yet.”

Hunk gave a smile as he reached for his notebook to write it down. If this alliance went through as plan, Hunk knew it was going to be good for both sides.

Okay it's late and I need to get to bed because I'm doing like a million things tomorrow but today was pretty good. Dragged my ass out of bed when the alarm went off and went to work, where I was greeted by my supervisor raving about the start of the motion I had worked on on Tuesday. He was like, "you're only in your second year?? You're such a good writer!!" and I was like 😭😭😭 actually haha cuz I mean like, objectively I've been told I'm a good writer in an academic context to not be surprised by him saying so, I know I'm a good writer, but like, it's just that I worked so damn hard to get here, because learning legal writing sucks, and I worked harder at LARC last year than I have at any academic project before in my life because I will figure this out, dammit, so to have someone whose been at this job for like 30 years now (he was the supervisor when last semester's supervisor was interning) to be like gushing about my writing was like really heartening. It was just really good to hear and made my morning that much better. So on that note I went to my office and wrote the rest of the motion. Really half the work was done for me because I had the memo another attorney wrote about the on point cases, and they probably found points I wouldn't have thought to search for, like in the notes of the 1996 amendments to federal rule of civil procedure 43 (not making that up, it was a real thing). So that of course was majorly helpful. But like, it jus felt easy for me at this point to pull out the points and IRAC the crap out of it (IRAC is the basic argument structure of legal writing, I won't bore you by breaking it down because trust me, you'd be bored). I finished with it by lunch and sent it off to my supervisor while I ate (and read fan fic). I walked across the office a few times checking if my friend from last semester had returned, the lady whose office was across from mine, because when I started back up last month she was on a Costa Rica trip for like 3 weeks but she was supposed to get back on the 31st but she wasn't there, the light was on and the sign saying she would be back on the 31st was gone so I'm assuming she's been in there at some point, but didn't really see anything indicating she was there today, so I'll have to keep checking. It's literally the other side of the building, with the longest hallway known to man haha. While I was walking back from doing that my supervisor was going down to court, and since I was more or less out of work to do I joined him. I still have to order that birth certificate, but I haven't seen the paralegal I'm supposed to ask to show me how to do it since I was asked to do so on Tuesday, so I can't really do much there. Court was interesting, when I first walked in there was a TPR going on, no bio parents present and the PD for them long defaulted, but the state still had to prove its case of course so they were up there talking to the DCP to establish that the moms been MIA since the case came into the system basically. The kid was just an infant, 1 year old, and when they went into best interest they called the foster parent of course, who was the maternal aunt, sister to the mom. Apparently she's had the baby since she was 3 weeks old, and when the ASA asked if she loved "the minor" (because they always ask that) she was just like "yes...so very much" and my heart just basically melted on the spot. Seeing foster parents testify about how much they love the children that have been placed with them and are getting up there to say they want to adopt this child always warms my heart, it's good to see that there are at least some happy endings, even if the kid might have problems down the line. This kind of situation is ideal really, where the kid doesn't have any trauma from getting ripped away from the parent and shifting environments, and as long as she wasn't drug exposed at birth (which is a very real possibility when babies come in that young, but there are other possibilities as well) the baby should be able to go on and live a happy, healthy, normal life, and that's just so heartening to see. So that made me smile of course. Then there was an adjudication proceeding by stipulation, and I think it was the one I was asked to do some research on for dependency cases, where the mom had refused to pick the kid up after a psychiatric hospitalization, which of course makes me immediately suspicious of the parent, but as the case played out it was apparent the mother really made every attempt to get this kid the help he needed, and only left him there after he had chased his 6 and 8 year old sisters with a knife on multiple occasions and repeatedly said he was going to kill them because he wanted to be an only child. Yeah......there's probably some merit in that situation. So they got a dependency finding rather than neglect, but everyone was fine with that because the facts spoke for themselves. The last was an uncontested TC, odd case of a woman bringing her 5 year old son to the police department saying she was homeless, schizophrenic and bipolar, had been off her meds since September, had been kicked out of every shelter for refusal to follow the rules, and couldn't care for the kid anymore. Oookay. Well the no questions asked kid drop of thing ends around 30 days old, so this gets pulled into the system. The odd thing is that she was supposed to be going straight to a psychiatric hospitalization but was instead basically MIA from that point on and the DCP couldn't quite reach her, so they went by stip and it was an easy TC. During it, my supervisor was going over the rest of my motion at the computer, and I was showing him how to email it to himself so he can pull up his edits on his computer upstairs (lol). He continued to be impressed with made me smile. In other