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noraantilles · 8 months

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The One you desired

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!Reader (y/n)

Summary: You and your old friend Joel are on Patrol together after you haven‘t seen each other in a while. Reader is in their late 20s.

Warnings: Lots of comfort, Fluff, friends to lovers, a little angsty, age gap

Word count: 2.2k words

You stumbled through your room as you were collecting the last few things you would need for your trip. Food, check. Gun, check. Extra clothing, check. But something was missing. Something important. Your eyes wandered across the room when you spotted your talisman on your nightstand. You picked it up very relieved, put it around your head, and let it disappear under your shirt.

Since already 6 years you have worn that necklace on every tour. It meant a lot to you because you always had that feeling of protection. The same protection that once the man who saved your life gave you. Joel made you that necklace on one of the less stressful days in the wild, before he, Ellie and you came to Jackson. And today after two months you are finally going on a tour together.

You left your apartment and slightly jogged across the area when you finally arrived at the gate. Joel was already waiting and smiled when he saw you.

“Hi.” You greeted him happy but a little nervous since it had been a while for you to spend time with him.

“Hey, haven‘t seen you in a long time. Are you ready for our little trip?” You nodded. As soon as the gate opened and the two of you left Jackson, your trip began.

“I hope it is alright that we‘re doing this hike by foot. Our path is very steep which would have been hard for the horses.” He stated while he went ahead starting your little journey.

“That‘s fine. But could you again tell me where exactly we are going?”

“A couple of miles from Jackson there is an outpost in the mountains. It‘s been a while since someone was there so they asked us to climb up there and check if everything was safe and working.

“Ah yes. I have heard of that outpost.” You remembered. Maria had raved about this place a lot. She told you that she and Tommy had made some trips there for their wedding anniversaries. And that it took them at least two days to get there. You frowned thoughtfully. “But it is pretty far away, isn‘t it?” you asked Joel. “I don‘t think that we would be able to make it in one day.”

“That is correct. That‘s why we will take a break overnight in one of the old hotels near the riverbank pass.”

“Sounds good to me.”

You followed Joel through the forest. It was already autumn, so the sun was able to fall through the trees and give a beautiful view of the red, brown, yellow, and orange leaves that the light wind blew around.

After a long hike you finally arrived at the hotel Joel chose for your stay. After you had entered and climbed up the stairs Joel led you into a room on the fifth floor. The hotel was in bad condition better than the others you suppose but still bad. When you looked around the first thing you noticed was the big hole in the outer wall. No, Big was an understatement. The hole was enormous. It nearly looked like the whole wall was missing. He noticed your worried look.

“We needed a room with fresh air circulation because of the spores in the ventilation shafts. This one I already know. I once was here with Tommy when we had to purge the area around this little village.”

He went to the window, opened it, and took in a solar panel. After that, he turned on a fan heater which was attached to a big car battery.

“This should keep us warm overnight.” He said after organizing his stuff. In the meanwhile, you sat down your bag and took out the sandwiches you made earlier in the morning. After finishing, you joined Joel who was already sitting in the gap of the wall enjoying the view. He dangled his legs over the edge and propped his arms on the metal bar, which was the only remnant that showed the original course of the wall.

You handed him his sandwich and sat down next to him. “It‘s a beautiful view.” You stated as your eyes wandered into the distance of the valley when a deep warm comforted feeling started to spread in your heart. Joel nodded before you both got quiet for a minute. “Thanks for the sandwich by the way.” He broke the silence. You smiled. “So how have been the past two months for you?” he asked you curiously after taking a bite. “Wasn‘t that exciting,” you answered shortly.

The only things you really did were spend time in the garden, growing some veggies and fruits, going for walks through Jackson, and practicing some songs on the guitar which Joel taught you a long time ago. You isolated yourself a bit since you rarely attended the festivities in the Tipsy Bison. You sighed silently. “What about you?”

He shrugged. “I dunno. I was a lot on the road with Tommy. We found an old comic store. They had those space comics Ellie used to read back in the day. I grabbed some but haven‘t had the chance to give them to her.”

You smiled. Joel always wanted to make Ellie or you happy. That hadn’t changed even after the fight he and Ellie had. He loved her. You knew that. “I‘m sure she would like them. She still collects those trading cards.”

“Have you spoken to her?” You frowned a little.

“To Ellie? Yeah, why?” You knew about the fight they had but you didn’t know that they really did not talk to each other.

“How is she?”

“I dunno. She seems fine, I guess. She, Dina, and Jesse have been hanging around lately. I think she has found some good friends in them.”

“That sounds nice.” You could hear the relief in Joel's voice. He took a moment as he looked around the valley lost in his thoughts. “Do you think she likes Jesse?”

You narrowed your brows as you turned your head to face him. “What exactly do you mean by ‘like’?”

Joel smiled sheepishly. “I mean does she like him more than as a friend?”

You chuckled. “No, I don‘t think so. You know, Jesse is not really Ellie's type I think but that, you should ask her.”

Joel nodded with a light smile. “Yeah, you‘re probably right. And what about you? I mean you are 27 now, right? There are some good-looking guys in Jackson. Is there someone that you like?”

You sighed. “Oh, if it only would be that easy.”

“Why? What do you mean?” Joel turned his head to look at you.

You sighed again. It wasn’t your favorite topic that was for sure. “Well, in order to catch feelings I have to know this person for a longer period of time. I have to know them, what they are like, and they would have to know me, understand me. There are not that many people left in the world, that do so, you know?”

He nodded understandingly as he wandered off into his thoughts again.

“I think it is time for you to get some rest. We still have five hours of walking in front of us tomorrow.” He interrupted himself. You nodded in agreement.

“You are right. But don‘t stay up that long yourself, alright?”

He smiled.

You stood up and went back to the fan heater to lie down and get some sleep.

The next morning when you woke up Joel was already up, scouting over the landscape from our point of view. You packed your things and prepared the place like you found it, for your next stop. You set out for the outpost. After roundabout five hours of walking and climbing, you finally arrived at a not-so-small mountain villa.

You climbed up the last few stairs, unlocked the door, and entered a beautiful modern house. Maria has not promised too much. The place was absolutely stunning.

“I‘m gonna go check out the generator. So that we have power.” Joel said before disappearing into the basement. You wandered around the living area after setting down your backpack. After a few minutes, Joel managed to turn on the generator and come back into the living room.

“You can take a shower if you like. In a couple of minutes, we should have warm water. I‘m gonna go outside to collect some wood.”

“Be careful.” You called after him.

“Always.” He answered before he disappeared through the door. After you found the bathroom, took a shower, and got dressed in some fresh new clothes, Joel was still outside so you decided to make something for dinner. You packed some extra bread, just in case. Joel told you that there had to be a small garden for vegetables and since it is autumn, there was a good chance for you to make something delicious for dinner.

