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zepskies · 2 months

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Take Me Home - Part 3

Pairing: Beau Arlen x F. Reader

Summary: You are another lost soul at Sunny Day Excursions. You’re aiming to settle in Helena, Montana, where Beau Arlen is the new sheriff in town. But you’ve both got a past you’re running from.

AN: I’m being continuously blown away by your lovely responses on this story. Thank you so much! I truly appreciate all the love for our cowboy sheriff and where TMH is going.

Word Count: 6.6K

Tags/Warnings: Angst, hurt/comfort, a heart-to-heart, flirtations, and invitations taken…

❤️ Series Masterlist

Part 3: Welcome Home

In the next twenty-four hours after Mary was found, the police’s investigation led them to a man named Walter. He’d been living in the woods, and was suspected of stalking the camp for days.

He was arrested as a prime suspect in Mary’s murder at Sunny Day Excursions, along with Paige’s; even though they’d yet to find her body, the police did confirm that she'd never made it home to New York.

They also found Luke later that night. His body was pierced to a tree by an archer’s arrow.

The campers were sent home shortly after Walter was arrested.

And three days later, your aunt Denise gingerly took a seat on the edge of the couch you’d been lying in all day (and all week so far). She swept her fingers over your greasy hair in both comfort and affection.

Denise Brisbane was your mom’s sister. She was a private investigator here in Helena. And as you found out, she actually worked with Cassie Dewell, the woman you’d met at the camp, who was still in search of a missing backpacker.

“You’ve barely moved in days, honey,” Denise said.

Her face was sympathetic and sad, watching you. Though you felt the sting of guilt, feeling like a burden that had just been unloaded on your aunt, you didn’t want to leave your warm blankets. Your body felt heavy and useless.

“Good news though. The rest of your stuff ships in tomorrow,” she said, continuing to pet your hair. “I’ll help you move into your new apartment. How does that sound?”

You gave a weak nod. “Thanks.”

She sighed. “I’m not trying to kick you out, hun. I just think it’ll be good for you to start getting on your feet.”

You agreed, wordlessly. In your head, you knew she was right. You couldn’t sleep on her couch forever, and perhaps more importantly, you couldn’t let this beat you down forever.

“You sure you don’t want to talk about it?” Denise asked, squeezing your shoulder. “Your mom wanted to get the first flight out here, but I told her I’d take care of you until you go home for the funeral.”

You were grateful for that. As much as you loved your mother, you didn’t want to be smothered right now. Your mom’s version of comfort could only include a heavy dose of smothering. The one thing you had been able to do was call Mary’s parents.

That had been a long and painful conversation. After which, you slept like the dead for two days straight.

Denise broke you out of your wandering thoughts when she handed you a business card. It had a banyan tree emblazoned on it, along with the name of a grief counseling center.

“Cassie’s actually been going here, and she’s liked it so far,” she said.

At your furrowed look of confusion, she added, “Look, it’s okay if you don’t want to talk to me, but I think it would be good for you to talk to someone. Maybe someone who understands what you’re going through.”

You sighed and flipped the card through your fingers. You really, really didn’t want to go. You could already what your father would say if he knew you went to a grief counselor. His form of “therapy” was the growing collection of bourbon behind his desk.

But if it meant you’d stop being a lump in your aunt’s living room, then maybe you could give it a shot.

“Okay,” you nodded. Your voice was a bit coarse with disuse. Denise gave you a smile, and a warm hug that felt like home. She even offered to make your appointment for you.

You were a little annoyed though. Now you’d have to actually get up and put on a bra.

“Maybe shower first, huh?” she advised, while she helped you get up.

“Yeah, yeah,” you replied.

A hot shower, washing and styling your hair, putting real clothes on, and overall making yourself presentable actually made you feel human again. You even surprised yourself by putting on a bit of makeup.

Once you made it to the grief counseling center in your car, however, you sat in the parking lot for a minute. You had to take a moment to breathe. Because you knew you were going to be asked what happened. You were going to have to get into it all over again.

Even after you were able to leave your car and brave through the carpeted halls of the building, your hands were shaking. At the reception desk, an older woman directed you down another long hallway to the group session. It was the only one available on short notice, but she promised that if you found the session helpful, she could help you book another group session, or even a solo session.

You weren’t sure if you were ready for “solo,” but a group appealed to you. Maybe you could just sit in the back and let the others talk.

The counselor, Tom, greeted you when you walked into the right room. It was a small room with a bunch of chairs formed in a circle at the center. No room to hide, you thought with growing unease. You glanced over and saw that there were a few people already milling about, making small talk in a cluster near the circle.

��We’re gonna start here in a few minutes, but until then, you can take a seat,” said Tom. “There’s also coffee and cookies over there, if you like.”

Coffee. Coffee was warm, and it might settle your nerves and help you perk up a bit. You thanked him and went for the carafes on a small table in the back. You poured some coffee into a Styrofoam cup and poured a little sugar and creamer into it, but after you took an experimental sip, you immediately regretted it.

Tastes like damn soil water! You made a grossed out sound and spat it back into your cup.

“Yeah, wouldn’t recommend the joe,” drawled a familiar voice.

You turned sharply to find Sheriff Beau Arlen. He gave you a sympathetic look as he reached for a cup of water. Seeing him took you by such surprise, you gasped with a slight flinch, accidentally spilling some scalding coffee on yourself in the process.

You held the cup away from you fast, but a few drops still flecked on your jeans, and even his boots.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” you gasped again. Beau just smiled good-naturedly and grabbed a few napkins off the table.

“It’s all right,” he said. “I’m the one who snuck up on you. Accidentally, I might add.”

He handed you the napkins so you could soak up the coffee from your hand and arm. Meanwhile, he took your half-empty coffee cup and tossed it in the garbage. Your damp wad of napkins joined the cup.

And when you finally looked up at him again, you both found yourselves smiling, despite where you were. It was the first time you’d been able to smile in days.

“Sheriff Arlen,” you greeted. “I did not expect to see you here…”

His smile faltered at that, but his hand reached back to sort through his short hair at the back of his head.

“Ah, call me Beau,” he said. “I have a feeling we’re about to get to know each other better.”

You agreed to that, just as you agreed to join him for a seat within the circle of chairs. He leaned back in his chair and swept a hand through his hair again, perhaps in a nervous gesture. You glanced over at him, saw the way he smoothed a hand down his jeans when his knee started bouncing…

Could he be as anxious as you? You had to wonder why he was here, for grief counseling of all things. The thought sobered you as more people filtered in and took their seats. Tom eventually got things started from his spot across from you in the circle.

“Okay, we’ve got a couple of first timers to this group session, so tell you what,” he said. “Let’s go around, introduce ourselves, and share something interesting. Whether it’s what you do for a living, a new hobby you picked up, or keeping it even more simple, something fun you did this week.”

You looked down at the folded hands in your lap. If binge watching entire seasons of Succession and sleeping until noon every day counted as something fun, then you were all set.

The introductions started to his left, so it took a while before it got around to you. There was that little flutter of nerves in your stomach, like you were a kid again, and it was the first day of school (but worse).

Luckily, Beau was before you. You were curious about what he would share as he let out a subtle clearing of his throat.

“Hi there, I’m Beau Arlen. Some of you know me as the new sheriff over at Helena PD.” He greeted everyone with a short wave, though he tossed you a smiling glance. “You might also be able to tell that I’m from Texas. Born and bred in Houston. I moved up here to stay close to my daughter, who’s living here with her mother…my ex-wife.”

He tacked on that last bit after a slight pause. But he recovered quicker than you could process and gestured to you next. You forced yourself to perk up, putting your “teacher’s hat” on as you tried to meet everyone’s eyes. First, you gave them your name.

“I’m also from out of town, from Chicago,” you said, glancing at Beau. His expression was encouraging. It gave you the small boost you didn’t know you needed. “I’m a college professor, formerly of the University of Chicago…but I start at Caroll College in the fall.”

Beau’s brows rose as his lips twitched upwards. You tried not to blush as you passed on the introductions to the next person.

The session itself was light overall. Tom talked about the stress that often came with the unknown—with moving past a challenging time, or tackling a new project, or even moving to a new and unfamiliar city. He didn’t force everyone to chime in about themselves, but the ones who were ready to share took the floor one by one. And by the end, you thought that you’d gleaned some useful tidbits just by listening.

Hell, maybe you’d even come back here.

When the session was over though, you were kind of relieved. You grabbed your purse and got up to leave.

“Well, that was relatively painless,” Beau said, also getting up from his seat.

“Yeah, wasn’t so bad,” you replied. Your name fell from his lips in the form of a question, earning your expectant gaze.

“Listen, uh, can I buy you a real cup of coffee?” he offered. “We might not have met under the best of circumstances, but I just heard recently that you’re Denise’s niece. Well, I’m friends with the gals over at Dewell & Hoyt, your aunt included, so I just thought it’d be good to get to know each other, being that we’re both kinda new in town, and—”

You set a light hand on his arm. That one touch was able to stop his rambling, along with the sight of your amused smile up at him.

“Coffee sounds great,” you said.

You decided there was no real harm in meeting him at the nearest coffee shop, just a few minutes away.

It was hard not to associate the sheriff with that terrible night at the camp, but you knew that wasn’t fair to him. He seemed like a nice guy, and by the way he talked about his daughter, maybe even a good man.

In your experience, a good man was hard to find.

“So, what do you teach exactly?” Beau asked. He’d just finished telling you about Emily starting a summer internship with Cassie and Denise at the private investigation agency. Like father like daughter, you’d remarked. Beau’s soft, but proud smile had been telling.

“English literature,” you replied to his question, sipping at your cappuccino. He was drinking a hot French vanilla latte, which kind of amused you. You had expected him to order an Americano or something.

“Oh, yeah? What sort of classes?” he said.

“The greatest hits, basically,” you explained. “Composition, English grammar, Shakespeare…Twentieth Century British Literature.”

“Oh, is that all?” he chuckled. It charmed a smile out of you.

“I don’t know why I asked. I didn’t even go to college,” Beau said. It finally succeeded in making you laugh.

“Straight to the police academy, then?” you asked.

“Like a cannonball, heels a blazin’,” he said, miming a gunshot with his hand.

“Like a rhinestone cowboy,” you teased. And you felt brave enough to hum the riff of the Glen Campbell song.

Beau shook his head with a grin. He’d seen you, all tightened up and anxious throughout the group session, even though it had been pretty lightweight. He could relate to your discomfort. He’d made a conscious effort to talk very little about himself and gave the others the room to tell their stories.

Beau liked seeing you more relaxed though. He liked your smile, the glimpses of your sense of humor shining through. He liked that he was somehow able to bring that out of you for a while.

“I still can’t believe you're Denise’s niece,” he said, once again shaking his head. “What a small world.”

“Yeah. I’ve been crashing on her couch for the past week,” you admitted. “But I have the rest of summer to settle into my new apartment, starting tomorrow. I’ve got my whole life shipping in on a truck.”

Beau nodded at that. He contemplated whether it’d be appropriate for him to offer you some help with that. The question was on the tip of his tongue, until he saw the way your mood saddened. You sat contemplating your coffee mug.

“I asked her to come,” you confessed. When your eyes met his, they shone with the beginning of unshed tears. “The camping trip was Mary’s idea, but I asked her to come with me to Helena for the week. She wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for me.”

Beau let out a deep breath and met you with a more somber, understanding gaze.

“It wasn’t your fault,” he said. He was reminded that they had Walter in custody. He wasn’t yet willing to break and confess to the murders at Sunny Day Excursions, but they had him.

“I promise, we’ll get justice for Mary,” Beau added. You sighed and wiped a tear from your cheek.

“Do you think you have the right man?” you asked, speaking of Walter.

“I do,” Beau replied. “He’s being stubborn, but all the evidence points to him.”

You nodded gratefully, but you had to try and breathe through your tumultuous emotions, the way your heart was cracking with pain. You didn’t want to break down in the middle of a damn coffee shop.

Again, Beau wrestled with the inclination to cover his hand over yours. He felt like he was toeing the line between his professional capacity as a sheriff, and the fact that you were his friend’s niece. He wanted to comfort you the best he could. But sometimes, words just weren’t enough.

You took a half-hearted sip of your coffee. By now, it was lukewarm, if still tasty and sweet. It was healthier than whiskey, you supposed.

“She was like…like my sister, you know?” you said. “I feel like I failed her.”

Beau shook his head, his dark brows furrowing. He didn’t know how many times he could say it wasn’t your fault, knowing you probably wouldn’t ever believe it.

That struck a familiar bell.

“Look, I uh…I understand what you’re going through,” he admitted. Your watery gaze found his again. Your head tilted in interest.

He sighed before answering your unspoken question. “I lost my partner on the job, now a couple years back.”

“I’m sorry,” you replied, and your sympathy was as genuine as his had been for you. “I’m guessing you two were close.”

Beau’s lips quirked at one corner. “He was like my brother. Matter of fact, I think it used to make my own brother jealous.”

You processed that with a sad frown, though your brows soon rose in curiosity.

“You have a brother?”

“Yep,” Beau nodded. The brief shadows in his eyes lifted at the merciful change of topic. “Good ole’ David. I still call him Davey, even though he hates it.”

A smile played on your lips. “Older or younger?”

“Younger, by a few years,” he replied. There was a more natural gleam to his smile then. “He’s a hotshot doctor back in Houston.”

He teased, but you could see there was pride behind his eyes. It reminded you of the way he got whenever he talked about Emily.

“So you know my story. What brought you to Montana?” he asked. He wanted to see if he could help you get your mind off Mary. He didn’t know that he’d just pulled the pin on a whole other grenade.

You let out a wry chuckle.

“Uh, oh,” Beau said warily.

You nodded. He did tell you his story—ex-wife with a new husband, daughter, a new job in Montana—though you still didn’t know why he was going to grief counseling. If it was because of his partner, you could understand that…but you also didn’t want to pry.

You also knew it was only fair to answer his question.

“It’s not exactly like your situation but…I was engaged,” you said at last.

Past tense, he noted.

��Good guy?” he asked.

“A firefighter,” you replied. Though you knew well the rivalry that sometimes existed between cops and firefighters. Beau’s growing bemusement told you he was thinking along the same lines.

“Ah, a smoke eater, huh?” But his smile faded. “Did something happen to him on the job?”

“No,” you said, again with that weary chuckle. It was hard for you to get this out, but you’d been wrestling with it for over six months, damn near a year. It was enough.

“Just a couple months before the wedding, I found out he’d been cheating on me with his college girlfriend…pretty much throughout our whole relationship,” you said.

Though you promised yourself that you’d never cry over this again, today had already been incredibly difficult. The tears came, and you couldn’t stop them.

Beau's brows had risen high in surprise. Then, a deeper sympathy settled in his eyes.

“Jesus. How long?” he asked.

“We were together three years, engaged for about another one,” you said. “Almost four years of my life, just…”

You mimed a puff of smoke blowing out of your hand.

“Yeah. I know the feeling,” Beau said. His tone was wry as he dragged a hand over his beard. You gave him an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry. I know my story doesn’t compare with a marriage,” you said.

“That’s not what I was gettin’ at,” he replied. “But I get it. You start to think, what the hell was it all for? …Except for my daughter.”

“Yeah. Unfortunately, I don’t have an Emily,” you said. At the same time though, you were very glad you never had kids with that man.

Beau frowned when he saw the way your face fell further, becoming distant, and lost in old memories.

“Afterwards, I…I checked out, you know? I could barely focus on my students, my family, my friends.” Your nails drummed on the countertop. You shook your head as it all filtered through your mind again. “But the last straw was that my dad tried to get me to work things out with him, and I just…I lost it. Beau, I absolutely lost my shit.”

Beau grimaced. “What made your dad think that would work?”

“He’s a retired firehouse chief,” you said, with a purse of your lips. “He’s always had a soft spot for Michael.”

“Michael, huh?” Beau quirked a brow. “That come with a last name?”

You shot him a look of amusement.

“What, are you going to run his LUDS?” you joked, but you couldn’t prevent a sniffle as a new wave of emotion threatened an upswell.

You felt pathetic. This man was the whole-ass sheriff of this town. He probably had more important things to do than listen to you complain about your imploded relationship. But you were also Denise’s niece. Maybe he just felt sorry for you.

He offered you a napkin. “Sorry it’s not a tissue.”

In his eyes though, you didn’t see pity. Just kindness.

“It’s okay. I can brave a scratchy napkin,” you said, laughing a little. “But after that, I knew one of two things was going to happen. Either I was going to break open my dad’s gun safe and shoot the bastard in the ass, or I had to get the hell out of Chicago. My mom and Aunt Denise suggested I come here for a visit, just to clear my head. That turned into scoping out jobs, and then apartments… Now I’m here.”

That fell between you for a moment as your companion processed it all. In hindsight, you probably shouldn’t have mentioned that whole bit about possibly shooting your ex, but he took it in stride.

“Well, for what it’s worth, I’m glad you are,” Beau said. “Here, that is.”

You couldn’t help but blush; at his words, the deep green of his eyes, and the sincerity of his smile.

“Likewise, Sheriff,” you said.

He smirked. “Also glad you didn’t go shootin’ people in the ass.”

You covered your face and laughed.

Beau walked you to your car like the gentleman he was, even though it was only late afternoon. You opened the driver’s side door, but you lingered there. You turned back to him, curling a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Thanks for the coffee, and for letting me ramble, and vent, and soak up a few dozen napkins,” you said. You laughed a little in embarrassment, but he waved it off.

“It wasn’t as bad as all that, but good luck movin’ into your apartment tomorrow,” he said. Then it was his turn to hesitate. “If you need some help with that, just let me know.”

You blinked, mouth parting in soft surprise.

“Oh, thank you but…I don’t want to trouble you,” you said.

“You wouldn’t be. That’s why I offered,” he replied, smiling down at you in a way that had you melting a little bit more. “I’ve got an early shift tomorrow, but after, I could probably pull in Cassie. Maybe even Jenny, if she’s up for it. She’s one of our deputies at the PD.”

Beau recognized your hesitance.

“It wouldn’t be any trouble, I promise,” he said, holding a hand over his heart. “We’ve gotta welcome you to the neighborhood, don’t we?”

You were still a little unsure, but you agreed to it with a thank you, along with a more shy, sweet smile.

Beau liked that smile too.

Later that day, Beau remembered it was his turn to host the ritual movie night Friday with Cassie and Jenny. His trailer was too small to have it inside, so they set up Cassie’s projector out in front, by the fire. According to his friends, he was going about the night with too much cheer.

“You’re entirely too smiley to have just come from an afternoon of therapy,” Jenny pointed out. She uncapped her second beer, then passed him the bucket. He waved her off; he was still nursing his first beer of the night. If he stuck to his plan, then it’d be his only beer of the night.

“Aw, it wasn’t so bad, actually,” he said. He explained that you had been there at the group session. The moment your name was mentioned, Cassie and Jenny both raised their brows.

“Really?” Cassie remarked.

“Yeah. Losing her friend really shook her up. Understandably,” Beau said. His gaze lowered when he played through his afternoon with you in his mind. Though your situations were different, both in your lost friends and lost relationships, he realized just how much he’d understood and connected with a near stranger.

That kind of thing didn’t happen to him often, if ever before.

“But, she’s actually moving into her new place tomorrow,” he added, breaking himself out of his own head. “Speakin’ of, would you two have the time to help her and Denise out? I already said I would come by after shift tomorrow.”

Cassie and Jenny shared a certain look—the kind these women donned when they were having a private conversation with just their eyes. This time, it seemed to be about him.

“What?” he asked, his hands spreading wide.

“Nothing,” Cassie said, smiling. “Sure, I can come.”

“Yeah,” Jenny agreed, “barring nothing too crazy happens on shift.”

Beau inclined his head. “Knock on wood there. Anyway, what’re we watching?”

“Crazy, Stupid Love,” Jenny grinned, holding up the DVD cover. “For Ryan Gosling, of course.”