need somewhat related to my legal writing skills, apparently the school finally folded in the situation with my sister's best friend, this is after the last conversation was "our title IX 'expert' (who was not a title IX expert but a religious freedom lawyer like I called from the second they said they had one) says we're fine" and they were going to proceed with the expulsion, and my dad basically called bullshit on them and wanted to see the memo written up by the lawyer, and either there was some other change of circumstances or they realized they were screwed because there's literally no legal authority they could cite to support their position (I know, I checked) and I had just pulled up a case that literally destroyed any religious freedom argument they could've made lol. So they folded and are letting her stay in the school and go on the spring break missions trip with the missions team which I knew was a big deal to her so I'm happy about that. And I may have gotten a little more than a little satisfaction from knowing the school and their religious freedom lawyer just got their asses handed to them by a second year law student (even with them thinking it was a 40 years of experience lawyer, but was actually his daughter writing the argument) and finally felt like justice against all the bullshit I've seen them pull over the years and was FINALLY able to put a stop to. Like, you don't even know how satisfying that is for me after 13 fucking years of them doing awful things to their students and being completely powerless to stop it. So that was good. Anyway. After that the day was over, and I had to go on my little planned excursion back to my kickboxing gym for the first time since breaking my wrist there in July. So I took my normal bus just up the street a bit to the blue line stop, then took it one stop east to the stop for my church and the gym. It was funny, because I didn't really know if anyone would remember who I was because I'd only really been going there for a short time when I broke my wrist, but oh boy, did they know haha. As soon as I walked in like two trainers were like "Rachel!!" and wanted to hear about all of how I was doing, then of course I started talking to the owner who also wanted to know these things, and they all made sure to say they were glad I was back, so that was nice. So I got it set up to have a 10-class card that's good for 10 classes over 6 months, with me planning to do one a week (with obvious interruptions when necessary, but shouldn't be an issue) so I was satisfied by that. I figured I'd start next week when small group starts, and I'd stop by on my way to church Sunday to get a locker and drop my boxing gear there because somehow I get the feeling the sheriffs would not like me trying to get some boxing gloves through security at the courthouse 😂😂 as if they need a reason to dislike me any more. So now that that was set, I headed back to the blue line and took it further east then back west, intercepting the bus again further up its route (because the bus goes north to south and the blue line is a giant sideways V) because that was quicker than going back west and catching the bus there, even though it feels a little counterproductive to go further east to ultimately go west. But ah well. I got home around 6:20, not bad, and made dinner and such for a little while before turning on the tv, which ended up being a rather productive tv night that I hadn't planned, lol. I knew Powerless was premiering at 7:30 and I wanted to watch that, and that Riverdale would be on at 8. I apparently forgot that half hour tv shows were a thing and just thought it was weird they would start at 7:30, and got like halfway through before realizing it would end at 8, lol. It was really cute though, made me laugh out loud of several occasions, so I think that's a winner for now. Riverdale was good, I'm still kind of feeling out their world since I have no familIarity with it, but I continue to love Veronica and otherwise be very curious as to why they set it in the present day when it's ridiculously obvious they want to live in the 50's. The part about Jason's murder and Cheryl's involvement (look at me actually learning character names!) has me very intrigued, and I spent like half of it yelling at Archie to stop being a dumbass and go to the police what he knows, which may or may not be relevant anymore. So we'll see where that goes, but it gets a thumbs up for now. At some point during that I realized Training Day, another show I had wanted to watch was premiering at 9, so that worked out perfectly. Now, full disclosure: the sole reason I was interested in this show at all was because Katrina Law was in it and I like her and would like to see more stuff that's she's in. I knew it was based off a movie, but I've never seen it so I was going in blind, and it was kind of.....meh. It pretty much struggled to keep my attention for the episode, trying to thread together too many plot points and shove in too many characters to keep track of. Katrina's character was cool of course (although it's still so weird to hear her talk with a normal American accent) but she was in way too little of it for my liking. I might at least watch next week's, give it another chance to see if it improves, but I'm not really holding my breath. Now, it's like I have this whole little routine for Thursday nights....too bad this is the last Thursday I'll be at home to do any of it, because starting next week I'll be at kickboxing and then small group, lol, so any show I decide to stick with will be relegated to dvr like pretty much all my other shows currently lol. And yeah, that was basically it and damn it's even later now. Tomorrow is the PILA auction after a full day of running around doing like 3 different things, and of course I'm supposed to be volunteering for it, so that should be interesting at least. Sigh. No rest. Anyway. Goodnight my lovelies. Happy Friday.