To your luck, there really was a garden. It was a little overgrown, but you really managed to find some onions, pumpkins, even zucchini and tomatoes as well as some fresh herbs. You picked them up, brought everything you found to the kitchen, and started preparing a pumpkin soup with a tomato zucchini pan. After Joel returned you sent him right into the shower.

“Dinner‘s ready in a couple of minutes so hurry up.” You said while slicing the bread.

“As the chef demands.” He answered playfully before disappearing into the bathroom.

You set the table, lit a candle, and even found a bottle of wine, which you straight up brought to the table. After you finished setting everything up, Joel was done with showering und joined you in the living room.

“Wow, that smells amazing. You really put a lot of effort into it.” He smiled while he appreciated the lovely, decorated dinner table.

“Please, have a seat.” You invited him.

“Sure, one moment I think there is an old record player somewhere, which we can -…. Ah right here.” Joel put on some slow music and seated himself right in front of you. After long conversations, a lot of joking around, and finishing dinner, you just smiled at each other.

“I haven’t had that much fun in a long time.” He acknowledged. You smiled.

“Me too. I‘m glad that we both took this tour. This house is amazing. The view from the balcony is stunning and you even get the feeling of safety.”

“That is true. And don’t forget the great company.” He smiled as he raised his glass to give a toast.

For a short moment, you just sat there quietly and smiled at each other, before Joel broke the silence.

“Hey uhm, that may sound a bit silly but, …, do you wanna dance?”

“Sure.” You answered immediately without hesitation.

He stood up and reached you his hand as he led you through the living room. Gently he put his arm around your waist, while his other hand was gripping yours and you slowly started moving to the music.

You leaned fully into him so that your head was resting on his shoulder. The warmth of his body was giving you the rest. He made you feel safe in a way that no one else ever could. The man who once saved your life so selfless is now holding you in his arms so delicately.

You liked him, no you loved him. All those buried feelings that you carried with you all the time, are pushing to the surface. You don‘t know how or when those feelings developed but now in this position, you couldn’t deny that they weren’t there. But does he feel the same? Does he like you the way you liked him? What if not?

You raised your head to look him in the eyes. With full dedication you smiled at him, which he returned. The way he looked at you, there was no denying that he also liked you. You gave him comfort as well. A realization that made your heart fluster, when suddenly his mood changed.

His look went off as he distanced himself from you before he turned around. Fear and anxiety overcame you as you were afraid of losing him.

“Did I do something wrong? you whispered, as you placed your hand on his shoulder.

“No, it‘s -.”

“Is it because of my age? Am I too young for you?” you interrupted him.

“It‘s -. I just think that you deserve someone that is your age, someone that you potentially can grow old with. Unlike me.” Your heart froze at that moment as you started panicking.

“Joel, please don‘t do this. Remember what I told you yesterday? Catching feelings for someone is an experience that I rarely have access to. Especially in times like this where death and loss are inevitable. Loving someone gives us a reason to live. Protecting them and being with them lets us feel alive.” You took a short break. “There is no one out there I’d rather be with than with you. Please, don‘t push me away for the bid of time we have left. None of us wants to be alone.”

He needed a short time to let those words of yours sink in before he decided to turn around.

“I love you, Joel,” you whispered when he looked into your eyes again.

His hands wandered gripping your waist, pulling you in for a kiss. When his lips met yours, a shiver went down your spine. You reached his neck with your hands holding him tight. You never ever wanted to let go of him again. Of the man that loved you too.

#joel miller #the last of us #the last of us fanfiction #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #joel miller x y/n #pedro pascal #joel miller the last of us #joel miller tlou #joel miller fluff

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searidings · 3 years

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this is what happens when @ekingston and i get our hands on the prompt “that's my wife!” and agree that she'll draw my idea for it and i'll write hers (aka hearing kara call it out as she watches lena being wheeled down a hospital corridor)

“Excuse me, you can't go through there!”

Kara growls. The woman blocking her path is short and gently rounded, the kind lines of her face drooping in disapproval above her nurse's scrubs. “No visitor access beyond this point, dear. Immediate family only.”

“Immediate— you're joking, right?” Kara cranes her head, peering through the closing doors to catch a last glimpse of Lena's gurney as it rounds the corner at the end of the hall. “That's my wife!”

The nurse gapes at her. “Your—?”

Kara growls again, louder. It's a good thing she'd blown out her powers twenty minutes ago, or she would not be held responsible for the Kryptonian-shaped hole in NC Memorial Hospital's expensive surgery doors. “Yes, my wi—”

Her snarl is cut off by a hand clamping down firmly over her mouth from behind. Kara's first instinct is to bite it. She resists, narrowly, as the familiar scent of shea butter moisturiser registers in her adrenaline-fogged brain.

“You sure about that?” Alex squeaks around a nervous laugh, voice pitched a half-octave too high. She removes her hand from Kara's mouth, wiping her damp palm on her pants with a wrinkled nose. “Get hit on the head during that fight, did you?”

Kara whirls on her sister, eyes blazing. “Am I sure?” she parrots incredulously. Alex cowers a little beneath the force of her stare. “Unless you're trying to tell me I hallucinated my entire wedding—”

“Supergirl isn't married,” Alex stage-whispers loud enough to be heard in Florida, glancing pointedly down at Kara's ash-caked body and oh yeah, she's still wearing her supersuit.

Right, right.

The nurse – Rosemary, her badge reads – finally picks her jaw up off the floor long enough to speak. Her eyes are wide, sparkling with sudden glee. “So Lena Luthor and Su—”

Kara's hackles rise at the suggestion in her tone. “Lena Luthor and Kara Danvers are happily married,” she interrupts sternly. “You might have seen the wedding photos in last month's Vogue.”

The nurse smirks. At her elbow, Alex drops her head into her hands.

“Kara Danvers, hm? Amazing what a pair of glasses do for you, dear.” Rosemary's brow quirks with impish satisfaction and, oh. Whoops. It would appear that in her haste to quash any potential rumours of Lena's infidelity behind the back of her very recent, very publicly human wife, she'd forgotten about the other delicate matter at hand.

Alex sighs so long and so heavy Kara legitimately marvels that she doesn't pass out from the strain. “I knew keeping a spare NDA in my back pocket would pay off,” her sister groans, thrusting an official-looking, if crumpled, contract beneath the nurse's nose.

“Sorry,” Kara murmurs sheepishly as Rosemary signs away page after page of her right to ever disclose Supergirl's identity in any capacity. “I wasn't thinking, I can't— Alex, it's Lena.”

“I know, I know,” her sister soothes, frustration dissipating as she reaches out to pull Kara into her side, ignoring the soot and grit that smear across her jacket at the contact. “She's gonna be okay.”

“But what if she's not?” Kara asks and the sobs arrive then, the last remnants of the fight or flight response that had propelled her this far dissipating beneath the weight of her terror. “She stepped right in front of that bullet, Alex! Of all the stupid, reckless—”

“If I recall, she was pushing you back after you shoved her out of the way in the first place,” Alex hums thoughtfully. Kara's tear-filled eyes snap to her face, incredulous, and her sister grimaces. “Right, right. Not the time.”