Beau rolled his eyes.

A few months ago, he wouldn’t have expected that he’d make friends with exclusively women in this town, but he only complained about it in times like these.

Though as it turned out, he enjoyed the movie. There were as many hilarious scenes as there were poignant ones. By the end of the night though, he was beat.

Jenny helped with the cleanup, but she ended up taking off first. It left Beau to put away the fold-up chairs with Cassie.

“So, tell me,” she said, in a leading tone and with a teasing smile. “You crushing on Glamper Girl for real now?”

Beau shot her a wry look.

“She’s not a glamper anymore,” he pointed out. “And I’m not crushing like some teenager. I just want to help her out. She’s been through a lot…and she’s Denise’s family. It’s just the right thing to do.”

Cassie laughed. “That’s a lot of over-explaining you’re doing right there, but okay, Beau.”

He rolled his eyes, but he had to smile. “Okay, that’s it. I’m gonna have to insist you get off my property.”

“Off what, your tin can?” she retorted.

“Hey! She can hear you.”

Beau wiped the sweat from his brow strategically while he carried his end (the heavier end, he might add) of your couch. He and Jenny were trying to get it up the stairwell to your apartment on the second floor.

“Okay now, just pivot on this corner,” he instructed. “Pivot!”

Jenny nearly dropped her end out of sheer aggravation. Her blue eyes cut down to his.

“If you say pivot one more time, I’m gonna shoot you,” she snapped.

Beau whistled in amusement. “Threatening to shoot the sheriff. Now that’s at least a misdemeanor.”

Right as he could almost see the fumes coming out of his deputy’s ears, you hustled up the stairs to help them. You picked up the middle to make it easier.

“Okay, we can do this! I think we can just tip it on its side to get it around the corner,” you said.

To everyone’s relief, your suggestion worked. Denise held the door open while the three of you got the couch up to the second floor, then into your apartment. Once the couch was successfully in the living room, you went to the kitchen and grabbed a few bottles of water out of the fridge. You handed one each to Beau and Jenny.

“Thank you guys again so much for doing this,” you said, still catching your breath. You surveyed all the boxes and furniture you all had brought in, and you realized you were crazy to think you and Denise could’ve done all of this by yourselves.

“It’s our pleasure,” Beau nodded. He gestured to his sweating face and neck. “But do you have a towel or a rag or something? You’re about to be mopping me off the floor in a minute.”

“Yeah, of course. Hold on,” you said. You went back into the kitchen and retrieved a clean hand towel. Beau used it to dry his face, neck, and the top of his chest.

You tried not to stare at the flash of tan skin near the collar of his plain gray shirt, or the wet spots clinging to his back. The sleeves were tight around his arms and across his chest, leading you to believe that despite being in his mid-forties, he kept himself in shape.

Meanwhile, Jenny drank her water, and pretended not to notice you staring at her boss. Part of her was amused, but a good part of her felt an unfamiliar sting as well.

“Okay,” Beau clapped a hand on his jean-clad thigh after he drained his own water bottle. “What’s next?”

Your face warmed, because you knew what your aunt was about to say before she said it.

“Oh, I think it’s just your bed, right honey?” she asked you.

“All right, let’s do it. Frame, headboard, box spring, and mattress, I assume,” Beau said, rubbing his sweaty hands together. He stretched his arms in preparation.

Again, you had to admire the way his shirt pulled across his tall, broad frame. But you followed after him when he started heading out the door.

“Wait, you shouldn’t do it by yourself!” you called out, and quickly followed after him.

Denise shot Jenny and Cassie a highly amused look.

“That's what she saaaid,” Denise sing-songed. The other two women grimaced.

“Wow. That’s your niece!” Cassie exclaimed.

“And technically my boss, thanks,” Jenny added.

“What, they’re cute, aren’t they?” Denise said, gesturing at the way you and Beau left.

“This from the woman who’s been lusting after that man since the minute he got into town,” Cassie retorted.

“Well, I’m woman enough to bow out when I’ve been thwarted. By my own blood no less,” Denise replied, but her mischievous smile said it all as she breezed back into the kitchen to start unpacking the silverware for you.

She knew for a fact that you’d made dinner for later—and not just because she’d told you how much Beau liked lasagna.

Beau accepted your help, along with Cassie and Jenny’s in bringing up all the parts of your bed. He just insisted on utilizing his own power tools to put it together.

That was how you found yourself holding the headboard up straight while Beau made sure the frame was aligned. It wasn’t as easy as it looked; the wood panels had to slide into the notch in the headboard just so, before he could start drilling the bolts back in.

“Damn it,” he muttered, when one panel of the frame nearly slipped out of his hand.

“Can you actually use that power drill?” Cassie asked. “Because you’re pretty hopeless with cars.”

Beau rolled his eyes, despite his smile. “Save the belittling for later. Tryin’ to concentrate.”

After a few more minutes of sweating, mild cursing, and internal praying, you, Beau, and Cassie managed to get the bedframe put together with the headboard. Then the box spring, and finally the mattress. It marked the official end of moving in.

While Beau, Cassie, and Jenny took a much-deserved rest sitting on the couch with a round of beers, you went to the kitchen where your aunt had already preheated the oven for you. Now you just needed to pull out the two massive pans of lasagna you’d prepared the night before—as a thank you for everyone who came to help you.

Denise sidled up to you and touched your arm to get your attention.

“Good job inviting our dear Beau to lift furniture for us,” she whispered, waggling her brows. You shot her a look and shushed her.

“Do you always flirt with him like this?” you asked incredulously.

“Well, I might have to do it less blatantly if he’s gonna keep playing Mr. White Knight for you,” she teased.

“He is not. He’s just…nice,” you whispered back. “So are Cassie and Jenny.”

Denise gave you an amused look. “Mhmm.”

You rolled your eyes and focused on getting dinner ready.

Within the hour, the five of you were sat at your new modest dining table between the kitchen and the living room, eating lasagna and drinking iced tea. Jenny and Beau had beers alongside them, and conversation drifted from how you intended to set up the apartment, to Cassie’s still open missing backpacker case.

The parents were even more worried now, saying it was out of character for him not to check in with a phone call, despite the email he’d apparently sent them a few days ago. Beau had agreed to give Cassie whatever help she needed on the periphery, especially if further evidence revealed itself on the backpacker’s whereabouts.

Beau was already on his second helping of lasagna when he raised his gaze to you, right across from him at the table.

“Clearly you get your cooking skills from your aunt, because this is fantastic,” he said.

Denise twittered. You blushed a little as you smiled.

“Thank you. I’m glad you like it.”

There was a short lull, filled by the tapping of silverware on plates, before Denise spoke up.

“By the way,” she said, looking to you and Beau. “Did you two have a productive time at grief counseling? What did you talk about?”

It was a well-meaning, but perhaps intrusive question. Both you and Beau tensed up. Cassie gave Denise a warning look.

“Oh, I’m sorry. You guys don’t have to answer that,” Denise amended.

“Um, it’s okay,” you replied. “It wasn’t too bad…I think I might go again.”

Beau had a warmer smile for you. “That’s good.”

You were able to return his smile. You turned to Cassie next.

“You went there for a while, right?” you asked. Cassie nodded.

“It was helpful,” she said. “I’m glad you’re getting something out of it.”

You took that with a nod, and returned your gaze to Beau.

“Have you been going there long?” you asked him.

He tilted his head. “Actually, yesterday was my first time too.”

Your eyes widened. “Oh, really?”

Cassie was intrigued at the way this little scene was playing out. Thought she caught the look on Jenny’s face while she watched it too. Like Jenny was studying them, not sure what to make of it all.

Beau wore a self-deprecating smile.

“Yeah. Just…hadn’t gotten around to it,” he answered you.

There was a heaviness in his voice and in his eyes that you didn’t miss, but you didn’t want to make him uncomfortable in a room full of people, even if they were his friends.

“Well, I’ll go again if you do,” you offered, a bit bolder than you felt. Beau met your eyes across the table, and his lips lifted at the corners.

“All right,” he said. “You got yourself a deal, miss ma’am.”

You fought against a blush rising up your neck. You glanced down and took a sip of your iced tea.

“Look at you. Pulling out your ‘sheriff’ voice,” Cassie teased.

“Like a rhinestone cowboy…” you sang into your glass. Your smile peeked out around the corners of it.

Most of the table laughed. Jenny smiled, but opted for drinking her beer.

Meanwhile, Beau gave you a mock look of betrayal. His true amusement shone through his eyes.

“I see how this is. Gang up on the Texan time,” he remarked.

That gave Cassie an opening to ask you something, and hopefully get to know you better. Already she had an instinct about you: she liked you. And clearly Beau seemed to as well. Cassie tended to be more cautious about people, even if you were Denise’s family.

“So how are you liking the Midwest so far?” Cassie asked you.

“So far? It’s the fresh air I needed,” you replied.

“Oh, you should check out that art studio you wanted to see,” Denise chimed in.

“You’re an artist too?” Beau asked, raising a brow. You chuckled.

“No, just an amateur with a handful of brushes,” you replied.

You remembered the peace you’d gotten while painting in sight of the mountains. But when you got to Denise’s house, you’d hidden away those canvases, not wanting to be reminded of that week at Sunny Day Excursions. And of Mary.

“Oh, but have you gone horseback riding yet?” Denise asked. “I know you were gonna try on your camping trip—”

You loved your aunt. You really did, but she also had a knack for putting her foot in her mouth. The others quieted as you dimmed at the actual mention of that God-forsaken place.

“I tried,” you said. “I never actually managed to make it on the horse.”

“Aw, well if you ever want to go, there’s a stable in town. They give lessons too,” Denise said.

You nodded and forced a smile. You went back to picking at the remnants of lasagna and salad on your plate.

When everyone began to filter out of your new apartment, each with their own set of well-wishing and a container of leftovers to take home, Beau ended up being last to leave. You had followed him to the door, where you handed him his tupperware of leftovers, and he thanked you in appreciation.

“Now I just need a microwave,” he said. “My toaster oven’s been on the fritz.”

Your brows rose in amusement. “You have a toaster oven, but not a microwave?”

“Well, let’s just say my trailer doesn’t exactly have a whole lot of space for appliances,” Beau replied, chuckling.

You smiled at that. You hesitated, but you eventually touched his hand that held the tupperware.

“Thank you again for coming here, for helping me…and for yesterday,” you said.

Beau almost didn’t realize it, but his face was getting warm. As warm as your pretty smile.

“Well, you’re very welcome,” he said. “And just puttin’ it out there, I may or may not have been riding a horse before I could walk. First memory I have is my dad putting me on Old Bess when I was four. She nearly kicked me off…not that that would happen to you. I’m just saying—”

“I see.” Your giggle ended with a smirk. Beau tended to ramble. You weren’t sure if it was a nervous tick, or just a facet of his upbeat personality…but you found it endearing.

He leveled you with a grin. “Listen, what I mean to say is, if you’re serious about wanting to learn how to ride, I could teach you. It’s not that hard.”

You bit your lip, mentally beginning to weigh out the pros and cons. To be honest, you still had reservations, both on riding a horse, and on Beau being the one to teach you. Was he just being nice, your “friendly neighborhood sheriff,” or was your aunt onto something?

…You weren’t sure, but your instincts told you that at the very least, you could trust him with this. And trust had become hard for you to give any man.

“Okay, cowboy. Let’s ride,” you said. And you even surprised yourself with the flirtatious note in your voice.

Beau’s grin kicked up a notch. You then exchanged numbers so you could hash out the details of when and where to meet sometime soon. Hopefully soon.

Then you wished him a good night.

“G’night, darlin’,” he said. He lingered in the hallway for a parting grin. “And welcome home.”

Your answering smile warmed him, long after he left your door.

AN: *rubs hands together* We're really getting into it now. 😂 Finally we have the big reveal of why she left Chicago, and the start of her and Beau's bond. You'll see more of that, and of Emily, in the next chapter...

Next Time:

You gasped and gripped even tighter with your thighs. With almost everything you had.

You were still far too unsteady for comfort on this damn horse. The poor animal whinnied, tossing his head back with a huff. Unfortunately, that just made you tense up even more as you held onto his neck.

Beau tried not to laugh. You looked like a cat clinging to the edge of a bath.

“Okay, you needa relax a little,” he said. “He ain’t gonna buck you, long as you don’t give him a reason to.”

You shot him a narrowed look.

▶️ Keep Reading: PART 4

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#Welcome Home #Take Me Home #Part 3 #Beau Arlen series #big sky #beau arlen #beau arlen x reader #beau arlen x female reader #Emily Arlen #beau arlen x you #Jensen Ackles characters #big sky season 3 #Denise Brisbane #Jenny Hoyt #Cassie Dewell #zepskies writes

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starry-crossing-zone · 2 months

Text

Nail Polish - Hunter (TBB)

Summary: After Omega shows an interest in some nail polish, you steal some for her. Hunter pretends to be annoyed. Length: 1816 words Warnings: Female Reader; Former Bounty Hunter Reader; No Physical Description of Reader; No Y/N Used; Pickpocketing; Mentions of Dark Pasts (Reader)

Walking through the busy streets of a Mid Rim planet, you kept a close eye on Omega as you made your way back to the Marauder. The Bad Batch had split up to gather supplies and you and Omega had been sent to get a new water purification filter, which was securely strapped to your chest.

“Come on, Meg, this way,” you directed, resting a hand on Omega’s shoulder.

“Wait, what’s that?” Omega asked, pointing at a stand to the side.

You glanced over before slowly leading Omega over to the small stand. A group of merchants greeted you as you approached, and you quickly sized them up. Glancing down at what Omega was curiously examining, you bent down to Omega’s height.

“That’s nail polish.”

“What’s its purpose?” Omega questioned, turning to you.

“You paint your fingernails or your toenails with it. It’s pretty to look at,” you explained to her.

“Is it permanent?”

“No, just temporary. It’ll last longer if you add more layers of it,” you continued, glancing over the various colors at the stall.

“And can you only pick one color?”

“No. You can pick as many as you want. In the Inner Rim, there’re artists that spend their whole day painting people’s nails.”

“Really?” Omega gasped, causing you to nod.

“Where are you two from?” the vender asked, eyeing the two of you.

“Outer Rim. Just passing through,” you replied, shrugging your shoulders nonchalantly. You stared down at Omega, who was still curiously studying the vials of nail polish. You paused for a moment before nudging Omega in the side. “Come on, Meg. Let’s get going. The boys will worry if we’re late.”

“Alright,” Omega agreed, setting the vial of nail polish back.

Bidding the venders goodbye, Omega and you turned to head back to where the Marauder was docked. You waited until you were a few streets over before sliding two vials of nail polish out of the hidden compartment in your vambrace.

“I thought that you liked these colors the best,” you stated quietly.

Omega’s eyes widened in surprise when she spotted the two vials of nail polish in your hand. She quickly grabbed them, smiling giddily, before she quickly connected the dots. Turning back to you, Omega frowned.

“When did you pay for these?”

“That’s not for you to worry about, Meg,” you dismissed, pushing Omega forward to stay on schedule. Omega hissed your name, looking around nervously.

“We can’t do that," she insisted.

“Why not?”

“It’s illegal.”

“Well, I can think of quite a few other illegal things that we’ve done,” you replied evenly, leading Omega into the docking bay. “We’ll just add it to the list.”

“How did you do it?” Omega asked curiously.

“That’s far from the most impressive move that I can pull off,” you stated, shooting Omega a smirk. “Come on, Meg, give me more credit than that.”

“Can you show me?”

“I don’t think that Hunter would approve of that,” you mused. After a moment, you added, “We can start tomorrow.”

Omega grinned, but you shot her a look to keep a low profile. Omega stowed the nail polish into her pockets as the two of you walked towards the Marauder. Tech looked up from his datapad and perked up when he spotted the water filter.

“Ah, just what I was waiting for.”

“Sorry, got a little sidetracked,” you replied, tossing it over to Tech.

“What kind of sidetracked?” Hunter asked, stepping off of the ship. “Imperial trouble?”

“Just some window shopping,” you spoke evenly, folding your arms over your chest. “Don’t get your bandana all in a twist.”

“We now possess all of the items that we needed to acquire on this pitstop. We should depart shortly, if we want to return to Ord Mantell for a new mission,” Tech announced, causing the Bad Batch to make their way onto the Marauder.

You were about to take your seat in front of the computer when Omega gestured for you to follow her to the back of the ship. Smiling, you headed back, missing the way that Hunter turned in his seat to look back at you. He heard the clinking of glass earlier when Omega and you approached, but now he was certain that it was coming from the two of you.

“Can you show me?” Omega asked quietly, holding out the vials.

“Give me your hand,” you instructed, sitting across from Omega.

Opening the nail polish bottle, you gently grabbed Omega’s right hand and started to apply the dark gray nail polish. Omega watched, fascinated, as you worked to carefully paint her nails.

“Where did you learn how to do this?”

“I used to paint nails. When I was about your age,” you explained elusively.

“For who?”

“A lady.”

“Did she paint her nails like this too?” Omega asked, causing you to shake your head as you switched to Omega’s thumb.

“No, she preferred this weird green color. It looked horrible but apparently it complimented her eyes.”

“Can I paint yours next?” Omega questioned, causing you to look up.

“Course you can. Maybe if you ask nicely, you can paint the boys’ nails too,” you mused, dipping the brush back into the polish.

“They didn’t have nail polish on Kamino,” Omega continued, causing you to nod.

“I wouldn’t expect the Kaminoans to have much need for it. Do they even have fingernails?” you snorted, working on Omega’s left hand. “But a lot of species use this stuff. And there’s other types of polish or things that people put on their nails. But you have to be really rich to get those.”

“Like what?”

“Some people get gems and other valuables embedded into their nails,” you explained, causing Omega to frown.

“Why?”

“The same reason that why rich people do most things. Because they can,” you stated a bit blunter than you intended.

“Did you ever get your nails painted?” Omega asked, causing you to shake your head. “The lady whose nails you painted, she never painted yours?”

“No,” you replied, placing the brush back into the vial and screwing the bottle shut.

“Why not?”

“She wasn’t as nice as I am,” you responded, not meeting Omega’s confused gaze. “Now, keep your fingers apart and don’t touch anything. You have to let the paint dry first. It could take some time, but I didn’t put too thick of a layer on it.”

“And then what?” Omega asked, looking at her newly painted nails.

“Then we can put another layer on, or I can start with the red,” you explained kindly. “Your choice, Meg.”

“What did you do when you painted nails before?”

“I would put another layer of the gray first,” you stated, causing Omega to nod. “It could make the polish a little more durable.”

“What do we have here?” Hunter drawled, leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded across his chest. He noted the nail polish bottles on the floor and paint on Omega’s nails. And even if she hid them, he would have smelled it. “I didn’t realize that we had a salon back here.”

Hunter’s gaze drifted over to you, and you stared back at him with some measure of defiance, knowing that the edge in his tone was directed at you. But Omega got in between the two of you.

“Look at my nails, Hunter!” she called, causing Hunter to turn to her. He bent down to her height and reached out to grab one of her hands, but Omega quickly drew them towards her chest. “Careful! The polish is still drying!”

“I’ll be careful,” Hunter assured Omega before looking down at her nails. “Dark gray, huh?”

“To match your armor,” Omega explained, causing Hunter to nod. “We got red too. She said that she’s going to do designs on my nails once the layers dry.”

“Anything specific picked out?”

Omega turned to you with a questioning look, but you simply smiled and casually leaned back against your hands.

“It’s whatever you want, Meg. You get to pick,” you assured her.

After the top layers of the nail polish dried, you got to work on the red nail art that you promised Omega. You did a horizontal stripe to represent Hunter’s bandana, two adjacent dots to represent Tech’s goggles, an ‘H’ to represent Wreaker’s lula, and a ‘V’ to represent Echo’s kama. And then a '99' symbol too.

“They should be all set now,” you stated, causing Omega to smile and get to her feet.

You watched with an amused smile as Omega ran around and showed off her nails to every member of the Bad Batch. Wrecker seemed most excited for Omega, though the others offered her their praise in their own ways. And it wasn’t long before Omega was going around and painting all of their nails.

You walked over to where Hunter was sitting in front of the computer, watching as Echo offered Omega his hand. Wrecker was blowing on his nails, not wanting to disappoint Omega by ruining her hard work. You folded your arms over your chest, as Hunter had done earlier.

“You going to give me a lecture on pickpocketing again?” you asked him, not taking your eyes off of Omega.

“I’ll make an exception. This time,” Hunter replied, slowly turning to look at you. “I still don’t like it though.”

“Yes, I’m aware,” you stated, pushing off the computer table.

“Then why do you keep doing it?” Hunter asked, causing you to raise a playful eyebrow.

“Well, someone has to teach her how to have fun,” you responded, brushing past Hunter. He turned slowly in his chair, watching as you kneeled down beside Omega. You smiled at her work and offered some praise. “You’re getting the hang of it, Meg.”

“You think so? It’s still sloppy compared to yours,” Omega replied, glancing down at her own nails.

“With practice, comes perfection, as with everything else,” you assured her before standing up.

Walking past Hunter once again, you could feel his eyes on you, but kept walking. Hunter shook his head and turned around to find Wrecker staring at him with a grin. Nudging Hunter in the arm with his elbow, Wrecker let out a teasing laugh.

“Did you want her to do your nails, Hunter, huh?” he teased, causing Omega to pick her head up.

“She’s the best at it,” Omega vouched innocently.

“I’ll just wait for you, Omega,” Hunter replied awkwardly, sinking in his seat.

#the bad batch #tbb hunter #sergeant hunter #star wars tbb #bad batch #the bad batch x reader #hunter x reader #sergeant hunter x reader #tbb hunter x reader #the bad batch x you #tbb hunter x you #sergeant hunter x you

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matchadobo · 3 months

Note

Hey! If it’s okay, can I request Kidd going absolutely feral because his s/o got hurt?

KIDD; avenging you

wc: 771 warning/s: gn reader, violence, mentions of blood and scars, super short ><

"where are they? let me fucking see them." kidd tried shimmying through the crowd that stood before the doors of the ship's clinic. they were stopping him and he wasn't gonna stand idly and follow.

"captain, they're in a critical state. they shouldn't see any visitors yet." said the ship doctor, shivering under the frigid gaze of the pirate. "it'll be until tomorrow before we allow visitors, their wounds are still too fresh."

kidd gave everyone one last glare, before finally surrendering and turning his back. stomping away with one objective in mind.

"and where do you plan to go, kidd?" killer called out, following after the redhead.

"don't follow me." he firmly replied, not looking back. his tone was sharp and no one planned on disobeying him. "i'll beat his ass and leave no fucking trace of that marine."

so he descended his ship and off he goes to the port nearby, using his devil fruit to pin those who stand on his way. throwing heaps of metal that gathered above him, bolts of lightning sending the navy flying. he was seeing red, he wanted to see red.

remorseless as he is, kidd lived up to his name as one of the most ruthless and vicious pirate befitting the title as one of the worst generation. he bullied each that blocked his path with his power, ignoring the pleads and screams with no regard whether those are civilians or navy.

"where's the shithead who hurt one of us?" he growled, brusque as he fisted the collar of one of the marines. "start talkin' less crying, aye?!" he gruffly added, nostrils flaring.

killer and the others were behind him, cleaning up his mess and watching his back. they kept an eye out for the marines. instead of stopping him, they opted that supporting him would atleast get them somewhere. going against their captain only applies at certain circumstances and this isn't one of them. besides, they also wanted to get back at the pack of idiots who dare to hurt you.

once the marine had shivered enough to tell him where the bastard is, kidd wasted no time and propeled himself with piles of metals to the highest place in the building.

"found you." he grinned maniacally, listing down the things he plans to do with this dumbass vice captain. he had a devil fruit and he caught you off guard. once he had you on his grasp, he pinned you down and mercilessly scarred you. killer and the others were too busy fending other marines off while kidd dealt with the captain. "you've got some goddamn nerve laying a hand on what's mine."

it took the entire evening until dawn before kidd was finished with the poor marine. kidd pummeled the bastard to a pit underground that he created from the top. he bled the vice captain dry, and the captain had no chance of calling for back up because of killer. last thing kidd knew was the guy wasn't breathing before he was satisfied with his bloody creation.

you soon found kidd sleeping on his seat that was positioned next to you. dried blood littered his pale skin. he had a few scratches but it's obvious that the blood was not his. he had his arms crossed, head almost falling to the side as he dozed off. you figured he waited for you to wake up, it was already evening.

you shuffled a little, but it only took one whimper from you for him to shot up from his seat. "w-why are you bloody?" you weakly uttered. your voice was hoarse and your lips were dry.

"you shoulda seen the other guy." he laughed, he reached over to brush your hair at the top of your head with his palm. he looked at you with the softest gaze; well, he always looked at you like that, no one else. you could see how he pained to see you like this from the way his eyes softened.

"sorry." you covered your face, ashamed in front of your lover and captain. "that was shameful as a kidd pirate-"

"aaah fuck off with that." kidd cut you off, prying your hands away from your face and holding them together. his thumb rubbing circles at the back of your hand. "they outnumbered us and i was careless. don't worry your little head because i gave it to 'em back tenfold."

you smiled a little, if it weren't for the pain you would've laughed. "i'll be stronger." you pledged, looking deeply into his eyes.

"get fuckin' better first and i'll see you through it."

hello >< tysm for the requesttt <3

i've been gone for a while i'm sorry. i wanted to draw a lot and i just realized how much i made u guys wait TT, i hope i can come up with something to make it up to those who're waiting <3 i haven't been feeling my best lately so let's pray that this subsides wkwkwkwkwk

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sinisterexaggerator · 2 months

Text

Fair Recompense

Tech x Gen! Reader

Warnings: None. Small bit of fluff and a kiss.

Word count: 1.3k

Notes: I decided to write a series of "goodbye" ficlets where the reader takes / removes something from each of CF99 as they part ways, however this one, along with Wrecker, deviated a little bit from that path. In this case, the story is left open-ended.

Crosshair || Echo || Hunter || Wrecker

---

Luck was your business, born into a family who owned a bit of property on Ord Mantell. While most had to search out creative ways to eke a living, you had it made.

As the proud owner of a spacious hangar, it meant you did not have to want for much. Credits were earned not by hard work, but by allowing patrons to dock their starships; there were never enough empty bays to go around.

Still, you were fair; you did not make it a habit to overcharge. Not only that, but you offered droids, specialized equipment, and your mechanical expertise when needed to those who could use a helping hand to make repairs.

It was here that one particular man caught your eye. While his companions found better things to do, this clone remained. Besides being one of several million replicas of a long-dead bounty hunter, he looked familiar to you. You vaguely recalled witnessing his chiseled mug somewhere on the HoloNet; he was plagued by notoriety for a Riot Race he had won back on Serolonis, yet you failed to mention it.

Tech was his name; he did not pay you any mind as you watched him work from day-to-day. You were careful not to get too close, hoping that he would not take notice of your studious appraisal – at least at first.

Then, you found it was hard to capture his attention, even if you desired to strike up a conversation. So caught up in his own affairs, he barely seemed to register your presence except when rent was coming due.

You asked about his travels, and what he liked to do for fun. You offered him fresh Jawa Juice, and even tried to inquire about his ship.

Answers were scant, his patience sparse when it came to what he perhaps thought was frivolous small talk that served no purpose, or so it seemed. You had become so enthralled with him that your heart felt heavy in your chest with each rejection, even if it was only something you yourself perceived.

Determination took hold as you decided to attempt a different tactic, hearing that he would soon take off on another mission for Ciddarin Scaleback. Word traveled fast in these parts, and rumors had begun to circulate; Tech was wanted by the Empire, but as far as you were concerned, his secret was safe with you.

“Tech?” you asked, more so to alert him to your approach. He turned; he was undeniably handsome, no matter that his gorgeous brown eyes rarely lifted from off his datapad.

“Yes, what is it?” he questioned offhand, fiddling with some unknown sequence of code that was reflected within the transparisteel lenses of his round goggles.

“I hear you are heading out tomorrow,” you remarked, twisting your foot against the flattop of your hangar; you kept your hands behind your back on purpose.

“Do not worry, I shall settle our bill before we vacate the premises,” he reassured you dryly. He did not give you a second thought, or even a second glance.

“I’m not worried,” you shyly stated, admiring the distinctive features of his face. “I want to give you something,” you timidly informed him.

Tech’s forefinger pressed against the bridge of his eyewear, pushing it snug against his nose. Finally, he looked at you, amber-colored eyes even more beautiful up close, or as close as you dared.

“I do not understand,” he replied, his tone neither harsh nor excited. It was an honest declaration on his end; suddenly your palms were sweating, your hold loosening on the item stowed away just out of sight.

Tech arched a brow, taking note of the minor change in your appearance with muted curiosity, yet he could not keep from adding his two credits. “You appear to be ‘under the weather,’” he said laconically, Tech’s tone changing to emphasize the usage of this specific idiom. “Perhaps you could do with some rest.”

“I’m— I’m fine, really, I—” You bit your lip, gazing at him as if there was a gulf the size of Yavin Prime between you; you felt like you might cry, however asinine the notion. “I brought you a laser-caliper, since you keep having to borrow mine,” you whispered.

“Why?” he asked; it was a sincere question, Tech unsure how he had earned such a gift when he had done nothing to warrant this show of kindness.

You brought the small tool out from behind your back, fiddling with it in your hands. You hoped your answer would be good enough to satisfy him. “Because— because you need one of your own,” you humbly offered.

“And what do you want in exchange?” The query baffled you; you had not thought that far ahead. Should you want something? All you had wished to do was make his life a little easier.

You glanced about, anxious, and suddenly unsure. Was this somehow too forward? Was it obvious you had grown to enjoy his company, however short he was with you? Were you making a fool out of yourself?

“To see your eyes,” you blurted out. The man paused any movement, his attractive countenance, as always, an unreadable mask of what you assumed to be near-cold indifference.

“I beg your-?”

“-Please,” you interrupted, your voice laced with desperation. The word had exited too quickly from your lips; you felt ashamed.

“I’m sorry—” you corrected, not knowing which way to turn, which way to walk in order to rid yourself of this overtly embarrassing predicament.

“The recompense you have requested seems fair,” Tech asserted plainly.

You mildly gasped, a small intake of breath that caught in your throat. The tall, handsome clone strode forward, holding out his hand to take the laser-caliper.

“And a kiss,” you added, too brazen for your own good; you presumed you had pushed your luck too far. Still, you waited, your wincing becoming more defined the longer his silence stretched between you both.

“Fine,” he answered tersely, causing your eyes to widen and expand. He stood before you, inactive, delaying his departure back to where the Marauder camped, eager for his tending.

Slowly, thoughtfully, you extended your arm, gifting to him the laser-caliper you had promised. He took it from you, taking the time to inspect it before squarely staring through to your soul.

“Well?” he asked, both hands full up with his datapad and the tool now in his possession. Nervously, you searched his face, then you sought to do what had previously been thought unthinkable.

Meticulously, and with the utmost care, you lifted and removed Tech’s goggles from off his nose. Once loosed from his ears, you were deliberate with your intentions; you made sure not to pull a single strand of his curly hair.

Though you now appeared mostly as a blur, Tech could still make out your expression. He noted you looked pleased, and in turn he felt slightly amused, his feelings marked by the smallest upturn of his shapely lips.

“Now?” you asked, afraid he might change his mind at any moment.

“Now is as good a time as any,” he responded, Tech going so far as to tilt his body forward, his mouth mere centimeters from your own.

You craned your neck, taking a new liberty, your free hand meeting the turn of his cheek. You cradled his firm jaw in the crook of your palm as you unabashedly lingered, pressing into the soft flesh of his downy lips.

Then, he surprised you; he had clipped his datapad to his belt in one fluid motion, the backs of his gloved fingers tracing the curved line of your jaw. His caress extended from the base of your ear to the start of your soft neck; you could not help but to relax at his welcomed touch.

Your eyes closed as he attempted to deepen your kiss, the sound of your heartbeat drumming in your ears as you allowed Tech to take the lead.

It would last longer than you had ever hoped for, stealing your breath away. Once you found the wherewithal to break free of your shared embrace, Tech gave you the equivalent of a knowing smirk.

“Truth be told, I thought you would never ask.”

#Tech x Reader #TBB Tech #Bad Batch Tech #Tech #Gender Neutral #Clone Wars #Clones #Fluff #Fanfiction #Tech x You #the bad batch #cf99 #clone force 99 #TCW #My writing

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neverevan · 7 hours

Text

I was having thoughts about groomzilla Buck planning the bucktommy wedding and this happened...

“Oh, and did you know that Lucy is now bringing her girlfriend? So I have to change the entire sitting arrangement?” Buck waved his arms around in frustration, taking a deep breath to replace the one he just used for a rant that may or may not have lasted for an uninterrupted minute and a half.

“Could we just pull up a chair at the same table?” Tommy asked naively as he walked out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but the pair of sweats he liked to sleep in and one of Buck’s old, stretched out t-shirts.

“Could w—” Buck gaped at him in disbelief. “Baby, do you understand h-how tight we are with the guest list already? This- this means a whole another meal added to the menu and a new name card a-and I don’t even know if they are coming together. What if she needs a parking space? Do we even have enough space? God, Tommy, we didn’t even ask the venue about parking, I-I gotta call them and—”

“Bello, you gotta relax.” Tommy put his hands onto Buck’s forearms to stop him from flailing. “It’s almost midnight, the venue is closed and you have a shift in the morning. We can worry about the guest list tomorrow.”

Tommy’s voice was like thick honey, soothing Buck’s sore nerves, but still…

“I just want things to be perfect.” He said a little sheepishly, knowing full well how childish it sounded.

“A perfect wedding? I’m not sure that’s a thing.” Tommy gave him one of those wide, closed lipped grins he loved so much and Buck couldn’t help but drop his shoulders as finally, the tension slowly started to seep out of them.

“Okay, m-maybe not perfect, just not li—”

“Not like Chimney’s?” Tommy huffed jovially with a meaningful arch of his eyebrows that told Buck he was having similar thoughts on the matter.

They all went through some truly wild things last year, but his sister’s wedding sure surpassed a lot of them — not the capsized cruise ship though, that definitely defended its title on the top of that list, possibly for years to come. (God, Buck hoped so anyway.)

“Yeah,” he sighed quietly in response, “n-not like that. One hospital wedding was enough.”

“Okay, how about this? I talk to the caterers and the venue tomorrow, while you’re at work. And if I do end up in the hospital on our wedding day, I promise to wait until I’m out to put that ring on your finger.”

“Don’t even joke about that.” Buck swatted at Tommy’s elbow playfully, still unable to help a small huff of a chuckle bubbling past his lips. “B-but uh, okay.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Buck tipped his forehead against Tommy’s and closed his eyes in contentment, letting the lingering scent of their shared body wash and toothpaste wash over him. “Can you believe it?”

“Hm?”

“We’re getting married in a week.” He whispered it into the small space between them like it was his most cherished secret, only to be shared with someone special. And even though it was most certainly not an actual secret, if anyone was special enough to hear these words, it had to be Tommy.

“Mm.” He ran his hands down Buck’s arms, until he could lace their fingers together, squeezing them lightly. “One week and we’ll be pronounced husband and husband.”

“Husband, huh? I- uh, I like the sound of that.” Buck smiled, tilting his head to the side just enough to press his lips to Tommy’s; lightly at first but soon enough, starting to prod to get him to open up and allow Buck’s tongue into his mouth, gently tugging him towards the bed all the while — it was pretty late, after all.

Maybe things will end up a little messy, or, well… knowing their luck; a lot messy. But Buck decided it didn’t really matter. As long as he got to have this; as long as he got to have Tommy by his side, nothing else could possibly be more important.

#yes i decided that tommy calls buck 'bello'#also i should be working on my actual bucktommy fic but it's already at 7k and the smut is just getting started and it's an unedited beast #so until then here have this tiny little nothing ✨#bucktommy #911 #911 abc #ficlet #my fic #my stuff

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desert-fern · 1 year

Text

A Gun Amongst Daggers - Jake “Hangman” Seresin X Fem!Navy Seal Reader

Part 7: Shaping up and Shipping Out

Summary: When Jake meets a woman at the Hard Deck, the last thing he expects is for her to be a Navy Seal. And not just any Seal, the Commander of Seal Team 3. She’s beautiful, smart, dangerous, and everything about her just makes him want to get close. Her name? Bear. When the Seals need backup, Cyclone puts the Daggers on their radar and now, Jake has to work with Bear and her team, all the while trying to stay professional. Can he do it? Or will he end up falling for the Navy sniper and mission Commander?

*GIF is from Pinterest. Not mine*

MINORS DO NOT ENGAGE! 18+ ONLY. MINORS & BLOGS WITH NO AGE/EMPTY BLOGS WILL BE BLOCKED.

Warnings: like 2 swears, tis mostly fluff

Word Count: 2.6k

Masterlist >> Part 6 >> Part 8

===

The next few weeks were busy. Between organizing information, running exercises, and trying and failing not to drool over Hangman, Bear was scattered. The night before she had taught the pilots a little about handling the paintball guns they used for training and organized a paintball competition with everyone. She could hear the laughter and the teasing that had echoed loudly through the warehouse and it made her smile. Bear loved how easily her people and the pilots had come together, forming their own little pack. She had promised to look after them and seeing that their support systems were growing filled her heart with joy. A knock at her office door broke her from her thoughts. “Come in.”

“Hey Bear. Hope we didn’t interrupt anything.” Bob and Rooster were standing in the open doorway.

“No, not at all. I was just finishing up. What’s going on?”

Bob replied simply. “Us and a few of the others are heading out to the bar for a bit before we ship out tomorrow. You feeling up to joining us?”

Bear smiled softly. “Wish I could, Bobert and Chicken. I still have to finish my packing — well actually start my packing. Plus I need a night to just take it easy for a bit. But I appreciate the offer.”

“No worries, just wanted to see if you were interested,” Bob told her, giving her a wave. “Pretty sure Hangman’s going to be disappointed though.”

Bear’s mouth fell open in shock. “I-what? Where did that come from?”

“We all see how you look at each other,” Rooster added. “And honestly, Bug and I were chatting yesterday, she thinks that it would be good for you. I do too.”

“Boys, come on,” Bear sighed in defeat. “Nothing can or will happen there. The fact of the matter is that I am his and your superior. There’s rules against this sort of thing.”

Bob gave her a sympathetic smile. “But you aren’t his direct superior. Especially once this mission is over. It could still happen. Doesn’t mean that you have to, but just think about it,” he said gently. “But we will leave you to finish up, and we’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning.”

“Have a goodnight, Bear.”

“Thanks guys, you too. Have fun tonight,” Bear said quietly. Her mind was whirring. Somehow, the Daggers and her team knowing that there was mutual interest between her and Hangman made it worse. Her thoughts about the blonde pilot were all jumbled together. It would take a madwoman to sort through them and she just couldn’t handle that on top of everything else she had to deal with. So she stuffed them down. She could sort them out later. Hopefully he’d understand.

Bear shut off her computer and packed her bag in a daze. A part of her wanted to see Hangman before they shipped out, but she knew that she’d see him tomorrow, so with a muddled mind, Bear left her office.

She was intercepted halfway to the parking lot by Fanboy and Fireball, who asked her the same question as Bob and Rooster had only minutes before. She turned them down, just like she had earlier and gave them a wave. Once in her car, Bear let her head thunk against the steering wheel, trying to shake off the haze of her thoughts. Taking a few deep breaths, the fog cleared and she drove home, humming along to a random song playing softly through the radio.