“She has to be okay,” she gasps, clutching hard at her sister's jacket as her knees threaten to give out beneath her. “She has to, I can't— I feel like I can't breathe. Like my heart's been ripped out.”

Alex clicks her tongue in sympathy, wrapping a firm arm round Kara's waist and guiding her to a nearby row of chairs. Rosemary deposits the signed NDA wordlessly on the hard plastic beside them, reaching into her scrubs to produce a pack of tissues.

Alex accepts, extracting one to dab at Kara's snotty, tear-stained face with her free hand. “Welcome to married life, kid,” she chuckles, pressing a kiss to Kara's matted hair. “It can be a real bitch.”

It's a long night.

It's a long night, a night of anxious waiting and barely-restrained nausea and vending machine coffee so bad even Nia won't drink it. Her family, their family, crowd the waiting room, dozing across the rows of seats as the hours drag on and on.

Alex tries her best, at varying intervals, to force her back to the Tower for a stint under the sun lamps. Every time without fail, Kara sets her jaw, then sets her feet in the middle of the surgical wing waiting room and refuses to budge.

This leads to several arguments, and a lot of impassioned shoving.

“What if she needs me?” Kara laments tearily, pout activated and puppy dog eyes firmly in place. Alex, mid-football tackle with her arms and right shoulder braced against Kara's torso as she attempts to use her entire bodyweight to force her sister toward the exit, only grunts with exertion. Behind them, J’onn dozes in the corner. Brainy and Kelly and Nia continue their conversation without batting an eyelid.

“No, scratch that, she does need me,” Kara corrects, unaffected by her sister's NFL-worthy body slam. “She's been shot. I'm not going anywhere.”

Alex, perhaps finally sensing defeat after her fourth unsuccessful attempt, gives one final shove with all her strength. Kara doesn't so much as wobble, and her sister releases her with a huff. “Fine. But for the love of God, change your clothes before you start shouting about your wife again,” she pants, red-faced and sweating as she collapses into a nearby chair. “That was my last NDA.”

That's a compromise she can make. Kara accepts the bundle of clothes Nia presents her with, stripping out of her dirt-caked suit and re-donning her glasses. Thankfully, the only person around to witness Kara entering the bathroom as a superhero and re-emerging as a Catco reporter is Rosemary.

The updates on Lena's condition are sporadic at best. By the time the first surgeon emerges to say the bullet has been removed from Lena's chest cavity Kara's accidentally cracked three plastic chairs, advanced all the way to Lollipop Land on Alex's Candy Crush, and worn a groove into the waiting room linoleum with her nervous pacing.

When another doctor emerges three hours later to tell them Lena had developed a tension pneumothorax and needs additional treatment, Kara's made it to Rainbow Reef and chewed her bottom lip bloody.

When, at five in the morning, yet another doctor appears to inform them that Lena is being placed on anti-radiation medication to counter the Kryptonite that had coated the bullet, Kara's finished all nine thousand nine hundred and thirty-five levels of the damn game. The doctor leaves, promising to be back with more news soon, and Kara squeezes her sister's hand so hard poor Nurse Rosemary has to be called to administer an ice pack for the bruising, solar flare be damned.

Dawn breaks to find Kara scratchy-eyed and grumpy, worn ragged with worry. The waiting room begins to fill up around them, new patients and their relatives coming and going, and still there's nothing new on Lena. Every time another scrub-clad surgeon pushes through the doors Kara's heart skips a beat, all of them sitting up straighter in their seats, but every time the doctor passes them by.

Kara's just wolfed down six cold breakfast sandwiches procured by Brainy on his sojourn to the hospital cafeteria and is debating the relative merits of starting Candy Crush over from scratch when another young doctor appears. Her scrub cap has avocados on it. Kara likes her already.

“Family of Ms Luthor?” she calls, looking around, and Kara pushes up hard from her chair to the resounding snap of cracking plastic. Whoops.

“It's Luthor-Danvers,” she gabbles as she bounds over to the surgeon, palms sweating. No matter how many times she hears it, it never loses its thrill. “I'm, I'm her wife.”

The young doctor's features soften. “Of course. I've come to let you know that it looks like Ms Luthor-Danvers is out of the woods. She's sedated and still on an anti-radiation drip, but she's through the worst of it.” She appraises Kara, gaze lingering on her chewed-raw lips and clenching fingers, then leans closer conspiratorially. “It's not general visiting hours yet, but you can see her, if you'd like.”

“Yes!” Kara's shouting almost before the surgeon has finished speaking. “Yes, please, yes.”

She hugs them all, Alex and Brainy and Nia and Kelly and J’onn, and leaves them in the waiting room as she follows the doctor's sunshine-yellow crocs down the hall.

They round corner after corner, an interminable maze. Powerless as she is, she can't hear Lena’s heartbeat, and the absence of the steady beat that has become the soundtrack to her existence sets her even more on edge.

But at last they turn a corner, and there she is. She's pale and bandaged and her eyes are closed, creamy skin streaked with dirt and bruises, but she's there, she's alive, she's Lena.

The surgeon holds the door open for her with a smile and Kara's across the room in a heartbeat, smoothing a hand over Lena's warm cheek and pressing kiss after kiss to her forehead and hair.

“I love you, I love you,” she whisper-cries against Lena's temple, tucking her matted curls behind her ears. The smell of blood and dirt and antiseptic is almost overwhelming, but beneath the dust and debris caught up in her hair Lena's scalp smells the same as always. Kara presses her face to the crown of her head and inhales deeply, soaking it in.

“Why'd you have to be so damn brave?” she whispers, nuzzling her cheek against silky softness. “I love you so much. Please don't step in front of any more bullets. Please learn to be a coward, occasionally.”

The singular relief of having Lena living and breathing and in her arms again is so complete, so compounded by the fear and the adrenaline and the sleepless night and the solar flare, that she feels suddenly that she may crumple to the ground from the force of it all.

Unwilling to relinquish her hold for even a second she appraises the bandages covering Lena's right side, then crawls onto the hospital bed on her left, careful to avoid her many wires and monitors. She tucks herself in beside her on the wide mattress, chin hooked over Lena's shoulder and face pressed to the side of her neck, and lets the tears that haven't really stopped falling since that bullet had left its chamber fall for just a little longer.

Nothing matters outside of the two of them, outside of the warmth of Lena's body and the softness of her skin beneath Kara's lips and the steady thud of her heart beneath Kara's palm. Nothing else in the world exists, so when an unfamiliar male voice sounds from the doorway it takes her a moment to register the intrusion.

“Excuse me, ma’am, you really can't be on the bed with her,” the strange, disembodied voice calls from behind her and Kara frowns tiredly, unable and unwilling to acknowledge anything outside of the woman in her arms.