Her arrival home was unremarkable. Every house she drove past looked the same. The same U.S. flag flying from the porch, the same cookie cutter front yard. And then there was hers. The only house without the flag because it kept flying away and getting caught in a tree or stuck on the roof. The only house missing the ‘lived in’ feel.

Inside, Bear tossed her keys on the table by the front door, her bag hung up on the hook in the kitchen. With a groan, she heaved herself up the stairs and into the shower, fully intending on relaxing for the rest of the night, with no blonde flyboy to make her trip over her words.

===

Well, at least that was her plan. Two hours after arriving home and after her shower, Bear had begun packing. Clothes were strewn across the room, her uniform in the wash, and she stood there in a t-shirt and small black bike shorts that only just barely covered her ass. While in the middle of folding shirts, the doorbell rang, making her swear and stomp down the stairs. “Whoever the fuck is at the door better have a good-” she cut off her tirade abruptly, seeing Hangman on her front porch. “Hi.”

The pilot looked amused. “Hello to you too,” he said. “Is everything alright?” Jake was holding a pizza box in one hand, the other hanging awkwardly at his side. It was like everything had stopped when Bear yanked open the door yelling. Her hair, normally tied into a tight bun, was hanging loose about her shoulders and she stood in front of him in shorts that should have been illegal with how closely they painted themselves to her thighs.

“Umm…yeah. It is,” Bear replied awkwardly. She had leaned against the doorframe, one hand still holding the door open. “What are you doing here?”

“Fireball mentioned that you weren’t coming out with us tonight, and that you have a habit of not eating when you’re busy,” Jake told her, his other hand coming up to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. “So he gave me your address and I brought pizza.”

She grinned at him. “You did, huh?”

“Yep. So can I come in?”

Bear pretended to think. “Well, you did bring food and I don’t hate your face, so sure.” Her eyes were bright as she grinned up at him. She stepped aside, letting him pass before shutting the door behind him.

“Nice place,” Jake remarked as he stood in the entryway, glancing around at the pictures on the walls. “These are your platoons?”

She nodded. “They are. Each team I have been a part of since I first enlisted,” Bear told him, pride evident in her voice. Sidling close to him, she pointed at the last picture on the wall. “This is the only one I have of the Lieutenants from the current team.”

Jake swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the warmth of her body against his arm as she told him about the pictures. “Is that Flare? She looks so young.”

“It is, she had just been promoted not even a week before this,” Bear said, her voice full of pride. “But you didn’t come here to stand around and hear me talk about nothing. Let’s get the pizza in the kitchen, it’s literally right behind you.”

“Actually I did come here to listen to you ramble,” Jake replied, shooting her a wink and relishing in how her cheeks pinked and how she tugged her bottom lip between her teeth, chewing on it. “It’s why I brought pizza AND rang the doorbell.” He wandered into the kitchen, opening cabinets to find plates, the pizza box now on the counter.

Bear shook her head, following him into the kitchen and popping open the box. “Fuck yes, pepperoni,” she mumbled excitedly under her breath, not catching the smug look on Jake’s face behind her.

“I told you, Fireball told me a lot.” He passed her a plate, stepping beside her to grab a few pieces for himself. “Including your love of pepperoni.”

“Well thank god for that,” Bear said in between bites. “I had completely forgotten about food. So thank you, Jake.”

“It’s not a problem, Teddy.”

She groaned. “Please stop calling me that.”

“I think I’ve grown rather attached to it,” Jake teased, stepping into her space, forcing her to look up at him.

“Fine, Flyboy. Whatever,” she said with a shrug, forcefully willing her blush away. “I have to finish packing.”

Jake stuffed his pizza crust in his mouth, nodding as he took both of their plates. “Need a hand?”

Bear gave him a confused look. “I mean, if you want. It’ll be pretty boring.”

He merely nodded, putting both plates in the sink before following her up the stairs. “You’re a bit of a chaotic packer, aren’t you?” Jake teased, taking in the room in front of him.

“Shut up,” Bear tossed back, going over to her bag and refolding a few shirts to make room. “Something has to give and it sure as fuck won’t be the intel.”

Jake shrugged, silently agreeing with her. “Makes sense to me,” he replied. “Did you need any of this?” He held up two black tech shirts.”

“Ummm…,” Bear hummed, mentally going through her list. “Is the one on the right the smaller of the two?”

Jake’s brow furrowed as he checked the tags. “Yep, you need it?”

“Duh, that’s why I asked,” she sassed. So Jake threw it at her, watching it hit her in the face and land in the bag. “Hey!”

He began to laugh, completely distracted by the look of surprise on her face and he didn’t see her wind up and throw a balled up pair of socks at him. “You are gonna regret that Teddy,” he replied, grabbing a handful of the clothing left on her bed.

“You promise, Flyboy? Because I think you forget who you’re up against,” Bear teased, jumping up to stand on her bed, another pair of socks aimed at Jake’s face, practically daring him to try something.

Seconds passed as the two had their little standoff, before Jake whipped a sweater at her, yelping as the socks bounced off his chest not even seconds later. Bear continued pelting him with clothing, laughing at his reaction. “Okay! Okay! Mercy!” Jake finally managed to say between laughter.

Bear hopped off the bed, one last item in her hand as she stood over his folded position on her bedroom floor. “Beg for your life, Flyboy.”

Jake was laughing too hard to answer her, sending the woman above him into peals of giggles. “Okay. I’m good,” he said with an exhale. “Let’s finish getting you packed.”

Bear extended her hand to him, clasping his forearm and pulling him up, stumbling back half a step when they found themselves nose to nose. “Ummm…” Bear trailed off, ducking her gaze and slipping past him. “Packing. And now thanks to you, I have to pick up all my socks again,” she teased, bumping him with her elbow.

He shook his head at her antics. She seemed carefree, happy in his presence. Maybe he was imagining things, but a man could dream that he had a hand in easing her tension. “Sure, blame me. C’mon Teddy.”

===

Over the next few hours, Bear and Hangman packed up her gear, continuing the stream of conversation, bouncing from one topic to the next with ease. It felt natural to them both, almost effortless in the way they spoke and teased the other.

It was only when the last zipper was pulled closed and the last bag was placed in the hallway, did the conversation stop. Both paused, somehow unable to find words that had been there not even seconds before. “Thank you for your help,” Bear finally spoke after a long pause. “I appreciate it. Especially since you could have been out with the team.”

She felt suddenly shy, pinned under the pale green gaze of the man in front of her. It was as if she stood bare before him. Every thought, feeling, and desire was exposed and brought into the light for him to see. She had misjudged him at first, dismissing him as just another cocky pilot who thought he was better than everyone else. And while she wasn’t completely wrong, tonight he had shown her more of himself than she had expected. But she stopped herself. “This can’t happen,” Bear thought to herself. “I could lose my position and my job if this ever gets out.”

Jake smiled at her. The last few hours had been some of the best that he could remember. Having seen yet another side of this strong woman, Jake fell harder. It was no longer physical. Well, it was, but now it was so much more than that. Bear was everything he’d never considered for himself. The strength, the kindness, bravery, gentleness all seemed to radiate from her, bathing all who were lucky enough to get close to her in the light that shone from her. And he was thrilled that she allowed him this close. “Honestly, this was probably the most fun I’ve had in a while,” he admitted quietly. “Including when I hit Rooster in the chest during that paintball fight last week.”

A soft laugh escaped her. They had drifted from her room, back down to the front entryway, neither willing to part from the other. “That was pretty funny,” Bear replied. Glancing at the clock on the wall in the kitchen, she hummed. “It’s getting late and we have to be up early tomorrow. You should probably go.”

“Probably.” Giving her one last soft smile, Jake opened the door, stepping out onto the porch. “Have a good night Teddy. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” she echoed, eyes still fixed on him. Letting out a small chuckle, Bear leaned against the door frame. “Drive safe, Flyboy. I need your ass in order to run this mission.”

“Yes ma’am,” Jake replied. He stood awkwardly next to his truck, hand tapping against his thigh, before nodding once and unlocking the vehicle.

Bear watched him pull out of the driveway, and waited until he was down the road before shutting the door and locking it. Once inside, she leaned back against the door, pressing her hands against her eyes until bright spots filled her vision. “Get it together,” she mumbled. “You can’t let him distract you.”

===

The next morning, Bear found herself on the dock early. Her larger bags had been sent ahead, leaving her with her backpack that held her documents. She greeted each member of her four platoons, exchanging hugs and greetings with their families, before counting them all and sending them aboard the USS Lincoln to get settled. She was waiting for the Daggers to arrive, being unable to leave without Maverick making an appearance.

“I’m going to miss you, love,” she overheard Phoenix say, pressing a deep kiss against the lips of a brunette woman who stood only slightly smaller than the pilot. “I love you.”

“Love you more, Nat.” One more quick kiss and the other woman stepped back, watching Phoenix clap Bob on the shoulder.

Watching the goodbyes always made her stomach clench. It was a reminder of how easily something like the Navy could take over your life and make it impossible to find someone who truly understood what it was like. “Bear!”

“Chicken. You’re chipper this morning,” she replied, having been abruptly pulled from her thoughts.

He grinned, pulling her into a side hug. “What can I say? I had some of my girl’s lovin’ last night and now I’m not sure how I could ever leave.”

“Okay, gross. I did not need to know that.”

He laughed, clapping her on the back before ascending the walkway onto the ship, catching up with Fanboy and Payback.

More pilots trickled past, and from the corner of her eye, she caught Maverick arriving. He was in deep conversation with Admiral Simpson, who met her curious gaze. Bear snapped into a salute, only lowering her arm when the gesture was returned. “Good morning, Sir.”

“Commander. Is your team ready?”

“Yes Sir, we are. Admiral Harris is up to date on any recent changes to the plans, and if things change further, I will keep you both in the loop,” Bear replied.

“Good to hear, Commander,” the Admiral said. He nodded once to Maverick, who returned the gesture, before turning to them both. “Best of luck to you both.”

“Thank you Sir,” Maverick replied, shifting his bag in his grip. Admiral Simpson walked off, pausing to converse with the woman Phoenix had kissed goodbye on the dockside. “Are you ready Commander?”

“Are you, Captain?”

He laughed, “Fair enough, let’s get settled.”

===

A/N: So they're getting closer! Almost makes you wonder if it’s going to stay like that….

Thank you to @startrekfangirl2233 @dakotakazansky and @sarahsmi13s for yelling at me! Any and all errors are my own!

Taglist: @startrekfangirl2233 @dakotakazansky @sarahsmi13s @horseshoegirl @roosters-girl @lovinglyeternal @lavenderbradshaw @roosterforme @bobby-r2d2-floyd @twsssmlmaa @footprintsinthesxnd @bradleybeachbabe @fandomxpreferences @dempy @gizmodear @fighterpilothoe @iwantmyredvelvetcupcake @djs8891 @rhirhikingston @impossiblebagelcowboyfreak @thegoddessc @sgt-barnesveins @taytaylala12 @urmom-999 @formulapierre @pinkpantheris

#a gun amonst daggers #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake seresin x reader #jake seresin imagine #jake seresin x you #jake hangman seresin x you #top gun maverick x reader #top gun maverick x you #hangman fanfiction #dagger squad #hangman x reader #bear and hangman #controlled chaos squad #callsign bruiser

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kygerbearr · 9 months

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can i get some information?

in hokkaido japan there's these rockets that hang from poles to show you where the road is when it snows over (due to the high elevation there)

also in arizona its illegal for a business to deny any person water because of how hot it is there. they also opted out of daylight savings time and all of america could also do that if they wanted, its just that every other state votes to keep it for some reason.

canada having bagged milk is actually only for the eastern side of canada. the western side of it not as much. also the backs of signs in british columbia are painted green

on google maps coverage of curacao, if you look down at the car there's a sticker on some of the roof rack on the car. this is consistent across curacao's google map coverage

buzz lightyear and woody are actually in the files in the original ps2 version of kingdom hearts 2 and a model for the world on the gummi ship menu is in some screenshots of early kh1 gameplay suggesting they intended on including toy story as a playable world from the very start i stole this image from reddit

polar bears are to my knowledge the only ursidae that actively hunt humans and are also the only carnivorous bears. at least i think. dont fact check it just trust me on this one

in gex 3 deep cover gecko for ps1 and n64, in the 3rd level Tut TV there's a sign on the wall that says "ankh if you're corny" but there's also an unused texture that says horny instead of corny this is the only image i have of it sorry that its small

thomas edison in fate grand order is a furry lion man who is every single president of the united states of america (past, present and future) built into one person. also his super move is proving God doesn't exist and he looks like this

this photo of the sun photoshopped into the background of a place is in the philippines and you can tell because of the color of the sattellite dish as well as the ads for cigarettes

thyis is a grizzly bear you can tell because hes brown. also they only really exist in alaska/canada/montana/wyoming-ish

oh yeah also tsela and yiska from the smoke room vn are names that are words in navajo. not exactly directly translateable as Diné Bizaad, the language of the navajo, essentially operates in "pictures". describing things and such. tsela can be translated to the best of my ability as "like stone"

while yiska essentially carries the message of "the night has passed" (used in both the word for Tomorrow and Saturday)

cynthia's last name, tsosie, essentially means "slender". I cannot provide an excerpt from my navajo-english dictionary since it's not in there, but it's also from 1958 and so its probably a little bit incomplete. the fact that she uses the name cynthia, a non-navajo name, reflects her decision to leave the reservation.

the name Begay is also a real life navajo surname that is an anglicization of biye', which means his/her son. i wish i could speak more on the accuracies within TSR's clifford route regarding navajo culture and history but that would be spoilers. all i will say is that the soap thing was a very real thing that was commonplace

speaking of clifford, his last name Tibbits could be a reference to Howard Clinton Tibbitts, a photographer who was well known for his photographs along the sites of the southern pacific railway which encompassed Arizona and into Apache and Puebloan territories. and yes, even Utah. rather telling

anyways that is an amount of information

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writing-fanics · 11 months

Text

. wild uncharted waters .

Prince Eric x Fem!Reader

(Chapter One: Fathoms Below)

taglist: @ladynoiree @bambi-horror @or-was-it-just-a-dream @jakesullylvr

Table of Contents

»»———-　Five Years Ago　———-««

The sound of laughter filled the beach as two young teens played in the ocean. They joyfully splashed water at each other, their merriment echoing in the surroundings. It was heartwarming to see two young friends having fun without any worries. They played together on the beach with the water reaching their ankles as they playfully splashed each other with water.

“Oh, I got you something.” He said, causing her to stop and look at him. “Really? What?” She asked, curiously looking at him. He smiled reaching into his pocket and pulling out a velvet box.

As she gazed at the stunning necklace, she couldn't help but feel a sense of awe. "Eric, it's absolutely beautiful but..." she trailed off, glancing up at him. Concern etched his features as he held the necklace out to her. "But what?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow. Worried that she might not be pleased with his gift, she reminded him that he need not bring her anything. He chuckled and rolled his eyes in response.

"I've noticed that you've enjoyed all the gifts I've brought back," he remarked. She briefly averted her gaze before returning her attention to the necklace. "And it happens to be your birthday," he added. A gentle smile crept across her face as she nervously played with her fingers.

She jokingly remarked, "I thought you'd forgotten." He scoffed. “How could I forget your birthday? ” He said, looking at her and she smiled looking at him. “Now, do you want the necklace or not?” He asked, and she stared at him and pursed her lips.

"Of course I'll take it," she replied with a smile as he assisted her in putting on the seashell-shaped necklace. Her heart skipped a beat as she observed the grin on his face.

As she turned to face him, their gazes locked and he appeared captivated by her beauty. Breaking the silence, she inquired, "What?" Startled, he shook his head and snapped out of his trance. With a nervous expression, he replied, "Oh, nothing," while stealing glances at her, causing his heart to skip a beat.

Something seemed to draw them closer as they stood there alone on the beach. Her heart pounded against her chest as she stood on the beach beside him. “Y/n.” Eric said, looking at her causing her to look at him. Nervously, her mind raced with so many things that he could say and things she'd want him to say.

Her voice quivered as she timidly responded, "Yes?" Her heart raced as she gazed up at him. He hesitated, muttering softly to himself, before taking her hands and meeting her gaze. His heart beat fast in his chest. "Um, I..." he trailed off, unsure of what to say.

She stared at him curiously waiting for what he was going to say, “I-I..” He was about to say before, “Y/N!” a voice shouted, causing the girl to sigh in annoyance groaning as her hands slipped from Eric’s hands.

"Sorry, I have to go," she said with a hint of sadness, gazing at him. He nodded and gave her a smile in return. "Will I see you tomorrow?" she asked, her hands resting behind her back while she looked at him. "Absolutely," he replied, prompting her to beam at him. "Goodbye, Eric," she said as she turned to depart, heading towards the person who had called her name, leaving Eric behind on the beach.

As she walked away, he couldn't help but watch longingly. Her figure grew smaller and smaller until she disappeared from his sight. He let out a sigh and took a seat on the sandy beach, gazing out at the endless ocean. A frown crept onto his face as the waves crashed against his shoes.

»»———-　 Now ———-««

The crew shouted raising their harpoons and throwing them into the water, at what they thought was a mermaid swimming alongside the ship. Groaning in annoyance as they missed it, “More harpoons!” One shouted, an elderly man leaned over the ship and stared down into the water, “Hoist and kill her before she comes aboard!” the elderly man shouted, looking down at the water. A young teen peeked his head through wanting to hopefully catch a glimpse of the mermaid.

“Where is she let me see?” The young teen shouted, looking down. Another crew member was about to throw the harpoon at the mermaid until, “What’re you doing?” [Y/n] asked, having grown up quite a bit since that day on the beach five years ago. Her hair became much longer, and keeping it held up in a ponytail. She still wore the necklace around her neck.

Eric came up behind her walking towards the crew looking down over the side of the ship, and seeing what’s supposedly is a mermaid tail. For it to only jump breaking the surface of the water revealing it to be a dolphin. He then takes the harpoons, “Tonight the coral moon.” The elderly man said, looking at Eric as he took the harpoon away.

“They say, this is when the sea king calls his mermaid daughters together to lure men to their death.” The elderly man said looking at Eric, who tossed the harpoon on the ground behind a wooden barrel. [Y/n] listened, as she tied a rope around the side of the side.

“Is that what they say?” Eric asked, as he turned back towards the side of the ship where the crew was, “Aye!” the elderly man shouted. [Y/n] couldn't help but scoff at the lore of mermaids, “Not even the strongest can resist their spell.” the elderly man said, looking at Eric, who held a harpoon in his hand.

“Just an old lore.” Eric said to the man when suddenly a strong gust of wind hit the side of the ship. Causing water to splash on everyone, a few to lose their balance and fall on the ground, or others to quickly grab onto something.

Everyone went silent for a moment, “Back to work!” Eric shouted, his hand gripping on the side rail of the ship. “See there?” The elderly man said, causing the young prince to glance at him, “See what, Hawkins?”

“Cross wind gust kicked up the tops thats all.” Eric said to the man, looking out at the ocean. The elderly man still wasn’t convinced deadset on the fact that it was the work of the sea king.

“That’s the sea king.” Hawkins said, as he followed Eric up the stars to the upper part of the ship. “He’d pull us under himself if he could.” He said following him.

After adjusting the ropes, [Y/n] smiled at Max, Eric's dog, and gave him a good scratch behind the ear. This caused the dog to wag his tail happily. Grismby asked where Prince Eric was, and [Y/n] pointed towards the ships bow. "Up on the bow, Sir Grismby," she replied, and watched as he quickly made his way towards the front of the ship.

Y/n felt disheartened as she prepared to celebrate Eric's twenty-first birthday with him. Despite knowing him for years and receiving expensive gifts from him, all she had to offer was a seashell necklace she made from materials found on the beach. It paled in comparison to the valuable necklace he had gifted her five years ago.

»»———-　 Hours Later ———-««

Prince Eric's birthday was being celebrated by the sailors who were happily dancing and drinking rum. They even sang a sea shanty. [Y/n] sat next to Eric holding a mug filled with rum, smiling. She still had the necklace in her pocket and hadn't given it to him yet.

“I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue” Mulligan sang, cherrifully the other sailors aboard the ship joining along.

“An' it's hey to the starboard, heave ho!

Heave ho!” Sailors sang shouting raising their mugs full of rum.

“Look out lad, a mermaid be waitin' for you.” Hawkins sang..

“In mysterious fathoms below” [Y/n] sang joining in on the sea shanty, smiling and laughing enjoying the party aboard the ship. Everyone, just having a great time celebrating. She smiled watching as he danced. “l'll sing you a song of the king of the sea” Eric sang, and was suddenly grabbed and everyone else continued singing.

“An' it's hey to the starboard, heave ho!

Heave ho!” Everyone sang aboard the ship,

“The ruler of all of the oceans is he” He sang…

‘In mysterious fathoms below’

‘Heave ho! Heave ho!’

‘Heave ho! Heave ho!’ the sailors song as they lifted eric upn, lifting up and down off the ground.

Grismby's abrupt shout made the sailors release Eric. [Y/n] observed with disappointment as Grismby separated Eric from the rest of the crew for a private conversation, causing the sailors to groan in irritation. She hesitated as she touched the necklace in her pocket, wondering if it was appropriate to give such a cheap gift to him.

She couldn't dwell on her thoughts for long as heavy rain started pouring down and Eric's voice boomed through the ship, calling for all hands on deck to secure it from the approaching storm. Everyone stopped what they were doing and hurried to fulfill their duties.

Everyone, needed to work quickly to fufill their duties securing anything that couldnt prevent them from securing the ship from the storm. Running around on the ship scattering to help others. The heavy rain obscurring some of the sailors vision, and making it harder to see yet they continued to fulfill thier tasks.

A big wave it the ship causing her to fall on her back but she immediately picked herself up and continued, doing what she needed to do. The necklace falling out of her pocket and sliding towards the mermaid, that was watching the events unfold mere inches away from her. Her eyes widened, noticing the rocks straight head that the ship was heading straight towards.

Eric attempted to move the ship away from the rocks, resulting in a violent shaking that caused people to lose their balance and objects to fly off the ship, while some individuals fell overboard. Amidst the chaos, a rope that held up lanterns broke, causing one to crash to the ground and ignite a fire, which then spread and engulfed the entire ship. Eric stood up and instructed his crew, "Abandon ship! Get to the lifeboats!"

As the other sailors leaped towards the lifeboats, [Y/n] observed the scene. Right before Eric and [Y/n] were about to follow suit, they heard barking and looked around to see Max.

"Quick, get to the lifeboat," he urged her. She gave him a questioning look. "But what about you?"After he told her he would follow, she hesitated knowing he was stubborn. However, she eventually agreed and jumped into the water to swim towards the lifeboat. As she did she didn't notice the necklace that was once around her neck, had fallen off and sank into the ocean. One of the sailors helped her onto the lifeboat while urging [Y/n] to hurry.

Time seemed to drag on forever, but [Y/n]'s heart leapt at the sight of Eric carrying Max and heading towards the railing. Eric held the dog over the edge, allowing him to swim towards the lifeboats. [Y/n] called out to Max and cheered him on as he swam towards her lifeboat. She eagerly reached out to him as he swam faster, eventually lifting him up and embracing him warmly. She smiled as she petted Max while holding him close.

“Eric!” Grimsby shouted, causing her to look up and see him about to climb over the railing to land into the water. To only lose his balance and fall backwards out of view.

#jonah hauer king x reader #jonah hauer king x you #jonah hauer king x y/n #jonah hauer king fanfiction #prince eric x reader #prince eric x you #prince eric x y/n #prince eric fanfiction #slight angst #fluff #romance #x reader #fanfic #the little mermaid live action #the little mermaid 2023

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plagues02 · 1 month

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Is There Room For Four?

Chapter Three - Room for Four

Summary: Years went on, Task Force 141 gained more members. Captain Price recently found a person he thought would be a great fit for the team. Little did anyone know, they would be the missing piece to three other members Characters: Simon 'Ghost' Riley, Gary 'Roach' Sanderson, Johnny 'Soap' MacTavish, König, Kyle 'Gaz' Garrick, John Price Ships: SoapGhostRoach, SoapGhostRoachKönig, Plantonic SoapGaz CW: Accidental Misgendering, Depiction of a panic attack Word Count: 2998 Note: This was written back in 2023 and was originally posted on Ao3 Chapters: One, Two, Three(You're Here), Four

“Have you heard of that colonel guy that’s coming down to help with some missions?”

Gary looked up when Johnny spoke to them. Simon looked over his shoulder from across the room with an eyebrow raised. “Yeah, why do you ask?”

The three of them were off base in their England flat. After a few years of their relationship, Johnny moved in with Gary and Simon. It was easier for the three of them since Johnny did live in Scotland before.

It had been about five years since Task Force 141 was formed, and the team remained the same at the core with a few new members. Alex became an official member about a year in, along with his soulmate, Farah. Farah remained in Urikzastand; Alex spent his time between the United States and Urikzstand. Alejandro and Rudy were also official members but continued to work in Mexico, unless they were needed elsewhere.

About two weeks ago, they all received an email from Price about a foreign colonel coming to England to assist them.

“What was his name again..? Otto Wanger, I think,” Simon added, watching Johnny walk across the room to join the other two on the couch. “He was,, what? German?”

Gary shook his head, making a clicking sound with his tongue to get the other’s attention. “Austrian. The email didn’t say much. Not about Otto or about the mission.”

The Scotsman flopped down, leaning against the American’s shoulder. He pulled out his work phone and went to the email, forgetting about all of what the email said alread. A chuckle left his lips as he looked at the image attached.

Turning the phone towards the two of them, Johnny said, “Hey, looked like you and Simon aren’t going to be the only masked men around base now.”

Simon looked over, mumbling out, “Funny looking mask.”

“Like yours is any better.”

The oldest of the three huffed, leaning over Gary to bump their heads together. A smile came to his lips as Gary chuckled at this action. Simon bumped their heads together as well before sitting back again.

“I think it’s an old t-shirt.”

Johnny and Simon looked back at the picture after Gary signed this. It did, in fact, look like an old t shirt.

“Well, looks like we’re gonna meet him tomorrow we’ll see then,” said Johnny, scanning over the email again.

König let out a small sigh they didn’t realize they were holding as they stepped off the plane. No matter how many years they were in the military, from their time in the German Special Forced and KorTac, they still felt nervous going to new places. They were getting too old for these nerves, but still, they couldn’t shake it.

König had met Price when he was in Austria on a lone mission. It was accidental that they ended up working together since they were after the same information; Price was impressed by the taller person’s skills, both on and off the field. When their reputation and skills, Price knew they were the best person for the job when he needed an extra pair of hands

The Austrian pressed their hands together, fiddling with their thumbs while they looked around for the Captian. They saw a familiar bucket hat and started to walk closer to him. Price looked up when they were closer.

“It’s nice to see you again, Colonel Otto,, or do you prefer König, sir?” the captain asked, shaking the other’s hand.

“König,” they quickly replied. “Um, Otto is fine though.”

“König it is then,” Price nodded. “Come on, sir. I’ll show you around base, and introduce you to the team.”

König smiled under their mask, reaching up to fix it as it was becoming crooked. They enjoyed the captain’s presence, and his words made him feel,,, safe? Was that right? Yeah, he was a kind man, after all. A light in their dark grey world.

First in the tour was the bunks, where they would be staying for the time being. They had a small private room in the bunks due to their rank. The training rooms were next, and so on and so on. The tour took a little over an hour before they returned to the bunks. Price had to step away, and König remained in the bunks area.

The person reached under their mask to rub their eyes, trying to wake themselves up with a sigh. It was still early in the morning, but it already felt like a long day that wanted to drag. Them not being a morning person didn’t help. All they felt like doing was curling into bed and sleeping the rest of the day away.

“Are you the colonel?”

König jumped at the new voice and turned to look at the owner. They thought back to all the pictures and names they were shown. Gaz? Yeah, that man was Gaz.

“Ja.”

The younger man smiled and held a hand out. “Gaz,” he introduced himself, confirming their suspicions. “It’s nice to meet you, Colonel Otto, sir.”

They took his hand, avoiding eye contact, “König. My name is König.”

Gaz raised an eyebrow before nodding, pulling his hand away. He decided against question them. “So how did you and Captian Price meet?”

The Austrian fiddled with their fingers again. “We met on a mission,, well, more like we had a similar mission and ended up working together,” they explained with a small chuckle.

The two of them spoke while they waited for the rest of Task Force 141 to get to the base. König felt their social anxiety calling down as they spoke to Gaz. He was a good man, and from the sound and look of it, a good soldier. Price came and got them about thirty minutes later.

The anxiety started to return at the sight of the other three.

Soap and Roach didn’t seem tha scary. The Scot had a stupid smile on his face while talking to the shorter man, and the smile stayed when he looked over at the newcomer. Roach looked up at König, eyes widening a little. He turned to the other two, making hand movements.

“Tall,” the rest of 141 understood. König would have to learn BSL to understand him.

The last of the three just stared at König, eyes narrowing a little. The taller person looked away, shifting on their feet. The hair on the back of their neck stood, and the pit in their stomach returned. They took a small breath and turned back to the man with the skull masked man, avoiding eye contact.

“Sir, this is Soap, Roach, and Ghost,” Price introduced, motioning to them as he said their name. “This is Colonel König. He will be staying and help us for the time being.”

König let a small chuckle. “There’s no need to call me sir. It’s a nice to meet you,” they said with a small hand wave.

“Hey, König!” Soap called out before König was able to leave the showers. They had did some training with the others, and was about to return to the bunks after taking a shower. “We all were going to a nearby pub.”

The scotsman stepped closer, looking at the person’s masked face. “Want to join us? Get to know each other, if we’re gonna be working together,” he suggested with a smile.

König rubbed their thumb against the bottom of their shirt, thinking about the words. Maybe this would help relieve some of the anxiety they felt about working with the team.

With a shaky breath, they nodded.

Soap’s grin widened. “Great! We won’t take long,” he said before going to finish washing up.

With the rest of the team showered and changed within the hour, they decided to walk to the pub as it wasn’t that far away. König left their work mask at the base, but they still wore a simple black mask. They felt naked without their work mask, but it would bring more attention to themselves, which was something they’d like to avoid.

It was strange walking with the members. König was older than them all by a few years. Age already showed on their face with wrinkles around their eyes. According to people would could see color, their hair was also greying with white streaks on the sides.

Color,, at their old age, König had given up on finding their soulmate. They had yet to meet their romantic or platonic soulmate, and they were starting to believe they didn’t have either. Starting to? They were almost positive they hadn’t. It didn’t matter anymore. They were getting too old to worry about stuff like soulmates, but,,, having a soulmate to hold still sounded nice.

König noticed a few things as they watched the group. They were all close and were very comfortable around each other. Soap was the most touchy for the four(Price had remained back at base). His hand was always on one of them, but it seemed different depending on who it was. With Gaz, it remained more friendly and platonic, but with Roach and Ghost, they were more,, Well, he got closer with them, holding their hands or an arm around their waist. It didn’t take long for them to realize that Soap, Roach, and Ghost were romantic soulmates. It was written all over their body language.

It must be nice,,,

At the pub, the group sat at a table near the back at Ghost’s request. He was like König it seemed. They preferred to stay in the back, to the sidelines. Soap and Gaz were more outgoing and enjoyed talking to others. Roach was in the middle. Quiet, but didn’t mind the company of the others.

“Say, König,” Soap was the first to speak after they got drinks. “This is gonna sound weird, but we were talking about you yesterday. Are you German or Austrian?”

The person chuckled at this, glancing up. They were still careful to not meet their eyes, despite believe his soulmates were already found. “Austrian,” they replied. “I joined under the German military, though.”

“Ah! That’s were the confusion was,” the Scotsman said with a small laugh.

The conversation continued from there. It stayed in military talk for a few minutes, discussing how they joined and a few missions they've been on. Through this, König's suspicions were confirmed. Soap, Roach, and Ghost were romantic soulmates and met through the military. Soap was also platonic soulmates with Gaz.

"You have a soulmate, König?”

König hesitated at the question. A small laugh left their lips. “No, no, and I think I’m a little too old to worry about finding them.”

As they spoke, they looked up a little, not thinking anything of it. There was no way König would have know they would meet the eyes of the Scotsman. Nor would they know they would see the blue of his eyes.

“Johnny?” Ghost spoke up with a raised eyebrow at his change of expression. He glanced at the Austrian and froze.

König saw more color in their void world. Ghost’s eyes were a greenish grey color. Soap’s were blue. A lot of other things had color, but there were still some greys in the world.

That’s when Roach leaned forward to look at his soulmates before looking over at König. There was the rest of the colors. Browns, oranges, reds. In the matter of moments, their black and white world was full of color. So much color.

“Oh shit,” Soap was the first to speak, clueing Gaz in on what was going.

So many things were running through König’s head. The first was that all this color was overwhelming all at once. The second was that they had three soulmates.. Three soulmates that were all like ten years younger than them,, and already knew each other. Their chest tightened.

“König-”

The person didn’t say anything, freezing in place. The sound of the bustling bar became background noise as they felt their vision started to blur. They could see the blurs of the men who save their world color shift closer to them. They spoke, but König couldn’t hear the words.

No no no no no, it couldn’t be them. It couldn’t be them. König just met them. They all already knew each other. They had been together for a long time before König was even a thought to them.

Oh god, their ages. How old were they? They looked young. Far younger than him. They didn’t see any grey in any of their hair. Nor did they notice any aging wrinkles on their face. Their ranks were so much lower than their own. Would they even-

So many things were running through Ghost’s head as the man in front of them completely froze. His breathing was starting to become uneven and forced. His green eyes were starting to water, and his face was becoming redder and redder.

He glanced at the others at the table. Ghost met Soap's eyes and nodded before standing up. He whispered something to Gaz, who nodded in response. Without a word, the trio walked to the other side of the table to get the tall man to stand.

"Hey, we're going somewhere quiet," Soap whispered to him. "Can we lead you there?"

All König could do was nod before letting his soulmates lead him towards the bathroom of the pub. He was extremely shaky, they all noticed, and he barely reacted to anything around him.

They had all seen this before. They were all in the military, after all. It wasn’t uncommon for them to have a panic attack and to help each other through them. It would be easier to deal away from the loud noise of the pub.

Ghost glanced over when he heard König start to speak again. It was extremely shaky and in broken English.

"No, no, I can't- you can't be-"

Once in the bathroom, Roach locked the door behind them as Ghost and Soap helped König sit down on the ground as he was struggling to stand up.

"Hey, big guy," Soap's voice was soft, as he knelt down in front of the other. "Can you look at- oh!"

He shifted back a little as König made a quick motion of pulling his mask off before whatever he had eaten earlier in the day came up. A sob left his lips as he also scooted away from it.

This could be going better, Ghost thought, not wanting to get too close to not accidentally overwhelming the other even more. Soap looked up at him, thinking the same.

"Y-you can't - I can,, can't be- I can't be the one -" König gasped out, reaching up to yank on the side of his hair.

Roach moved forward, kneeling in front of the taller man. He grabbed his wrists to stop him from tugging at his hair. His eyes met the watery green eyes of König.

"I-I-"

"Shhhh."

Soap and Ghost jumped a little at the sound of Roach's voice. They had only heard it a handful of times themselves over the years they were together. Roach didn't like to speak so he didn't, unless he felt like it was needed.

"Hey, hey, look at me. Don't look away," Roach's voice came out as a whisper, touching König's face. "Can you answer some things for me? Please?"

"J,,ja."

Roach moved his other hand away from König's wrist. He moved a little, sitting down on his knees between the other's legs.

"Okay, what are five things that you see?"

König's eyes looked around. "A toilet,, my,, vomit,, sink,, you,, brown eyes,,"

"Good boy. What are four things you can touch?"

"Floor cold,, my clothes,,your hand,, your clothes." He said the last part as he moved to press his forehead against Roach's shoulder.

Roach glanced over his back at the other two in the room. They were watching, remaining quiet. König didn't seem as shaky as before; they didn't want to cause him any more stress.

"3 things you can hear?"

"Pub music, my heart beat, your breathing."

Roach ran his fingers through König's hair. He felt König arms wrap around him, hands gripping the back of his shirt. He heard footsteps of his other soulmates getting closer, seeing how the Austrian was calming down

"2 things you can smell?"

"Alcohol,, cologne?"

"Yeah, I'm wearing cologne," Roach confirmed. "One more question, okay? What's one thing you can taste?"

",,,vomit aftertaste."

Ghost and Soap knelt down on König, side away from the vomit. Soap rested his hand on the other's back as Ghost placed one on his knee.

"You want to talk now, big guy?"

",,,Not a guy."

"You still want to talk?"

",, yeah," he, no, they said.

König moved their head away from Roach's shoulder to look at all three of them. They finally were able to take in how they all looked. Soap and Roach had brown hair. Soap had blue eyes, while Roach had brown. Ghost,, they couldn't tell his hair color with the balaclava, but they would remember the greenish gray eyes.

Roach,, Gary ran his fingers through König's gray hair, paying extra attention to the white streaks on the side. Johnny moved a hand up to run his fingers through the person's salt and pepper beard. He ran his thumb over the other's lip, over an old scar.

While König was distracted by the other two, Ghost reached up to pull his mask off, showing his (totally not dyed) black hair. Simon shifted to lean forward to press their foreheads together. His eyes met with König's green eyes.

"Let's figure this out together. We'll take it as slow as you need it, okay?"

König nodded. "Okay."

"You're back early," Price looked over as he noticed Gaz was back at the base. ",, Without König. Did something happen?"

The younger man looked over, wondering how to word it, before he decided just to say it, "König is their soulmate."

",, you're joking, right?"

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ladyviserra · 10 months

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Hey can you write something with Theon were they’re made to marry because like they were caught together (sorry if this doesn’t make sense English isn’t my first language)

Girl from Essos | Theon Greyjoy

Pairing: Theon Greyjoy x Female!Reader

Summary: Theon was forced to marry a girl he was caught with, only it happens to be a girl whose family is a mystery coming from Essos.

Warnings: swearing, mentions of smut, arranged marriage, bit of fluff

The young wolf, his childhood friend sent him home to do one thing. And before he made any decisions he managed to fuck things up.

With Theon's return came the ship from the far west that has been sailing around the Iron Islands for moons now.

On the ship ran a girl who caught his eye. She was just what he needed to ease his nerves before facing with his father.

The ironborn man was flattering the girl's appearance, targeting her shyness with slow manners. It didn't take long for her to giggle at every move he made closer. As he expected, he was quite soon allowed to linger his fingers all over her.

He took her right there on the beach, behind some rocks, thinking that would secure them from the others and let him do everything fast and finished. However, he perhaps got lost in her and didn't even consider the time he spend enjoying in her body. For Theon to notice it was long would probably take the darkness of the night. Instead, it took him the darkness of the shadow to figure out his plan to be a failure.

The shadow of the girl's mother.

" How dare you sin? " She pulled her off Theon, thinking what overcame her daughter to do such a thing.

" Who are you, boy? You some beggar? " She questioned him, looking him up and down with disgust while making her daughter get dressed.

" My father is Balon Greyjoy, I am his son Theon. " She wasn't thinking he spoke the truth, he didn't look like a son of a Lord, more like his servant or it may have been the sand he was covered in.

" We will see who your father is. "

As Theon said, his father was Balon Greyjoy who would pick any day to deal with this except today and on the first day of arrival.

" So you had that girl on the sand? " Balon was trying his best to be calm, he knew his son wasn't too smart, but to be this stupid and mess up before even given a task is a showing his lack of improvement through the years they last interacted.