But before she's even managed to raise her head another voice sounds, the soft tones of a young surgeon in an avocado scrub cap.

“Oh, honestly, Peter,” the kindly doctor says with gentle reproach, a quiet calm washing over the room as the door is pulled closed and she and Lena are left alone. “Leave them be. That's her wife.”

#check out easter's incredible art! as usual she absolutely nailed it #in my humble opinion you can simply never have too many 'that's my wife!' concepts in the world #it just never gets old #ridings writes #supercorp #supercorp fanfic #kara danvers #lena luthor #supergirl

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vennilavee · 3 years

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starry eyes

pairing: levi x reader (moon/stars universe) ft kaiya and rina!! summary: some moments through your pregnancy with baby Peach. warnings: pregnancy, cursing, details of a difficult pregnancy, c-section delivery, blood mention a/n: for this drabble prompt req “give me more picking out baby names, painting nurseries, and cradling their children. For moon and stars please”. but it ended up being 2.6k. i didn’t include the part about painting nurseries bc i want that to be it’s own drabble/part of another part of the story!

“Do you think we should have Peach share a room with Kaiya when she’s old enough?” You muse, “We only have our bedroom and Kaiya’s…”

Levi hums and scratches his chin. He absently places a hand over your growing belly- you’ve only started showing in the last week or two.

“Kaiya will be five years older than Peach,” Levi says, “She will need her own space.”

“Then we need more space,” You say with a raise of your eyebrow, “We only have two bedrooms, baby.”

“What shitty timing,” Levi sighs, throwing his head back against the headboard of the bed, “Is this a good time to move into another house? We haven’t even started looking-”

“We can either do it now or when Peach is a few months old,” You say, leaning your head on his shoulder, “You and Erwin spent so much time decorating Kaiya’s room and painting the walls…”

“We can do that at the new house,” Levi says, “And Kai can do it with us.” He kisses your forehead and continues rubbing your belly absently.

“Are we making this decision too quickly? Shouldn’t we think about it more,” You wonder out loud.

“We need more space,” Levi says simply, “We got a baby coming. Or did you forget?”

“How could I forget?” You roll your eyes, “You knocked me up. Again.”

“Shut up,” Levi rolls his eyes and pulls you in for a kiss. And then flicks your forehead.

House hunting was a much quicker affair than you had anticipated it to be- Levi had a sixth sense for this type of thing (and it had long begun to rub off on you, too). You had been looking at houses with Kaiya for about two months now, without any luck of a space that you could truly see yourself living in with your family.

Kaiya dutifully holds your hand as she explores the new kitchen, peering into the glossy, light green cabinets and giggling when she sees her reflection in a small mirror.

She gasps when she sees the size of the backyard, bouncing on the balls of her feet excitedly. “Mommy, look ousside,” She whispers, “Pwetty.”

“It is, isn’t it?” You reply, giving her a smile.

Levi has a mental checklist of questions to ask, and you do too, but he can see you falling in love with the house already. It’s cute and has charm- he can tell you’re already envisioning where Kaiya and the currently unnamed baby would play in the living room, where you’d set up your sewing materials…

Because he’s thinking about the same. He’s thinking about what Kaiya might want to paint her walls and how to set up the new baby’s room, about where his wine collection might go and his favorite leather chair.

Sometimes when you know, you just know. He has a good feeling about this place and the more the real estate agent tells you both, the more you subtly fall in love with the house. You feel like you’re a character in a small fairytale when you climb the staircase and get a view of the yard from the bedroom.

“Honey,” You say softly, tugging on his sleeve.

“Hmm,” He says and scoops Kaiya in his arms when she lifts her arms up.

“Daddy, mommy say she like it,” Kaiya whispers. Or attempts to.

“Oh, is that what mommy said?” Levi says, eyes lit up with amusement.

“Kiki, tell daddy that mommy loves the house very much.”

“Daddy, mommy say-”

“Daddy likes the house, too,” Levi says and you beam at him.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Really!” Kaiya exclaims, her arms outstretched.

And that’s that.

Moving and settling the paperwork had taken another month despite Levi’s attempts on speeding up the process. You had insisted on helping with the physical labor of moving, despite Erwin, Hange, Eren, Jean, Armin, Connie, Sasha and Mikasa volunteering to help you and Levi move.

Kaiya sat on one of the boxes that Jean and Eren carried out of the current apartment with a yellow hard hat on her head, directing them outside of the apartment to stack the boxes by the elevator.

“Baby,” You mumble, tugging Levi’s hand, “A house. We bought a house together.”

“Yeah,” Levi says, “Guess I’m stuck with you now, huh?”

You ignore him and peck his cheek. Your eyes have been watering on and off all day, memories of this apartment and of the initial stages of your relationship blossoming hidden in the spaces between the walls, between each shelf and cabinet.

“We fell in love here,” You say thickly, “We created love here.”

“We did,” Levi says softly, rolling his thumb over your hand, “Kaiya started walking right over there-” He points to the empty space of the living room, “You broke a wine glass over here-” He points to the space where the small dining table used to be, “And Kaiya’s birthdays were here…”

“Stop,” You complain, “I’m gonna cry again.”

Levi lets out a soft chuckle, “The new house is gonna have all of that and more. With this kid.” Levi palms your belly and kisses your temple.

Your second trimester, as it was with Kaiya, is relatively easy in comparison to the first trimester. You and Levi take the ease that comes with the second trimester to plan out what the nursery in the new house will look like when the baby is old enough to sleep alone.

The new house is a cozy four bedroom house (complete with a guest room) and plenty of room for play and relaxation. You had converted one of the rooms on the first floor into a small office for Levi, as he was able to work from home more often than you were.

Kaiya had demanded that her room be space themed. So you and Levi had painted her bedroom a pretty pale blue, decorated with glow in the dark stars and planets across her ceiling and the walls. A grey full moon hangs on one of the walls, along with frames of the planets, galaxies and Kaiya’s own drawings of the solar system (and really whatever else she wants).

She had even painted some stars on the side of the wall where her bed is, with Erwin’s help. Her bedding is navy blue with gold stars printed on it and of course, she has her stuffed elephant, her stuffed sun and her stuffed moon on her bed. A galaxy projector sits on her nightstand, and she loves to turn it on when Levi reads her a bedtime story.

Seeing her reaction made you cry, too.

Now was the hard part. Determining what to paint the walls for the growing peach in your belly. You and Levi go back and forth on muted yellow, olive green, and pale green-

“Do you want Peach to think they’re in a forest?”

“But green is such a calming color!”

“So is yellow, yellow is happy-”

“You think a newborn baby will know that?”

“We should create an atmosphere of relaxation and happiness-”

In the end you and Levi decide on a yellow and green theme, with accents of grey. Compromise. You both decide to hold off on painting the walls, until Peach is a little older to decide on what they want to accent the walls. Kaiya’s old crib sits in your bedroom for when Peach arrives, which somehow feels like it’s creeping up on you but still so far away.

Your second trimester is when you can’t get enough of Levi- every small action he does, whether it’s cooking dinner, putting things away from unpacked boxes or giving you a foot rub- makes you want to jump his bones every chance you get.

You’re glad your man can keep up with you. And Levi makes it well known how much he loves you and loves your body. He always has a hand on your hips, your waist, your chest whenever he can.

You bask in the attention. Your skin glows, your hair is healthy and your nails full.

And then the third trimester comes, and it’s possibly the most difficult experience you’ve ever had to stomach. The third trimester is complete with backaches, frequent heartburn, varicose veins and mood swings that give Levi whiplash.

Your mood swings weren’t this intense with Kaiya. But he knows every pregnancy is different. You’re uncomfortable in your own skin and distressed and so tired in the last few months.

In the last few months, you and Levi settle on a name- you’d found out that Peach was in fact a baby girl, and Kaiya was upset that she wouldn’t be able to refer to her baby sister as Peach any longer-

“Let’s name my sissy ‘Berry’ then.”

“That’s not any better than Peach, honey.”

In the end, after a few weeks of deliberating, you decide on Rina Ackerman. You had tossed around the idea of naming her after Levi’s mother, Kuchel, but Levi shot it down. He didn’t want his kids to have the burden of living up to a legacy that they knew nothing about.

You could understand that.

Levi and Kaiya help where they can. Levi holds you when you cry and he rubs your belly and your back when it gets to be too much. You tell him that this baby feels different, that you’re scared. So when you start having contractions about four weeks too early, you’re not surprised.

You scream and you cry, terrified that something’s gone wrong when you spot blood pooling on the bed. Levi looks at you with wide eyes before jumping into action quickly.

He holds your hand tightly, grateful that Kaiya is with his mom and Kenny for the day.

Once you reach the hospital, you’re a mess, almost refusing to let the doctors look at you. You’re terrified that something awful and terrible has happened, and Levi looks you in the eye with your hands tight in his-

“You can do this. You have to do this. For Rina. She needs you.”

“She’s too early, Levi, I can’t-”

“She’s strong. Like her mother.”

In the end, Rina is delivered via an emergency C-section. Levi only sees and holds her impossibly tiny body for a moment before she starts to cry and she’s whisked away by the nurses and doctors. You’re still sedated in the hospital bed.

He sits in the blue plastic chair in your room and holds his head in his hands.

It’s hard for Levi to believe that that melancholy morning in the hospital was a little over two years ago. When he sees his youngest little girl, strong and quick on her feet, being chased by her older sister, he can’t believe that she came out into the world in such a difficult manner.

You like to joke and say that Rina is a troublemaker and she liked causing a scene right from the first breath of air she took.

Levi feels like his heart stops whenever he sees Rina fall or nearly injure herself. It’s different than it was with Kaiya- maybe because he was the only one who saw her struggle to breathe during her first moments. It’s hard for him to lose the overprotectiveness he has with Rina that didn’t necessarily exist with Kaiya. Of course, he was protective over his oldest, but it just feels different.

He doesn’t want Kaiya to feel like Levi has favoritism over his two best girls. But he can’t shake this feeling.

You recognize it in his eyes even if he says nothing. You see it in the shine of his grey irises, the way they’re panicked only for a millisecond when he hears Rina’s first cry whenever she falls.

The Ackerman family is currently in the backyard, on a nice summer evening. You’re sitting on a picnic blanket with your legs outstretched and a small smile on your face as you watch your babies run around and chase each other. Rina is still clumsy on her feet, almost waddling after Kaiya before she gets distracted by a patch of grass. She immediately plops down and pats the grass under her and pulls at the grass as hard as she can, throwing the pieces up in the air and squealing happily.

“Kaiya!” Rina exclaims, “Kaiya!”

Kaiya sits across from her with a beaming smile and her hands outstretched and Rina gently places the pieces of grass in her hands.

“Hey, thanks, ‘Ina,” Kaiya smiles and Rina bashfully hides her face. She crawls to her big sister and sits in her lap, playing with the flowers and pointing to the small garden that Kaiya and you had been working on.

“Let’s go to the flowers,” Kaiya says and holds her hand as they both waddle to the garden patch.

“Mommy’s growin’ fruits and veggies here,” Kaiya says, pointing at cucumbers and okra, “I pretend like I don’t like them, but I do.”

Kaiya laughs and Rina giggles, too. Rina watches Kaiya with identical eyes, wide and grey and full of wonder. She catches sight of her daddy and lets go of Kaiya’s hand to waddle to Levi.

You nudge Levi’s foot and he stretches his arms out for her. Rina concentrates on Levi, smiling as he gets closer and closer as she walks towards him. But she’s small and she’s clumsy, so she lands on her fresh overalls, knees in the dirt.

Levi is about to jump to his feet but you stop him with a hand to his chest. Rina only stands up with wobbly legs before resuming her walk to Levi.

She nearly jumps into his lap and bounces in his arms when he holds her close. Levi adjusts her sparkly purple headband and Rina just beams at him, standing on her feet and tugging the strands of hair that fall into his eyes.

“Daddy,” Rina whispers and reaches into her pocket. She pulls out a few pieces of grass and shoves it in his face. “For you, daddy.”

Her fingers are dirty, coated in soil and dirt and Levi winces. But how can he focus on that when his baby is offering him the gift of the earth?

“Thank you, Rina,” Levi says quietly and kisses her forehead. Rina smiles, satisfied, before settling in his lap and giggling when you pull funny faces at her.

Levi hugs his youngest close, gesturing for Kaiya to come join him. She immediately plops down next to him and Levi wraps an arm around her shoulder.

“You’re getting too tall,” Levi says to Kaiya, who takes it as a compliment.

“My teacher says I’m tallest,” Kaiya beams at him. He pats her head affectionately.

“Come here, mommy,” Kaiya calls. Not like you were too far, anyway. Rina is busy playing with Levi’s long fingers and clutching them in her chubby hands. She gasps when she sees you approaching, outstretching her arms for your attention. You come bearing freshly cut fruit and juice before sitting down next to Levi and pecking his cheek.

“Mommy has melons,” You chirp and Levi snorts.

“Yeah, she does,” Levi says with an upturn of his lips. Only you catch the teasing bite of his tone.

“Mello!” Rina chirps happily, eyeing the watermelon in your plate.

“It’s for you Rina,” You say, and cut up the piece into smaller pieces.

Levi lives for quiet summer nights like this- nights with his girls with the setting sun and a light breeze. Nights with you in a cute sundress, Kaiya and Rina smiling and laughing.