" I did. " He hesitated but admitted. What was there to lie about when he knew?

" And I had to hear from her mother and father of your behaviour. Why did you have to choose her? " It was confusing him, why was it such a big deal? Who was she to be so cherished that even Balon Greyjoy was mad of her ruin?

Lord of Pyke saw his son's cluelessness, starting to speak again. " You don't know who she is, do you? " He shook his head at his father's seriousness.

" Her fucking father is some rich man from Essos. No one knows how did they become so wealthy but they did. And you ruined their daughter. " His own words made him choke.

" How can I apologise? " Theon didn't want to start his return home by ruining the mission, so he hoped to do something about his mistake.

" You think you can apologize? " Lord Greyjoy laughed at the thought. " Those Starks made you weak. " He spat the name of the family which took care of his son.

" You will marry her. That's how you will be forgiven. " Demanding voice answered him.

" Marry her? " He asked as if he didn't hear. " I just return. "

" And I already regret it. Don't argue with me, you messed up and now it's time you fix it. " Balon stared further away from his son, glancing at everything except at him.

" You shall marry her tomorrow, the quicker I get her father off my back, the better. " And thus Theon was dismissed with nothing but a quiet insult added to the memories of his family.

He walked out on the beach, the land of his sin and hopped to the place he made his newest mistake. Only a couple of seconds passed before he fell to his knees, and then dropped his head in sand. He smeared his face with the ground, almost as if burying himself so no one can see him.

He wanted to come back to his home and finally show his father he is a worthy son. However, no matter how much he wished to be good, the hard mind of an ironborn seemed to only lead him in bad paths.

Now he was going to marry the girl he didn’t even think much of. She was supposed to be like every else, just another lick of the spoon. But their little fun turned into a serious matter.

He took himself back into his home, regretting his lustful ways of dealing with stress and nerve wracks. At this point, he imagined going back to Robb and finishing the war he lead. His mission for which he was here had no more importance it had at the beginning, he just wanted to go back again, where no expectations were raised for him to reach.

On the day of his wedding, Theon was more out of his head, he barely reacted to anything happening around him, depressed over the chaos he caused.

His bride wasn't of a better face. It was obvious she went through a lot of screaming and crying before stepping into the marriage herself. Both of them looked at the guests with unbothered eyes, barely acknowledging the words people were telling them.

They only waited for the whole situation to calm down, so it could be forgotten and simply moved on from. Thankfully, the torture of remembering their inappropriate act lasted only when surrounded by others.

Left alone by the crowd, both exchanged sympathetic looks. Theon just then thought of how this also must have affected her even more than him. Sheepishly approaching his wife, Theon put his hands on her shoulders, noticing the redness under her eyes and the pain on her cheeks.

" I am terribly sorry for ruining you. It was my mistake for using you for my needs. " The man spoke with honesty and sincere regret.

" You didn't use me. It is my mistake as well. You did not force this upon me. " She spoke, having a hushed voice that at any moment threatened to whisper.

" I have used you, in fear of facing my father, I needed something to relax me. And there you were, pretty and… I just… " He couldn't word out the explanation. He didn't deal with much explaining throughout his life, now struggling when needing to do so.

" Seeing your father, honestly, I understand the nervousness. You ran for the escape from the fear and took the first that seemed effective. "

" That really is how I created this situation. " He half-smiled, remembering it. " What about you, what made you agree to it? "

The girl's pasture calmed, adjusting to her husband's touch. " Well, no deep reasoning there. I was just very bored with the travelling we have done. Jumping from one place to the other. I just wanted to stop somewhere and enjoy myself for a moment. "

Theon nodded peacefully. " It does seem those travels were a burden to you. As has my meeting with my father been to me. " She agreed in silence. They let themselves stare at each other without speaking, embracing no sounds while doing so.

The ironborn first broke the silence. " I believe we have been through enough in the latest time, thus we should for the best let our minds rest in sleep. " The girl followed her husband under the covers. She took his shoulder as her pillow at his request, falling into sleep as quickly as she would in the sand. While observing his wife, Theon noticed he liked to see her this calm and relaxed. It made him think that this mistake of his, isn't as bad as he believed it to be. He might even become fond of it. The positive outlook on the future made the heir to the Pyke fall asleep in the sweetest way possible. Imagining the good things that will come out of this marriage.

#theon greyjoy x you #theon greyjoy x reader #theon greyjoy imagine #theon greyjoy #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #game of thrones #asoiaf fic #asoiaf imagine #got imagine #got fic

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obey-me-disaster · 8 months

Text

Runway Drama

A/N: This is another fanfic for Mammon's birthday ^-^

Besides some small Mammon x gn!MC, there are no ships. Mammon is the focus

Summary: A demon is trying to start drama with Mammon to get him in trouble

"None of you will guess what happened to me today!" Mammon said angrily as he took a seat next to MC.

"Judging by the sour expression on your face, I guess nothing good..." MC handed him the portion of food they had saved for him.

"Those jerks from my latest modeling gig just told me that I am no longer part of the subject." Playing with his food, Mammon continued. "No explanation, no nothing! When I got there, they just told me I was not needed anymore, and they basically kicked me out!"

"That's certainly weird..did you try to scam one of the demons in charge by chance?" Satan inquired.

"Since I've had this contract that paid well, I had no reason to think of a new scheme. Tho, with how these guys have treated me today, I should have done it!" Seemingly losing his appetite as he thought more about his situation, he pushed his plate aside. "Damn it, I really wasted a good opportunity to make money."

"Still, the fact you were basically kicked out of the project without as much of an explanation does raise some concerns..." Lucifer mused over what his younger brother had just said.

"I will just ask them for an explanation tomorrow, then! They can't just toss the Great Mammon aside like that!"

"I don't think you'll have to do this anymore. Look." Asmo handed his phone to Mammon before he could make any other comment.

"Seems like they replaced you with Zephar." Asmo said the demon's name in a huffy voice, clearly annoyed at having to think about that demon.

"You don't seem to like him that much.." Beel comments while stuffing his face with food again.

"Of course I wouldnt' like someone as unsightly as him! He is known to start drama with others in order to make himself look good, and not only that." Asmo snatches the phone away from Mammon, ignoring his brother's protests.

"He also stole some of my designs, claiming they were his!" Showing his brothers photos from one of Zephar's older modeling shows

"He is probably after Mammon now, trying to do something similar."

Yawning, Belphehor finally seems to be interested in the whole situation. "So what you're saying is that Zephar is trying to get Mammon to react in order to start drama?"

"He just has to ignore him, right? Sure, he lost this modeling gig, but by not reacting, he should get bored of Mammon and leave him alone." Levi suggested it without breaking his concentration from his game.

"If this guy went as far as to get the others to kick me out of this show, then I am sure he is not going to leave me alone." Mammon commented while playing with his fork, the food long forgotten, "It's not the first time I've worked with these kinds of demons, but they sure never get less annoying to deal with."

As the dinner went on, the demon brothers started to shit talk about Zephar, even after there was no more food for them to eat. It wasn't until the human chimed in that they shifted the topic of discussion.

"What if we plan something so he will leave Mammon alone for good? We might as well get some sort of revenge for Asmo too while we're at it." MC said after getting all of their attention. At the mention of getting back at Zephar, all of the demon brother's attention moved onto forming a plan for it.

After a week of planning and pulling some strings with the help of Diavolo and Lucifer their plan could finally start taking shape.

"Who would have thought we could make it in time with our plan so we could hold a runway show around the same time as Zephar?" Asmo said as he was taking Mammon's measurements.

"Still...we only have a few days to plan and make all the outfits, we will need to pull some serious all nighters" Levi added, rather nervously. He and Asmo were the only ones who really knew how to make outfits from scratch, while Mammon, MC and Belphegor could help only to a certain point.

"Just the fact that we've announced a runway show around the time of Zephar's show is enough to get that asshole all rilled up." Mammon assured his younger brother. "Especially with you as the star model and Asmo as the main designer... I am just worried he will try to start something," MC raised their concerns. Everyone was aware that by announcing a show in partnership with Majolish, they would garner a lot of attention, whether unwanted or not.

"Oh well, that'll be a bridge to cross when we get there. It's not like we didn't knew what we were getting into." Mammon commented, and with that everyone went back to doing their respective tasks.

"Everyone, I have some news related to Zephar." Satan hurriedly came into the room, getting everyone's attention. "An acquaintance told me that rumors about Mammon have started to spread around."

"What kind of rumors!?" Levi blurted out as he made his way to Satan along with the others.

"Apparently there is someone spreading rumors about how Mammon treated everyone badly at the last agency, and that's why he was kicked out. Some even said that he looked down on some of the other models. " The forth born seemed in deep thought as he explained everything. "While other demons don't really know where all of these rumors started from, I think we all know the source."

"Mammon may be a money hungry idiot that scams people, but he would not treat his coworkers badly!" Asmo started to rant loudly, putting any clothing material down so he wouldn't damage it during his angry rant.

"Geez, thanks for the compliment, if I can even call it that."

"Mammon, you look oddly calm for someone who is getting their reputation tarnished." Levi chimed in, seeing his older brother being unimpressed by the whole situation.

"Well, it's not like I didn't expect that, especially after Zephar tried to confront me in person not too long ago." Mammon merely scratched his head while the others fell silent.

"He came at you in person? When? And why didn't you tell us sooner?" MC tried to make sense of whatever was going through Mammon's head.

"It was just some lame attempt at taunting me. He was most likely trying to anger me so he could use it against me later on but it didn't work, so he left quite upset." Mammon continued recalling the whole thing like it was nothing. "It felt pretty good to see him getting all upset at his failed attempt."

"You really should have mentioned this earlier. Anyway, I already got in contact with some demons in order to keep these rumors as low as possible." Satan pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to not get even more angry at the whole situation.

"Aren't you worried that Zephar will act out even more now? If someone was coming at me that way, I would probably just dig a hole for me to die in!" Levi tried to argue, visibly shivering at the thought of being in a similar situation.

"Don't ya worry too much, it's not my first time dealing with such demons, I've got everything under control." Making his way back to continue working on the outfits, the second born turned towards the others. "We really should get back to finishing these if we want to put Zephar back in his place."

Everyone looked a bit shocked at how calm and serious Mammon was about the whole thing. Satan left the room while the others went back to making the outfits for the runway. Seeing Mammon be so sure of himself made the others have more faith in his plan.

° ° °

Designers, make-up and hair stylists, and their assistants were running back and forth, making sure all of the models were ready to go face the public.

The runway show was held in one of Majolish's biggest buildings, where multiple catwalks and stages were set up with some of the more elaborate set ups they had. Both longer runways and shorter ones were scattered symetrically around the building. Still, at the center of the room, there was the longest and most intricate of the stages, where the more eye catching clothing and accessories would be presented.

While a lot of models and designers of Majolish decided to take part in the show, Mammon and Asmo were still the most advertised out of all of them.

"Lord Asmodeus, I am surprised you're not one of the models participating in this event." One of the make-up artists that was making the final touches on Mammon's make-up said.

Well, you see, this is Mammon's show, and if I were to take part in it, I'm afraid everyone would pay attention to yours truly~" Asmo winked at the demon taking care of Mammon's makeup while ignoring the sour expression his older brother is giving him.

"He should really be more thankful to have such an amazing and generous younger brother such as me," Asmo explained, capturing the lesser demon's full attention and earning an eyeroll from Mammon.

Yeah, yeah, I'm so grateful for your help, oh dear younger brother of mine." While his voice was full of sarcasm, Asmo could tell that Mammon was genuinely grateful for all the help he had gotten from his brothers. The make-up artist didn't seem to catch the sarcasm in his voice and looked pleased with the second born's response.

In the midst of Mammon and Asmo's banter, the doors got thrown wide open, revealing a really paniked Levithan, who looked like he was on the verge of fainting.

"Asmo, Mammon, we have a problem!" Hurrying to sit next to them, he starts explaining what got him all panicked.

"A good part of the outfits are gone! To be more exact, the ones that Mammon was supposed to wear and Asmo created!"

While Asmo's eyes widened as some of Beel's plates, Mammon looked unbothered by the whole thing. "MC and Beel went to investigate the whole thing and try to catch any suspects, but we might not find everything by the time the runway starts." Levi finally finished explaining everything, looking just a little more relieved after telling his brothers about the situation.

While Leviathan was catching his breath, Mammon got up and made his way towards the door. "Mammon, wait! Where are you going? Now is not the time to run around during such a dire situation!" Asmo said annoyed at his older brother's seemingly uncaring demeanor.

"I've got something to check, so don't worry about me."

Neither of his younger brothers seemed convinced by his words, so he continued. "I've made a plan just for this situation. You two go start the show as planned, and when my turn comes, put on this video to play on one of the projectors." The greed demon throws a memory stick at Leviathan as he leaves the room.

Looking at one another, both Leviathan and Asmodeus still looked worried but decided to go ahead with the plan, after all, it was not every day they saw Mammon look so sure of himself and coolheaded.

The runway starts just as planned, with the models making their way first from the smaller stages first, and then gradually coming out to the bigger catwalks, drawing the crowd's attention towards the biggest catwalk, where Mammon was supposed to come from.

All of the lights pointed to where Mammon was supposed to come out from, but no one was there. The crowd seemed both surprised and annoyed at the lack of presence from the main star. Whispers started to spread around, some trying to make sense of the situation while others downright slandering the avatar of greed's name.

The whispering went on for a minute or so, and Levi was getting ready to set up the video he got from Mammon to be played until screams could be heard from the entrance. The doors flew open as a bunch of crows flew into the room, flying in all directions and scaring the guests.

As the crows started to sit in different parts of the room, the view cleared for all of the guests to see none other than Zephar, kneeling down in front of the main runway, trying to catch his breath. Both Beelzebub and MC were standing up on either side of him to make sure he would stay where he was.

"Everyone, I am sorry for the messy scene you had to witness." All eyes moved from Zephar to the main stage, where they could see Mammon walking down on it, in the outfit that Asmo created. "We had a situation with a clothing thief who tried to ruin our show." Mammon said as he was pointing towards the demon kneeling down on the floor.

"That's absurd! I was dragged by these damn birds and those brutes in the back!" Zephar shouted as he pointed towards Beelzebub and MC. "I would never lower my level so much to the point of stealing from another runway show!" He was visibly shaking with anger and wheezing for all the crowd to see. Guests started to talk among themselves as flashes of cameras were going off in the background.

"That's a bold claim you just made, especially considering that they're all just lies." Mammon's voice raised just a bit, not daring to let it slip just what kind of words he would like to tell Zephar. "Levi, play the video I gave you earlier."

Murmurs from the crowd could be heard, but once the video started to play everyone fell silent. The video not only showed Zephar clearly stealing the outfits and accessories but also all the attempts to get Mammon angry and even Zephar talking with some other demons about how he wants to ruin the show and put Mammon in a bad light. Everything, from the fake rumors to the nasty words and the plan to ruin the show, was caught on camera for everyone to see.

"What was the whole 'dragging you here by force around'? again" Asmo made his way next to Mammon, crouching down to look at Zephar. "What's with the look on your face? A model as popular as you shouldn't make such pathetic expressions."

Zephar tried to lash out at Asmo in a fit of anger, but before he could even reach the scene, Beelzebu dragged him down while MC put on some magic chains on him. He tried to free himself from them but that quickly stopped once they started to glow. MC got down to his level.

"If I were you, I would be careful; the more you move, the hotter they'll burn, and it would be such a shame to have burn marks on that body of yours. Unless the chains melt through your body before that." Standing up with a smug expression, they looked up at Mammon and winked at him as a sign for him to go on.

"As you can see, Zephar has been harassing me for quite a while, trying to ruin my reputation in the name of starting drama." Mammon spoke up to the public.

"Not only did he get me kicked out of my previous modeling gig but he also tried to ruin this whole show." Gesturing to his crows, he continued his explanation. "I used my crows to spy on him in order to get this whole thing on camera for all of you to see. I kind of hoped it wouldn't come to this, but it doesn't matter now."

Everyone looked at him in awe. The audience, because they just witnessed the whole thing, and his brothers, cause they didn't know Mammon could act so calm and collected, only MC had a smug smile on their face as they looked up at Mammon.

"We'll take it from here now." From the same doors that Zephar burst into the room, Satan , Belphehor and Lucifer make their way towards him.

"You've really got some guts, coming after my brothers like that." Lucifer looked down on him, smirking a little at the shameful state of the demon beneath him.

"We have also looked into some of your history, so the whole situation with Mammon that you've started isn't the whole thing you'll have to worry about." Satan explained as he motioned to Beelzebub to pick Zephar up.

"Man, can you get any more lame than you are already? I'm surprised you made it so far with how sloppy you were with hiding all of your stuff" Belphegor yawned while trying to mock him.

"Guess that's our cue to leave." Beel tightened his grip on Zephar. To everyone else, it looked like the sixth born was just having a more secure grip on the model, but in reality, he just did it in order to warn Zephar that he would eat him if he tried anything.

After Zephar was dragged away, Asmo got everyone's attention. "I am truly sorry for the delay of our runway. I hole you've enjoyed the show that we just put on but now is time to get back to the main show!"

Before making his way to the backstage area, Asmo turned towards Mammon with a big smile on his face. I can't believe we actually pulled that off, do you think the others are putting the fear of God into him right as we speak?"

Mammon, no longer being capable of hiding his grin replied. "I am sure they are doing so much worse than that"

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me mammon #obey me lucifer #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me mc

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wonderwomanpleasesteponme · 1 year

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Ignoring the facts that I already have a tfa au in the works that I haven't updated in a while and have exams tomorrow I made an tfa au based on the fact that there was supposed to be a time travel episode where Bumblebee was a prime in the future. Oh and the madness with Galvatron happened. So here are some memes for this au because again I have exams tomorrow and the following days so I don't have time to sit down and write crap, at least until exams are over.

I added to Terrans because 1) I thought it would be funny and 2) all possible plot points that I could play around with. Also I call Future!Bumblebee Goldbug to differ him from regular Bumblebee, so he is Goldbug Prime.

I know almost nothing about Astrotrain's character other than he's a bastard and chaotic but by God that would not stop me from writing about him.

What can I say but I like the Starbee ship, that and I get to play around with the forbidden romance of an Autobot and a Decepticon.

There are so many fics about Megop and Blitzbee so I thought I would mix it up a bit with Starbee for a change.

Those two freak them out. Tarantulas freaks Optimus out the most for obvious reasons.

Before he would give anything to be a Prime/commander but now he is trying to dodge leadership responsibilities like their bullets but he still always ends up taking up the role of team leader.

That's right Cygatewhirl is canon in this au even though I don't think that Tailgate and Whirl exist in the tfa world.

They would be rethinking a lot of their life choices and a lot of things on how Autobot society works after this whole mess is over.

Like in gen 1 the reason why Bumblebee switched names to Goldbug is because he was almost fully destroyed but was rebuilt with a completely new look.

Ain't nobody like Galvatron in this au.

I couldn't resist doing something awful to the twins traumatizing them even more and the fact that Jetfire in other media starts out as a Decepticon before switching sides to the Autobots.

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netherworldpost · 17 days

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Would you ever make the "I have a lot of feelings about this book" card design into a sticker label? I'd love to buy a pack to put on my favorite books before I lend them out. Also, not me shopping in your store before I actually receive my first order ... BUT I LOVE YOUR STUFF!

Hey there! Firstly, thank you!

I'm extremely pleased and humbled by your enjoyment. I'm also a bit "hm hm! hm!!" because we are barely starting out along a very long plan to make wonder and create dazzle.

Book stickers get tricky. It has to be extremely clearly worded in teh description "this sticker is unlikely to come off and will likely cause damage if you remove it" and other such things.

So saying, there is a future phase of... stuff... (everything from stickers similar to what you mentioned to registry stuff to stories and rambles) called "Eldritch Librarian" that I've been tinkering with for some 7 or 8 years at least.