He doesn’t think he can ever get used to how his girls’ laugh makes his heart swell.

tags: @simpingmaize @captainchrisstan @kentobean @alrightberries @puredivinity @regalillegal @castellandiangelo

#levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #levi x you #levi ackerman #aot x reader #snk x reader

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an-actual-angel · 3 years

Text

Pairing: Connor (RK800) x Reader, Collin (RK800-60) x Reader, Richard (RK900) x Reader

Summary: The year was 2082. 44 Years after the android revolution. Things have turned south for humanity. Androids now rule the world, leaving humans to be considered as mere animals. While some Androids still have a general disdain for humanity some have taken to the idea of keeping them as “family pets.” You, born in captivity, specifically bred to be the perfect pet happen to get adopted by the RK brothers.

Chapter Description: Connor wonders what Richard is apologising for.

(If anyone wants to be added to the tag list, either dm or reply to this post <3)

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Chapter 34 - She burns like the sun.

“Apologized?” Connor's eyes darted between yourself and Richard.

You bit your lip and glanced off to the side trying to think of a way to explain the situation to Connor without causing any type of hostility between the brothers.

“For everything.” Richard spoke up. “This whole situation, it’s my fault.”

Connor looked completely baffled, his LED spun yellow as he tried dissecting what Richard was saying, searching for an indication as to whether he was being truthful or playing another one of his mind games.

Richard did seem genuinely distressed, his forehead and shoulders were both flooded with tension. “Trying to control her, telling her what to do, how to dress, who she can and can't talk to.” He begins to explain again. “Treating her like an inferior. Fucking buying her in the first place!”

Connor turned back to face you, he reached out his hand to give yours a tight squeeze. You couldn’t bear to look at either of them at this moment. Your brain was too busy processing all of this new information.

Richard spoke your name softly, his smooth voice pulling you to finally look at his face again. “You didn't deserve any of this. I was an idiot, trying to prove a point. A point that I don't even... Believe now.”

You sucked your bottom lip into your mouth and nodded, not really knowing what to say.

“What changed?” Connor asked, his voice soft and slightly wary.

Richard’s lips became thin as he looked over at you. His eyes fell down to the floor before they gathered the courage to look back up at Connor. “Look.” He exhaled a deep, artificial sigh. “Connor, there's some stuff I've never told you.” Richard stops for a minute to look back at you. “Unless you-?”

You shook your head no. No, you didn’t tell Connor and no you didn’t want Richard to be the one to tell him either.

Oh god, was Richard going to be the one to tell Connor?

“That's what I was afraid of.” Richard sighed again.

“What? What's going on?” Connor insisted, slightly more impatient this time.

You should have spoken up, interrupted, called Connor off to the side to speak privately but you were in a state of shock from the whole situation. Instead, all you did was grip tightly at Connors sleeve.

“Look, don't worry. Let me start out by saying it happened way before you two where together.” Richard attempts to explain himself.

Connors hand releases from yours. “You better not say what I think you’re going to say.” His voice picks up slightly, sounding as if he is speaking between his teeth.

Richard exhales, holding his hands up as if to try and calm the situation. “Connor, it was completely consensual.”

“You son of a bitch!” Connor lunges forward at Richard, grabbing him by the collar and pushing him into the wall.

“You bastard! You used her, didn’t you? You treated her like an animal and then used her! Is that why you wanted a human, you sick pervert.”

“It wasn't like that!” Richard pushed Connor off himself, his push so forceful that Connor landed on the floor.

“Oh please, enlighten me then,” Connor growls, getting back to his feet.

“It was an accident, it hadn't meant to go that far.”

An accident?

Oof, bad word choice on Richard’s part, he realized it as soon as he said it, wishing he could take the words back. He didn’t mean it like that!

'She’s a person!' Connor bellows as he tackles the taller android to the ground. They both smackdown flat on the dark marble floor, Connor landing on top of Richard. He pushes himself up to give Richard what he deemed as a well-deserved punch in the face.

Richard attempted to push him off, he didn't want to fight, but Connor wasn't letting up. His only other idea was to give Connor a solid kick to the Solar plexus.

In all the shock and confusion you didn't know what else to do other than to call for Collin’s help. Your shaky voice cries out his name. Luckily enough, he had already been on his way up the stairs to see what all the shouting had been about.

“For fuck sake.” He grumbles once he arrives on to the scene and notices his brothers brawling.

Collin sprints to grab your shoulder and pulls you back. “Go downstairs.” He instructs you before attempting to intervene with his brothers.

But you were frozen still on the spot. Not really processing what Collin said, just watching the scene unfold as your legs struggled to keep you standing.

This was all your fault.

You watched as Collin wrapped his arms around Connor in an attempt to pull him away from the situation.

“He used her!” Connor spits. “For his on sick enjoyment!”

“It wasn't like that you self-righteous bastard!” Richard barks back still sitting on the ground, wiping away the small bit of thirium that dripped down from his nose. “I had feelings for her okay! And I still do! Is that what you wanted to hear?”

You feel your cheeks burn alongside with the sickly feeling of nervous butterflies erupting in your stomach.

“If you had feelings for her then why did you tre-”

“It's was confusing okay! I was scared! She's a human!” Richard stops for a moment and glances over at you. His voice sounding a bit more defeated. “You're a human. And I…”

“Have a superiority complex?” Connor spoke up, still stuck in Collins tight grip.

“Connor, it's-” You attempt to speak up but you don’t think he hears you.

At this point, Connor is wriggling to get out of Collins grip. “Let me go!” He demands. “I want to leave.” When Collin finally releases him, Connor walks towards you. He allows his pinky finger to interlock with yours.

“Come on.” He whispers. “Let's get out of here.”

You say nothing but follow along, at a loss for words.

...

You had explained the whole situation with Richard to Connor while you, him and Collin had sat in the kitchen.

“You shouldn't have to live with that creep.” Connor sighs handing you a cup of warm tea.

A half an hour had passed since Connor and Richards scuffle. And you had since explained the whole Richard situation to Connor. He still didn’t seem very pleased. In Connors mind, Richard had used you. Even when you told him you were every part as implicit as Richard, he still saw Richard as the villain.

“Con, it's fine.” You assure him. You reach out your hands to clasp the mug, focusing in on the warm sensation on your fingers that briefly tore you away from the tense energy in the room.

Connor's eyes make their way over to Collin who was sitting beside you at the kitchen counter, idly rubbing your back.

“How are you not mad about this?” Connor shakes his head, handing Collin over his mug of tea. “Wait.” He stops for a minute as he places the mug on the counter, slowly pulling his hands away from the porcelain. “Did you know?”

“Yeah...” Collin sighs, setting his hands on the counter, inching their way towards the tea.

“What the fuck?” Connor sighs shrugging his hand in the air. “Why didn't you tell me?” His brown eyes dart between the two of you.

“Because you'd freak out, disown Richard...” Collin mumbled into his cup as he brought it to his lips.

Connors right hand settled on his forehead as he shook it in dismissal.

“I'm sorry Connor.” You finally spoke up again. “We wanted to tell you but I didn't want to cause any drama or tension or-”

“It's okay.” His hand falls on your shoulder. “It's not your fault, you were the one who got caught up in all of this mess. I should have got you out of here when I had the chance.” He sighs.