It started slowly with Evil Supply Co. but the company was so scattered that the notes just kinda went everywhere and I couldn't focus. Part of --

The Shift I Ought to Cleverly Name and Likely Won't Because It Amuses Me To Call It Something Different Every Time

-- has been to resolve that lack of focus.

With book modifications, things get inherently personal, very quickly (hence the looping this project with Eldritch Librarian). Some books are to gift, some are to lend, both need to be addressed in modification.

The Short Answer: Yes, on an unknown schedule, and part of a larger system.

As to your order!

Again I say thank you!

It's ready.

It's either in the mail or will be in the mail tomorrow (Monday, April 22).

If you haven't gotten an email tracking yet, that will come on Monday morning sometime, depending on where your order sat in the queue.

I was tinkering with the shipping system last night.

Tracking info generates immediately when your label is produced, as your order is packed, but prior to said tinkering, it would only email Day Of Going Out the Door.

Now it emails within a few minutes of the label being generated.

The advantage to this being those of us whom Are Frequently Awake in the Middle of the Night staring at the walls and wondering "hm has that shipped yet" and rather than waiting on servers to click over to what is deemed (for whatever reason) as The Time to Send, it just sends immediately.

I will also say thank you one last time.

When I say "I was overwhelmed with the initial response" I mean it both emotionally (most positive possible connotation) and physically (most positive possible connotation).

I'll always ship what is currently considered slow -- always a small pile of days, the target is 2 - 5 days, with an upper limit of 8 or 9 days.

The window being "do we have your particular item in stock, right now, or will it be added to the next production run."

I could (and have) ramble about it for many (many) hours, but the short answer comes down to:

We produce in very small batches (high inventory can increase profit but compromises ability to experiment)

In off-peak hours (this allows us to slash production cost, enabling us to sell cards very inexpensively)

Using non-billionaire-owned suppliers as often as possible, respecting their production lines and timeframes etc. This is not a rebuff or commentary of anyone's business practices. It is simply part of my "We are a tiny business, we should support small businesses when buying boxes, etc." sensibility.

We hit what I figured we'd sell in our first six months within about six days.

The good thing about logistics, though, is there are industries (purposefully plural) around every single problem that exists. And just raw practice. There was a point where I figured out how to fold boxes a certain way that cut the time to fold in half.

Okay this was a lot :)

So: Yes. But not very soon. Part of something bigger. And THANK YOU!

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theanonymousopossum · 5 months

Text

Secret Santa

Hello @siriusleee! Surprise, I'm your fic author for the @acotargiftexchange!

I've loved our chats about Elriel, and I was SO excited to make this for you. What I've made will be a Theseus and Ariadne inspired AU with spy Azriel and princess Elain, with a few of my own creative additions added in.

This fic is multiple parts (originally supposed to be a one-shot, but I kinda lost control and it got super long before I even hit the halfway point), but it is largely prewritten.

Below is part one, full of all of the exposition, I hope you enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

Azriel stalked through the hallways swiftly, brushing past the servants who scuttled quickly out of his way, knowing better than to interrupt him in this mood.

He threw open the door to General Cassian’s office without knocking, barely registering the loud bang of the wood hitting the wall, striding in and slamming down a small stack of papers on the desk.

“Dead. Again. Every single one of them. No mentions of how or why, just the same thing on every sheet: our kingdom is unendingly grateful for the service provided by some person’s name, however we are deeply saddened to inform you that, tragically, some person’s name has perished fighting,” Azriel said to Cassian, who looked tired but upon hearing this news straightened, frowning.

“That’s the 5th stack of letters we’ve gotten in 2 months. There is no possible way the king is going through the soldiers that fast if they’re placed in open combat. At least one of them should have survived, yet within 2 weeks we receive a letter saying they died ‘fighting’. I’m starting to suspect some foul play,” Cassian said, his eyes roving over the reports, each of them, like all their predecessors, containing a name and a simpering apology.

“Agreed. But how would we stop it? Our army is nowhere near big enough to launch an attack on them, especially not with our soldiers thinning by the month due to these shipments,” Azriel responded, his brow furrowing in thought.

Cassian tapped his fingers on the desk. He had an idea, clearly, but given the way he was looking at Azriel it wasn’t something either of them would be too happy to enact.

“Just spit it out,” Azriel snapped wearily, “it can’t be any worse than shipping good soldiers off to their immediate death.”

“Well…” Cassian began, “I want to find out what’s really happening. If we can find out where all the soldiers are disappearing to, it will be much easier to make a final decision on how to handle this. For that, I’ll have to rely on an experienced soldier, not one of the fresh-faced younglings. And, more importantly, I need someone who is good at finding hidden information. If I’m right about there being more to this than meets the eye, then it will take more than a footsoldier to sniff it out. King Archeron won’t leave his plans just lying out in the open. With that said…”

He trailed off, clearly not wanting to finish that statement, but Azriel knew what he was getting at.

“You want me to go with the next batch of soldiers and find out what’s happening.”

It was a statement of fact, not a question, and given Cassian’s lack of correction, Azriel knew he was right. Cassian merely looked up at him, his hazel eyes scanning Azriel’s face for any sign of fear or reluctance. He found none.

“I will go,” the spy of Illyria said, not a hint of any cowardice visible in his voice, “and I will find out what is happening. When is the next batch of soldiers to be sent?”

“Tomorrow morning, they leave at dawn,” Cassian said, and, though he tried to hide it, the relief in his voice was clear. Despite his harsh exterior, the general was a good man at heart, and he hated to see all these deaths; not only because of the loss of soldiers in his army but also because of the loss of life.

“Then I’ll be on the boat too. More than likely I won’t be able to send any letters once I’ve arrived, so you’ll have to wait until I get back for information.”

“How do you plan on returning? The boat carrying the soldiers will leave as soon as all have deboarded, and if I send a boat to come pick you up the king is sure to have questions. After tomorrow the next boat isn’t due to come into the port of Hybern for two weeks, and I doubt you’ll be able to keep your cover for that long if all the soldiers are not sent into combat, as I suspect.”

“I’m not entirely sure yet. That’s something I’ll have to worry about when I get there. More than likely I will be able to steal a small boat and row over to one of the neighbouring islands where I can catch a trade ship or something and return on it.”

“I don’t like that answer, but I don’t have a better solution. If you’re sure you’re up for this, then I bid you farewell. May the stars listen to your prayers,” Cassian said, saying the ancient blessing for good luck.

“And may your dreams be answered,” Azriel responded, completing the saying. “I am sure of this course. I have survived worse, and I will hopefully return within a week.”

Cassian nodded his assent, saying, “Alright then. Go rest up, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

With that, Azriel turned on his heel and walked out the door, striding to his chambers. He fell asleep surprisingly quickly, given what he was being asked to do, but his dreams were full of soldiers and faceless kings ordering him to be killed. Then the dream changed.

In his mind, he saw a beautiful princess. He could not entirely make out her features, but he saw golden brown waves of hair framing her face, with doe brown eyes staring at him in concern.

He looked around, at his surroundings. The princess was in a beautifully elaborate room, decorated with the finest silks and most costly jewels. Clearly, no expense had been spared.

“Come and save me, my hero,” the princess called out from where she was sitting on the luxurious bed, piled high with goose-feather pillows and thick, warm blankets. It was then he noticed the thin golden chain. It was attached on one end to a small hook in the floor, on the other end it wrapped around her ankle. The chain was so thin, it might have been used in a necklace, and he wondered why she hadn’t just pulled and snapped it. But then suddenly the princess stood and ran towards him. She reached the end of her chain, but it did not shatter, no matter how hard she strained.

“My hero,” she cried again, this time her voice laced with pain, “come and find me. Take me. Save me!”

He reached out a hand to her but found he was just out of reach. His feet were rooted to the ground.

When he awoke the next day, he remembered nothing of the girl, or her chain, or her pleas. He dressed himself in his soldier’s uniform and departed for the dock, calmly awaiting whatever the Fates had laid out in his path.

—--------------------

The boat ride passed uneventfully. Azriel had boarded the ship, a beautiful vessel that, judging by the looks, had been made only recently, and had kept tabs on the other soldiers being sent with him. All of them were young men in their late teens or twenties, soldiers with an eagerness to prove themselves mighty heroes in war.

As he stepped onto the island of Hybern, he took in his surroundings. Azriel had never been here before, though he had given careful study to the maps and reports given to him by the spies under his command.

Hybern was a beautiful city built upon a small island, and it was very different from the large cities he was accustomed to on the continent. Canals were built all along the city, leading to a place that had more paths for water than for people. A small boat he knew was called a ploion was docked nearby, and its function was to transport people down the rivers of the city.

The architecture, however, was what truly blew him away. Since there were no real streets, all the buildings were stacked into apartments, which were painted in gorgeous, vibrant colours. Hues of red, orange, yellow, and blue covered everything in sight, from the boats to the houses to even some of the people.

Azriel had a moment of confusion. Why were so many people dressed up elaborately? Last he had known, the native Hybernians dressed rather simply for day-to-day affairs.

However, he had no more time to dwell on the scenery before he and the rest of the soldiers that were sent were herded together towards the docks, where several more ploia were waiting for them.

Soon then people appeared, Hybernians by the look of their face, and servants of the king by the style of their garments.

One stepped onto each boat, the one in Azriel’s explained that he was the doulon in charge of escorting them to the king, and then looking after their needs until the soldiers left the palace to do the king’s bidding.

When Azriel questioned him about the people he had seen in the fancy dress, the man replied,

“They’re all dressed up for tonight’s ball, of course. It’s Princess Elain’s 22nd birthday, and in a generous gesture from the agathe arche, all of the people have been invited, including yourselves.”

This was news to Azriel. He was fully aware that the king had a daughter, though he had never bothered to learn her birthday, nor was he aware that there was a ball he was expected to attend. He reasoned, however, that he could use that to his advantage, as with everyone away celebrating, he could slip through the palace undetected.

Soon the ploia were steered into the waiting harbour, and Azriel and the other soldiers were marched inside by soldiers, with the doulon following closely behind.

The corridors were full of twists and turns, but Azriel, ever the trained spy, memorized the path they walked, as well as rooms of note. He had a decent idea of the layout of the castle, but he didn’t know which room the king’s study was in, or, should that yield nothing of interest, where he might keep his important documents.

Just as he began to ponder how suspicious it would look if he asked questions about the castle’s rooms, their party suddenly came to a halt outside of a massive set of double doors, bigger than any Azriel had seen so far.

Four of the guards came forward and hauled the heavy wooden slabs open, and inside was the most breathtaking room any of the company had ever seen.

A/N: Thus concludes part 1, hope you loved it, and I'm hoping to post the next part within a few days (which will depend on how good my tech skills are with cueing as I won't have internet for a week starting Saturday), otherwise it will be posted right on the New Year. Also, if you want to know the process behind the special names, PLEASE feel free to drop into my ask box or the comments (they're based off a language I study and as @ladyartichokie, my wonderful beta reader (big shoutout to her for editing this), can confirm, I am a huge language nerd)

Merry Christmas again!

#theanonymousopossum #elriel fanfiction #elriel #pro elriel #elain archeron #elain x azriel #acotar gift exchange #secret santa #acotar

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kimium · 1 month

Note

What are your favourite things about Chrobin (FEH) as a ship? Feel free to expand as much or as little as you want in terms of details! 💜

Aw, thanks friend! I'm super excited to answer this question! For anyone who isn't aware, Chrobin is the name of a ship from Fire Emblem Awakening (Chrom/Robin). They also appear in the mobile game, Fire Emblem Heroes (FEH).

Note: When I talk about Robin in general, I use gender neutral pronouns (they/them). Unless I'm talking about a specific Robin from FEH.

I also have spoilers for Fire Emblem Awakening here.

Let's get started!

Reasons I love Chrobin

I think the core reason why I love Chrobin so much is summed up nicely in this post HERE (not my post). I highly recommend reading it to understand the full picture, but in general:

I like Chrobin because it wasn't intended to be "canon" yet recently Intelligence Systems (I.S.) seems to be pushing it as a "heavily implied canon pairing".

I think it's so funny that within the game proper I.S. strongly intended/hinted that Sumia is Chrom's "canon wife". Yet in recent material for Fire Emblem Awakening (in Heroes), this perspective has shifted drastically to focus on Robin. And that the first time we as a player base saw this "unofficial shift" was in the Valentine Banner with Duo Chrom.

Now, I know the logical answer to why they paired Duo Valentine Chrom with Male Robin is because they didn't "want to suggest a canon pairing with Female Robin". However, when past Valentine Duo units HAVE been canon couples/ very strongly hinted canon couples (such as Alm/Celica), there was no way the fandom was going to sit and go "yeah, this is 100% heteronormative". Nope! Instead I saw fanart for months after that banner's drop with all the gay Chrobin dancing across my dashboard.

However, the cherry on top is how it seems I.S. is leaning into Male Robin/Chrom HARD. I'm still not over the Engage paralogue, I.S. They're spirits. Together. In a Ring. Are you kidding me??

Also, I love how I.S. simply isn't separating Chrom and Robin. Look at our most recent example is with our new Young Awakening banner dropping tomorrow. I.S. is once again did NOT separating Chrom and Robin (this time a duo unit with Female Robin in lead). I hope this won't be the last time I.S. strongly "suggests" Chrobin because I'm loving this.

Love is presented as both a character flaw and strength regarding Chrom's death at Robin's hands.

Due to being a strong Chrobin shipper, every time I think about the bad timeline, I want to scream my feelings out to the world. Chrom dies by Robin's hand only because they're possessed by the Fell Dragon, Grima. There could have been other ways to kill Chrom, I'm certain, but the implication that having Robin do it was the most efficient way to do it? That Chrom would never see that coming because of the trust, loyalty, love, and devotion to Robin?

(Or what about Lucina? If Robin is one of her parents this means Lucina willingly travelled back to the past knowing she has to kill Robin. That's the entire point of time travel is to stop the apocalypse. The only way is to kill Grima's vessel AKA Robin. Yet, she can't do it.)

Are you kidding me, I.S.?? I need to scream into my pillow all my feelings.

They always had chemistry (my opinion) in their supports, but Heroes and Engage only added more.

Look. I walked into Awakening blind and I 100% firmly believed in my first play through that Chrobin was end game. I thought their relationship dynamic was interesting and clearly charged with "they are more than just friends" energy. We add in the Duo conversation/dialogue from the Awakening Valentine banner + Engage's entire paralogue with them?? I'm looking at I.S. like I'm looking into the camera from The Office.

And there you have it friend. I know I have other reasons why I like this ship but here are my core reasons. I hope you like this answer!

#personal #replies #fire emblem awakening #chrobin #my thoughts and opinions

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bad268 · 2 years

Text

Bottles (CC! Quackity X Reader)

Fandom: RPF

Requested: No

Warnings: Use of Quackity’s name (Alex)

Pronouns: you/your/they/them

W.C.5565

Summary: The story of how Alex and the Reader became a couple.

As always, my requests and ships are OPEN

MASTERLIST // HITLIST

~~(^@/Alex’s Twitter/my profile pic)

On your first day in college, you ran into someone. The campus was huge, and you did not account for getting lost. And you certainly did not plan on running into someone. Looking up, you make eye contact with a guy sitting on the ground across from you who was wearing a black hoodie and red beanie. You anxiously began collecting your bag that fell off your shoulder and the few papers that flew out of it, “I’m so sorry! This campus is bigger than I expected, and I’m lost.”

“Hey, it’s not a problem. I’m Alex by the way,” he responded, helping you grab the papers, one of which being your schedule. “Oh, you’re heading to Justice Studies and Law with Weins?”

“I’m Y/n, and yeah, I’m studying law,” you responded, looking over to the sheet he was looking at. “I don’t even know where that building is!” “I do! It’s actually that way,” he pointed behind you as he stood up, holding a hand out for you. You took it and stood up, brushing dirt off of your pants. “I can go with you. I have that class too.”

“No way! That would be amazing. Thank you,” You expressed while turning to head toward the classroom.

“It’s not a problem, but we gotta hurry,” Alex rushed, “Class starts in 2 minutes.”

On your first group assignment, you were paired with Alex. You needed to do a presentation on a policy that could be implemented to reduce recidivism (the tendency of a criminal to reoffend). We needed to put together a research paper, outlining our methods, and we needed to make a slideshow to present to our professor. Today, we were meeting up at the library to start the project.

I was sitting at one of the tables with a couple of books on recidivism rates and possible methods to combat it. It was nearly 4 PM, and we agreed to meet at 3, yet Alex had not shown up yet. I decided I would just call him to see what was going on.

On Alex’s side, he completely forgot about the project. He was streaming Roblox with a couple of his friends when his phone started ringing. He laughed it off, telling chat it was probably his mom, before looking down to see your name on the screen. Chat immediately noticed how wide his eyes became and started spamming questioning remarks in the chat. Alex quickly answered the phone and muted his stream, “Hey, Y/n/n. What’s up?”

“Our project?” You responded. “The one that we agreed to meet at the library for?”

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry! I thought that was tomorrow!” He freaked out, moving to start ending the stream without addressing the chat. He sent a message to the group chat saying he had to leave urgently. He started shutting his monitors off, ran around his room, grabbing his school supplies, and ran out the front door to get to the library quickly. “I’m an asshole, I’m sorry!”

“No, don’t worry about it, Alex,” you reassured. “I got to get some good research in, and I think I have a few good ideas for our paper.”

“I still feel shitty that I made you wait,” Alex said, walking through the courtyard toward the library. “What can I do to make it up to you?”

“How about this,” you proposed, “You do the whole slideshow, and we work together on writing the paper?”

“Deal, but I still feel bad,” He admitted. He paused for a second as he walked into the library before spotting you at the table and hanging up the phone. He approached the table, and set his bag down before he got an idea, “how about I also take you to dinner tonight?”

“Like as a date?” You asked.

“Yeah, as a date,” Alex responded, but stopped for a second before adding, “Unless you’re uncomfortable with that, then it can just be as friends, or as partners, but not like relationship partners, but work partners-”

“Alex, chill,” you cut his rambling off, “I’d love to go on a date with you.”

On your first date, he took you to McDonalds and the beach. Being the broke college students you were, he took you to McDonalds, and instead of eating at the McDonalds, you walked to the beach where you would watch the sunset. You guys stopped off at the pop shop on the corner and got classic sodas since the McDonalds was out of Sprite.

Getting to the beach, you took off your shoes once you started walking on the sand, and Alex took the lead in finding a good spot to sit to see the sunset. He ended up finding a cement table that no one was at, so he made a beeline for it. Setting the bags of food down, he turned around to grab the bottles from your hand, so you could sit at the table. “Is this a good spot?” “It’s perfect, Alex,” you responded, setting your bag down beside you as you sat down facing the ocean. Alex sat next to me, and we started eating our food. “So tell me, what were you doing when I called you?”

“Honestly, I was playing a video game with my friends,” Alex admitted. Honestly, he did not want to flat-out say he was streaming, so he settled for saying what he was doing. “No way, what game?” You responded, enthusiastically. “I love video games!”

“Really? We were playing Roblox, but we usually play GMod or Minecraft,” He answered with a smile. You did not look like the type of person to enjoy video games, but he learned to never judge a book by its cover.

“I love those games! If you ever need an extra, I’d be down to play with you guys,” you offered, turning to look at the ocean. The sun had just started to go down, and instead of looking out with you, Alex was staring at you. He did not know what he did to meet you, get partnered with you, or even get to take you out on a date. He definitely thought that not showing up for the project would cause you to hate him, but on the contrary, it brought you two closer. Alex was caught off guard when you suddenly looked at him, “you want to know something funny?”

“Sure,” he laughed lightly without even knowing what was funny.

You leaned in closer to Alex before whispering, “I am actually deathly afraid of oceans, but I love beaches.” Upon seeing Alex’s confused face, you started giggling to yourself.