Collin began to shake his head. “No!” He demands.

“I'm just saying.” Connors brows lift towards his brother.

“No, no. Absolutely not!” Collin's voice raises slightly.

What were they even talking about? Whatever it was seemed to really stress Collin out.

“What?” You asked. “No to what?”

“Don't even ask.” Collin shakes his head quicker this time as he stands to his feet. Both of his hands fall on your shoulders, standing over you like a protector, staring down Connor.

“We should at least give her the option.” Connor sighs leaning on the counter across from you, a melancholic look on his face.

“Don't do this to me, Connor.” Collin's voice softens as does his hold on your shoulders. “Please.”

Connor's lips become thin and he closes his eyes.

“What? What is it?” You ask again, a worried tone seeping into your voice.

Connor's fingers interlock with yours. “Y/N. We can get you out of here. Out of the city.”

You felt Collin's hands fall from your shoulders all together now. You turn to look at him and see him walk out of the kitchen.

You don't really understand. Obviously, you could leave the city what did he mean? Why was Collin so upset?

“Y/N?”

You look back at Connor.

“Have you ever wanted it to be just humans?”

“What?” You ask, very confused.

“We…” He begins before stopping and correcting himself. “I can help you. You can be with your own kind. Well, if that’s what you want.”

You stay silent for a moment.

“It was selfish for us to keep you here this long.” Connor's voice faults a little. “I'm sorry.”

“What do you mean by just humans?”

_________________________

Chapter 35 - The Light Behind Your Eyes

Content Warning: This chapter has smut.

So the secret was out. The truth about Richard and the truth about Connors out of town ‘business dealings.’

The reason why Connor had been so busy? He was working two jobs. One, his normal, everyday job in youth and community. The other, an underground railroad for helping humans to leave Detroit.

You didn't really know what to think when being offered this opportunity. Should you stay in your nice warm house with your boyfriend's where you knew you would be safe, or did you dare to dream bigger, for freedom, to not have to be escorted everywhere you went. To mingle with your own kind, make your own decisions, live authentically? It was a difficult choice, to say the least.

You had sat with the idea for a while. Collin remained silent, yet very clingy the entire time. His head sat laying on your lap and every so often he would let out a sigh, cursing both of his brothers in his head.

Connor just felt so horrible about everything, he felt like it was all his fault. He didn't want you to be taken advantage of ever again. That's why he brought the idea up. If you decided to stay then wonderful! He could rest easy knowing you were choosing to do so. But if you wanted to leave, well he felt obligated to help you in whatever way necessary.

You had thought about maybe just leaving temporarily - but what if you choose to but couldn’t make it back? What if you didn't want to come back?

You kept asking Connor questions about the whole thing, where would you go? Would you be alone? What was it like out there with the humans?

A settlement he knew of and mostly helped was about a four-hour drive away from where you were. It would be easy enough to get there. The community seemed very close-knit, almost like a family. No Androids knew of the place either. Well except for Connor and some of his ‘associates.’

Connor told you some stories of the people he had helped escape to different settlements. One of the more recent ones was a young lady. She was lost after one of the riots in the city. Connor was lucky enough to get her out of dodge just in time.

“Lucky thing I found her when I did. The poor girl was pregnant.” He shook his head. “She desperately wanted to get out of the city. She couldn’t bear the idea of her child being taken away from her.”

“She's was literally your age.” Connor shivered at the thought of something that awful happening to you. “Emily, her name was.”

“Emily!?” Your eyes smacked open wide as you turn to Connor, slightly startling Collin with your loud exclaim. “What did she look like?” You blurted out. “Did she have red hair? Like ginger, with freckles?!”

Connors brows knit together, curious as to how you guessed so quickly. He held out his hand and a blue-tinted hologram appeared, showing the girl in question.

It was her. Emily. Your Emily!

You whimpered loudly at the image “Oh my God! She's having a baby.” Your eyes darted to Connor.

“Yes.” He said, looking confused.

“That's, she… She was my best friend, for years. She was my only family.” Your shaking hands move to pull the image projected on Connor's hand closer to you. Connor recalled you telling him about her months ago, on your first walk out together.

Collin sat up silently and moved to hold you tight in his arms. At that moment he knew what your decision was going to be.

___

Saturday morning. You had your things packed up to go. Collin had been hovering around you all morning as if he was your shadow. Every so often kissing your knuckles, shoulders and temples, any bit of skin he could. You bit back your lip not to cry. Collin did the same.

“You'll come to visit me right?” You forced a smile as your eyes met with Connor’s.

Connor nodded with a more serious face. “I don't know if we'll be welcome too often but we will try our best.”

You nod, fake smile simmering down a bit.

“Here.” Connor hands you a phone and charger. “Our numbers are on that. If you ever need anything or ever change your mind, we're only a call away.” The phone was an older model but that didn’t matter. You were just relieved that you would be able to communicate with the boys in any shape or form. The settlement must have running electricity or else Connor wouldn’t have given you the charger. At least you’d have that.

“Thank you.” You said, taking the phone and charger from his hands, the skin of each other’s hands yearningly brushing against each other. You pull your hands away to go and place the items in your suitcase.

As you move to zip up the case Collin lets out a sigh and his hand rolls over the top of yours. His solemn eyes almost begging you to change your mind.

“I need to do this.” You whisper to him. Your other hand strokes his cheek. “I need to know what's out there, I need to see Emily.” You place a soft kiss on his lips.

“Can't we just bring her here?” Collin whispers back against your lips.

Connor shakes his head, overhearing Collin. “It's not worth her risk losing that child.” He explains gently.

“Well, we could adopt all of them. I don't mind living with a baby.” Collin attempts to bargain with you both.

“It's not that simple, Collin.” Connor shakes his head, tight-lipped, he understands how his brother feels. He feels the same but he’s also trying to be realistic.

You stroke his cheek. “It's not goodbye forever.”

“Promise?” Collins glossy eyes meet yours.

You kiss his lips again tenderly. “Of course.”

___

After zipping up your suitcase you sigh and look between the brothers. “I suppose I should say goodbye to Richard.”

“He's, at work today.” Connor quickly replies.

“Did you not tell him?”

“No.” He speaks blankly, pulling the suitcase down off of the bed. “He would only try and stop you. Plus, he doesn't know about the whole ‘me smuggling humans out of the city.’ He could destroy the whole operation.”

“Right.” You sigh again.

“I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t realise you would have wanted to say goodbye.” Connors brows lift, a worried look crossing his face.

“I mean of course I would have.” You shrugged. “Richard isn’t the evil manipulator you think he is.” Your hand brushes against Connor's arm and then slides down to hold his hand.

“He’s an idiot sure, but I think he’s learning.” You give a small smile before kissing Connors cheek. “Ready?”