“What?” He laughed in disbelief. “What do you mean?”

“Like I hate how deadly oceans are, and how we don’t know what’s in them. I’m afraid of the unknown,” You explained. “However, I love the significance of beaches. It’s halfway between land and ocean, but my parent and I would always throw bottles with letters into the ocean during monumental moments.”

“That’s interesting,” Alex responded. “Did you do one for your first day of college?”

“No,” you paused before looking away with a sigh, “my parent passed away a year ago, so I didn’t think it would be right to do it myself, y’know?”

“Well, what if I started doing it with you?” Alex offered. Your head shot over to look at him in questioning, seeing if he was lying or making fun of you. “I think it sounds really cool, and if it means so much to you, I’ll do it with you.”

“Wow really?” You gasped in shock. He just nodded in response with a small smile. You threw your arms around him, and he wrapped his arms around your shoulders, hugging you back. “Thank you, Alex. That would be awesome.”

“I guess we have some letters to write,” He said pulling out a notebook and two pens. He ripped out a page for you and a page for him. At this point, the sun was almost entirely set, and the streetlights were illuminating the table.

08/04/2019

I don’t know how to start this…

Um, I guess I just started college and it’s been rough trying to balance school and streaming, but I’m getting there. My viewers have been growing recently so I’m thankful for that, but I also get so nervous because I think someone will recognize me in class. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen. Anyway, I also met Y/n, and holy shit, I want to be around them all the time. They’re just so interesting to be around, I might actually like them, but I’m not sure how they feel about me yet. We’ll see.

-Alex

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

08/04/2019

To whoever finds this,

I started college a couple of weeks ago, and it’s been insane. The workload has not been nearly as bad as I thought, and the classes are so interesting! I’m really liking the college life so far. I met this guy, Alex, and he’s really nice. Except for the fact that he made me wait an hour for our PLANNED meeting for a project we have. Other than that, pretty good. Anyways, thanks random person who finds this!

~Y/N

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

At some point, while writing your letter, you started shivering. The light jacket you brought to class was no match for the change of weather. Alex, however, noticed immediately and started moving closer to you; eventually, he moved to wrap his arm around your shoulder. Looking up from your letter, you smiled at him before leaning into him more as you rolled the paper up and put it in the now empty soda bottle. Alex already had his rolled up and put it inside the bottle, so once you got yours set, you both stood up and walked towards the shore.

“Throw it as far as you can, and hope it doesn't come back,” you laughed, chucking the bottle into the never-ending water. He laughed as well, throwing his toward the horizon.

On your third date, he asked you to be his significant other. The date was chill. He invited you over, you both cooked some steak, and then you watched a movie. You were currently sitting next to him, engrossed in the movie. It was one of Alex’s favorites, and afterward, you guys decided to watch your favorite movie. While you were focused on the TV, Alex was looking between you and the screen. He had his arm across the back of the couch, and he wanted to put it around your shoulder. He saw you shift slightly closer to him, so he took the chance and wrapped his arm around your shoulder. You looked up at him before smiling and leaning deeper into his side as you looked back at the screen.

“You know, I really like you, Alex,” you said randomly as the credits rolled through.

“Like enough to level up?” He joked.

“Is that you asking me to be your significant other?” You laughed. He just smiled nervously with a pleading look in his eyes. “Of course!”

At some point during the second movie, you had fallen asleep. The original plan was to take you back to your apartment, but he did not have the heart to wake you up. Thus, he just picked you up, took you into his bedroom, and laid you on his mattress. He plugged in your phone and made sure your alarm was on since you had class in the morning. Instead of staying in there with you, he went back to the living room to sleep on the couch. He was not tired yet, but he remembered your first date when you told him that the bottle-throwing was for monumental moments. To him, this was a monumental moment.

10/13/2019

Wow, I did it.

I asked Y/n to be my significant other, and they said yes! If someone finds this bottle but not the others, here's a little backstory: Y/n and I met on our first day of college, and I fell for them, literally. We went on our first date a couple of months ago, and I can’t remember what it was like without them. I think I may love them, but right now, I’m just glad they’re my significant other. Maybe next, I’ll tell them what I do for a living.

-Alex

The next morning, you woke up in an unfamiliar room to your alarm. You sat up to look at it, and there was a note next to your phone.

Hey, had an early lecture. Feel free to stay as long as you want or eat anything in my fridge haha. I know you have a 12 o'clock lecture, so if you leave early or I’m not back, there’s a key on the kitchen counter. Take it with you <3 Alex

Cute.

On the first day of your second semester, he asked you to move in. You were already over at his place every night since he lived closer to campus, and you were going out every other night. It seemed like the next step, and you were more than happy to move in. Your roommates were, quite literally, from hell and your lease was up at the end of the month.

When he asked you, you were sitting at the beach on New Year's Eve, watching the fireworks. Something about fireworks on the beach just seemed better than watching the ball drop on TV before lighting a few small fireworks in your driveway. Plus, you guys didn’t spend a dime on fireworks; it was a free show. The only things you did buy were some dinner and sodas from the bottle shop. You two had been sitting at the same table as your first date, and when you finished eating, Alex pulled you closer to his side with his arm around your shoulders. “What’s your New Year’s resolution?” You asked, leaning into him as the wind blew a little harder. “I want to go to the gym, but with my schedule this semester, I don’t know if I’ll manage that.”

“I want to do more in my job,” he said vaguely. He still hadn’t told you about streaming, but he did say he was a public figure. “I’d also like to spend the next year with you, mi vida.”

“Wait, actually?” You gasped in shock. He nodded and smiled, looking intently at you. “I would spend every minute of every day with you if I could. I love you, Alex.”

“I’m glad you love me, too. It makes this next question easier,” he trails off, pulling away to grab both of your hands. He lifted them up to place small kisses along your knuckles. He took a deep breath before asking, “Would you like to move in with me?”

“What? Are you serious, Alex?” You retorted with wide eyes. You could not believe he wanted you to move in with him already.

“I mean-” he stumbled. “We could stay in the same room, or you can have the guest room! Either works for me, but don’t feel pressured to say yes! I’d hate for you to only say yes to make me happy because it wont-I mean, I’ll be happy if you do but I won't be upset if you say no-”

“Alex, slow down,” You cut off his rambling. He took a deep breath before looking into your eyes. “I would love to live with you, Alex.”

“Oh, no way?” He responded in shock. In all honesty, he did not think you would say yes despite hoping you would. You nodded with a smile as you leaned up to kiss him. He laughed into the kiss as everyone around you started cheering. Confused, you both pulled away and noticed the increase of fireworks and people kissing; it was January 1st, 2020. “Happy New Year, Y/n/n.”

“Happy New Year, Alex.”

01/01/2020

Happy New Year!

It’s the start of a new year and new beginnings! We are leveling up (Alex’s term, not mine!) our relationship and moving in together! We are also going into our next semester of uni, and we aren’t failing yet! I’ll take that as a win. Hopefully, nothing fucks up our plans haha

~Y/N and Alex

On your first month of living together, you walked into him editing a video. You thought he was working on an assignment, but you walked in and saw a video that he was editing on his screen. It was a Roblox video. At first, you thought he was watching a video, but when you noticed him n the facecam, you knew that was what he meant when he said he was a public figure.

“You make videos?” You asked, setting the plate of food that you made for him on his desk.

“Ah,” he screamed, not noticing you walk in. He flushed red with embarrassment, turning to face you. “Oh, um yeah?”

“So like youtube videos or do you stream as well?” You asked curiously as you moved to sit on his lap to look at the screen better. “I’m really interested to know more.”

“Yeah, youtube and twitch, and are you actually interested, or are you just saying that to not hurt my feelings?” His eyes widened as he wrapped his arms around your waist and turned to make you both face the screen.

“No, it's really cool!” You replied enthusiastically. “I have a lot of respect for content creators. Takes guts to be under that much pressure.”

“I did not think it was possible to love you any more than I already did, mi amor,” He laughed, turning your face to kiss your cheek. “Take a look at this, I’ve been working on this for weeks!”

“Oh so this is what you do instead of this ‘incredibly huge project’ I see,” You laughed.

“Shush and watch.”

02/14/2020

Holy shit, he’s popular! I walked in on Alex editing a video, and he told me that he's been posting youtube videos for YEARS! AND THEY’RE GOOD?! I have never been so proud to call this guy mine <3

~Y/n

On your second month of living together, you got stuck in lockdown. COVID-19 was raging in your area. So much so that classes were converted online, and the government mandate everyone stay at home.

To many, this would be the end of the world. To the two of you, you saw this as an opportunity. A chance for you to spend time together, for Alex to stream more, and for you to work on your assignments. You took more credits than Alex because you wanted to graduate early, so instead of having 12 credits like Alex, you are managing 23 credits.

“What’re you streaming?” You whispered as you walked into his recording room to ask. He had been in there all day, and you knew he had an assignment due the next day that he had not started.

“Hey,” He muted himself to chat. He wanted you to keep your privacy for as long as possible since he did not know your position on being introduced to chat. “Minecraft.”

“Oh, you should teach me to play one day,” You thought aloud.

“Whatcha need, mi hermoso?” He replied, looking over at you slightly.

“You’ve been in here for three hours, and you have an assignment due tomorrow that I know you haven’t started,” You explained. “I just wanna make sure you complete it on time.”

“Aw, thank you, cariño,” He smiled, endearingly, turning his attention back to his chat. He sees comments flying by, asking who he is talking to, why he was smiling, and a load of people being banned. He unmuted himself, “Alright guys, Imma head out. I have an assignment I forgot about, but I’ll stream in a couple of days with Sapnap and Karl, so look out for that. Later guys!” With that, he ends the stream and gets up to leave the room, pulling you with him. “I’ll work on it if you cuddle with me while I do it.”

“As long as you let me up to make dinner tonight and we go on a beach walk tonight. I want to leave the house, but I’m also craving enchiladas,” You posed, leading him to the living room where you already had his laptop charged and set on the couch.

“Deal,” he laughed, pulling you into a kiss. “You make the best enchiladas. Also, I will definitely teach you Minecraft.”

03/21/2022

Alex is gonna teach me Minecraft! I’ve never played before, so it will be interesting. From what I know, he builds and fights a lot, so it will be fun to learn both of them. Also, he needs to get better at remembering his assignments. If he can't remember assignment due dates, he might forget bigger dates like our anniversary. Hopefully not, but we’ll work on it haha

~Y/n

On your first stream, you pulled the biggest audience he’s ever had. Maybe that was because it was a Jackbox stream, maybe it was because 5/5 feral boys were there, maybe it was because of you, or maybe it was because Alex named the stream, “Jackbox with 5/5 and s/o.”

“Chat, chat, chat!” He started off. You could hear him in the room over, but you were in the discord call with his friends. They started talking about leaving the call or being silent when he joined.

“Hey, guys, that’s mean,” You reasoned. “He’s streaming!”

“I’m sorry, but who asked?”

“Who even are you?”

“Bro literally no one asked.”

“It’s funny.”

“It’s really not,” you said quietly. “He’s just trying to get content.”

“Well news flash,” the first guy said before shouting, “no one cares!”

“Karl what the fuck!” Alex yelled as he unmuted himself in the discord call. “Guys, this is Y/n, my s/o.”

“Oh shit,” Karl mumbled. “I’m sorry Y/n, it’s part of the joke.”

“Doesn’t sound like a joke to me,” You snapped with a small smile, remembering how one of Alex’s streams took 30 minutes to start because of this, “Sounds like bullying.”

“That’s just how we are. Get used to it,” the second guy said. In the call, the name ‘Sapnap’ lit up, so I knew it was one of Alex’s best friends.

“Ok you guys know who I am, so who are you?” You started as Alex began pulling up the game. “I know Sapnap and Karl, but who else is on this call?”

“I’m Dream,” the third guy responded. The profile picture that lit up was green, and you thought you remembered seeing a video for Dream on Alex’s recommended page.

“You should know who I am, Alex probably talks about me a lot,” a British guy boasts.

“You’d be surprised,” You admitted. “He talks a lot about Sap and Karl, but he never talks about a British guy.”

“Quackity, what is wrong with you!” He screams. “You don’t talk about me?”

“Jesus Christ, I do, but I never mentioned that you were British,” Alex explained with a laugh. “Y/n/n, that’s George.”

“Oh, Gogy!” You exclaimed with recognition. “Are we gonna get started or not?”

“Yeah, but no pandering or I swear to god-”

05/09/2020

The first stream, the best stream? I mean it went well. I won a couple of games, but I learned very quickly that pandering toward Dream and George worked out almost 100 percent of the time in quiplash. I also DEMOLISHED Alex in madverse city. His autotune was no match for my roasts.

~Y/n

On your first anniversary, you streamed. You guys were still in lockdown, and you had been appearing in almost every stream since your first appearance. The chat loved you, and they loved the playful bickering between you and Alex. Today’s stream was a Spanish stream. Alex thought it would be funny to react to Spanish soap operas with you, and you did not have a problem with it.

“Oh my god, chat! She cheated on him!” You gasped into the microphone. “He’s never going to forgive her.”

“Hey, maybe he’ll give her the benefit of the doubt,” Alex countered. You two sat in silence for a few seconds, looking at each other, and challenging each other’s ideas, before breaking into laughter. You leaned back into him from your spot on his lap as he kissed your head. “Let’s just keep going. Chat, clip that.”

“Oh my god, chat no!” You shouted as Alex laughed and pressed play on the video. Turns out, the man was also cheating on the woman with her mom. Alex and I both gasped dramatically when this was revealed. Then, the woman, revealed that the man she was cheating on him with was his dad. We gasped again, but it got even worse. The scene faded to the man’s dad and the woman’s mom on a romantic dinner. That was the end of the season. “Jesus Christ, chat”

“Plot twist,” Alex signed with wide eyes. “What if the plot of the next season is that they’re siblings?’

“Ew, oh my god, Alex no!”

10/13/2020

One year. Wow. That’s all I have to say. What did I do to deserve them?

-Alex

On your second anniversary, Alex started thinking you were it for him. You did not care that he had, unintentionally and accidentally, agreed to be in Tommy’s lore stream, so he was in his office all day. When he finally came out at almost 10 PM, you were passed out on the couch as if you were waiting for him. He looked in the kitchen and found a plate of enchiladas in the microwave for him. He smiled to himself before going to lift you off the couch. You stirred a little but did not actually wake up, so he took you into your shared room to lay you on the bed. He did not want you to hurt your neck from the way you were laying, and he would be in there right after he ate. As he was about to leave, he heard the bed start moving, so he turned around to see your eyes opening.

“Alex, how was the stream?” You mumbled, sleepily.

“Great, it turned out better than expected, but you go back to sleep. I’m gonna go eat and I’ll be back in here,” He whispered, coming up to the side of the bed to push some hair away from your eyes.

“No,” you whined. Alex laughed at you as you lifted your arms for him to carry you. “I wanna stay with you.”

“I’m just going to eat, mi vida” he chuckled lightly, trying to tuck you into the bed. “Stay here.”

“No it’s our anniversary, and I wanna be with you,” you pleaded. “Are you gonna deny me what I want on our anniversary?”

He rolled his eyes, but he knew you would not let it go. Thus, he caved, “Fine, hold on.” He moved to pick you back up from the bed to take you to the kitchen with him. Despite knowing you would probably fall asleep again, he did not think you would be out cold by the time he made it to the kitchen. He still did not let you go, though.

He navigated the kitchen with one arm wrapped around you while still trying to eat. As he was finishing up, you started mumbling in your sleep, but he thought you were talking to him. “Hmm?”

“Alex,” you whispered. He waited for you to continue, but then he realized that your eyes were still closed. He chuckled before rubbing up and down your back for a couple of seconds before you said, “I do.”

His heart stopped. He was freaking out. Did you know that he was thinking of proposing? No. Simple. No one knows he was thinking of it. He has not told any of his friends or family that he had even started thinking about it. Now, he knew.

He was going to propose to you.

On your third anniversary, you and Alex had nothing planned. No streams and no assignments. Everything just seemed to work out for you to actually do something romantic for your anniversary However, you two had very different descriptions of romantic.

“Why are we at McDonalds?” You laughed from the passenger seat of Alex’s car as he pulled into the parking lot. “I thought we were going somewhere fancier.”

“I thought it would be cute to recreate our first date,” he explained as he shut the car off. Suddenly he looked super nervous, but you did not notice. “We could do something else if you want?”

“Oh no, that really cute actually,” you laughed, pulling off your seatbelt. Before you could open your door, Alex was on the other side, holding it open for you with his hand for you to take. “Oh gracias, mi hermoso.”

You both went inside and ordered the exact same things as on your first date. Coincidentally enough, they were still out of sprite, so you made your way to the pop shop after you got your orders as you walked down toward the beach. The same table was open, so once you guys made it to the sand, you made a beeline for the table.

“Huh, just like last time,” you laughed as you set everything down.

“What’re the odds?” Alex also laughed as he set his stuff down.

There was only one difference between your first date and this one: it was lightly earlier. When you arrived at the beach, the sun had not begun setting yet. When you finished eating was when the sky started changing colors to oranges and pinks.

Over time, Alex had been helping you get over your fear of the ocean by walking closer and closer to the water. Today was the day that he was determined to get you in the water, even if it was just your feet. “What do you say?” He asked after explaining everything. “I’ll be with you the whole time, and I won't leave your side.”

“Okay, you’re lucky I trust you,” You laughed, grabbing his hand as you both stood up from the table and started walking toward the waves. Unbeknownst to you, Alex had gotten a few of his friends to help take pictures and a bottle. He wanted to make it seem like a bottle came back from the shore and in it, he would ask you to marry him. Unbeknownst to Alex, that would not work out as he planned.

As you walked down to the water, you talked about random topics, but once you reached the cold sand, you froze. You looked scared towards Alex, and he looked at you encouragingly. He let go of your hand to run ahead into the water that was barely covering his feet, hoping that seeing the level of water would ease your mind. “I don’t know, Alex. It seemed like a better idea when I wasn’t right at it.”

“Trust me, it’s not deep, mi amor,” he soothed. “You’ll be fine-” He kept going but you became distracted by a shining object floating on an upcoming wave. “Y/n/n?”

“Ooo what’s that?” Completely forgetting about the water, you rushed to grab the object which turned out to be a bottle. “Oh my god, Alex! It’s a bottle with a note! Let’s read it.” You excitedly ripped the top off and pulled out the rolled paper. Alex thought that it was the one his friend planted, but as soon as he saw the date, he knew it was a different one.

06/15/2021

I’m gonna do it. I am going to marry them. I love Y/n. I cannot deny that anymore. I love everything about them; their smile, their intelligence, their humor, their witty comebacks, their cooking, their personality, and most importantly, I just love them. They are the best person I could have ever met, and I cannot imagine my life without them. I know many will say that it’s too soon to know, but honestly, I feel like I’ve always known they were the one for me. I could never even fathom my life without them. That being said, mark my words random person reading this, I will marry Y/n.

-Alex

“Alex?” You gasped in shock as you turned to him to find him on his knee with a ring in his hand.

“I think the note speaks for itself,” he laughed, looking up at you, nervously. “Will you marry me, Y/n?”

“Jesus Christ, of course, I will!”

On your wedding night, you streamed. What else were you going to do? Your flight to Bali was not until the morning, and you were both running on adrenaline. This time, you did an IRL Jackbox stream with your bridal parties. Alex had the feral boys, and you had your best friends, and you all competed against each other in a little not-so-friendly competition. Everyone was still in their outfits from the wedding, and chat was raving about it.

“Quackity, tell us how you proposed,” a text-to-speech bot voiced a donation as we started up the lobby.

“Let’s just say,” he started to build suspense, “it started and ended with a bottle.”

~~~~~

#QUACKITY #quackity x reader #quackity x you #quackity x y/n #alex quackity #bad268 #thing268 #ship268 #feral boys

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