___

You took Connors car for your journey. His was self-driving and also a little less inconspicuous than Collins flashy jeep. You, Collin and Connor, had all sat in the back, you lay snuggled between them, trying not to let your hot tears seep out of your eyes as you clutched onto the material of Connors shirt, your face pressed into his chest. Collin was laying against your back, softly playing with your hair and peppering kisses on your shoulders.

Was this a terrible decision? Should you just tell them that you’ve changed your mind so you could all turn back and go home?

Ah god, why was this so hard?

You needed to see Emily again though. You just had to.

After a while, you switched from laying on Connor's chest to Collins. The drive was four hours so at least you got a lot of cuddling time in before.

Connor mentioned that once you got close to the location the three of you would have to get out and walk a bit. The settlement was deep within a forest and even if he could park close to it he wouldn’t, not worth the risk.

When you arrived as close to your destination as the car dared go, it pulled into a parking lot at an abandoned warehouse. There was still a bit of a long walk until your destination. When the car came to a halt the three of you sat in silence for a minute, no one knowing what to say. Connor was the first to move, he sighed and reached for the door. Your hand stopped his before it got to it, however.

He looked at you, head tilted, eyes curious. Had you changed your mind?

Pulling his face towards yours you gave him a soft, drawn-out kiss. You pulled him into it further, exhaling into his mouth a little as he kissed back. His hands slid up your sides, eagerly searching for nothing. When your lips pulled away from Connors you turned to Collin, He was way ahead of you.

His hands clasped around your neck softly pulling you in, his lips burning with passion as they met with yours hungrily nipping and sucking, trying to get as much of you as he could. Connors mouth then meets your neck, his hands travelling down your sides and then across your waist. He tugs at the button of your trousers and then undoes your zipper.

Connors fingers gingerly slip into your underwear and begin to play with you softly. A moan escapes your mouth and echoes into Collins. When Collin notices Connor starting to pleasure you he pulls himself back for a moment to pull his shirt off and throws it into the front seat. Collins licks his lips as he pulls your shirt up too and undoes your bra.

A moan escapes his lips as soon as your breasts are exposed to him, immediately he clasps onto them with his mouth. It so unfair to him that he only got to do this with you once before. Connor remains sucking on your neck and playing with you until Collin gets a little impatient and demands that Connor moves. Connor, slightly annoyed but still understanding that they both had to share you, pulls you on to his lap as he backs against the right side of the car.

Both the androids LEDs flash for a minute and then Collin is pulling your trousers and underwear off.

Connor's hands pull your legs apart gently from behind while Collin dips his head down between them trailing his tongue all over your sensitive area. You whine at the sensation of Collins tongue lapping up your wetness whilst Connor holds you in place, spread open.

Collin's hands move up to wrap around your legs as well, holding your thighs tight against his shoulders.

Connors grip then releases on your legs, his hands move up your body, one cupping your breast and another holding your jaw. He allows the thumb on the hand holding your breast to rub circles on your nipple, his thumb on his other hand pulls down on your lip before he inserts it into your mouth. You suck down hard around his thumb tongue licking a circle around it as you gasp.

Collin slips a finger inside of you and you begin to squirm, a needy whine comes from your lips. Collin moans along with you as his fingers dive in once again.

Both of the boys LEDs flash in communication and Collin is now on his knees, pulling your hips up to his. He levels himself with a shaky breath to allow himself to enter into you, slowly.

Connor watches for a brief minute, his lip stuck between his perfect teeth before he reaches his hand down again to play with your clit.

Collin grunts and ruts his hips against you as you moan from the friction, his fingertips digging into your thighs as his slow but heavy pace continues.

You feel Connor push you up slightly as you notice the click of his belt being undone, his freshly exposed erection now being pressed against your back causes your whimpers to become louder. You manage to tilt your head back to look up at Connor, both of you briefly making eye contact before Collin pulls you toward himself again, this time flipping you over to ride you from behind. Almost too quickly he pushes his dick into you again, his eagerness picking up.

After the initial shock, you realise you now have more access to Connor. Without much of a second thought, you move your hands down to his twitching cock, giving it a brief but gentle tug, you then place lips around the head and hum, the vibration of which has Connor melting into your touch.

His hands tangle their way into your hair as you move your mouth around him fully, He swears softly along with singing your name in praise as your mouth works on him. You start to struggle to keep your pace up with Connor as Collin speeds up, hips smashing against yours so relentlessly that you feel your about to topple over.

He must have sensed it because he then grabs your waist and pulls you up, breaking you away from Connor temporarily, he’s not thinking about it at the moment. He’s just chasing his ending, the smacking noises would almost be embarrassing if you weren’t so dazed out with lust.

Pressed fully into Collins frame with his mouth latched on to your neck he echoes out a mixture of mumbling and growling as he finished hot inside of you. He holds you tight against him as he comes down, his simulated breathing so loud against your ear you almost want to faint from how steamy it was.

When Collins grip loosens he presses a soft kiss on your shoulder and then falls back onto the seat. Before you could follow suit Connors gentle hands guide you towards him. Connor turns you around and presses you down on to his lap, on to his cock. You bite your lip as you slide down on it, feeling the beautiful stretch once again.

Connor kisses your back as you adjust to him before slowly moving your hips to bounce up and down on his cock.

You let him do most of the work at the start as you are still recovering from Collin but the need to chase your orgasm starts to grow again. You help Connor with the pace, speeding up a little as you bounce with his hands. A blissed-out Collin watches you both with a smirk before reaching out his hand to hold one of yours. You instinctively grab on to his hand but it topples your balance a little. Connor's hands are then firmly placed on your back keeping you in the right place as he bobs your body to a pace you could both enjoy.

You squeeze tightly on Collin's hand as your orgasm begins to build, Connor guiding you towards it so gracefully that it almost takes you by surprise when that wave of rapture washes over you. Connor meets his end soon after as well, he must have been holding it back until you were finished. Which made sense as Connor was always so eager to please.

Your body lays flat against Connor's chest for a brief moment until you slowly move off of his dick, dark blue liquid now leaking out from between your shaking thighs. If you were your regular self you would have been a bit more careful as to not stain the seats of Connors car but you were too dazed.

Collin pulls you towards him, wrapping his arms around you selfishly. You peer over your shoulder at Connor before then turn to face him and pull him into an embrace against your bare chest.

You three stay like this for a while until you gathered your thoughts back into order.

Luckily Connor had wet wipes and tissues in his car so at least you had a bit of a clean-up before you had to set out again. You hoped the boys would be true to their word and come visit you sometimes, maybe recreate your steamy little car date.

It wasn’t goodbye forever you reminded yourself.

After the three of you got dressed, you sat out on your journey into the forest. At least it was a decent enough day. It wasn’t too cold nor too warm, just average. You walked hand in hand with both boys, not wanting to let go of either of them for even a split second. Connor carried the case of all your earthly belongings in his other hand.

“You’ll be safe here.” Connor promised you when he could sense your fears creeping up again. “Everyone there is very nice. They will treat you like family.”

You nodded, trying to be a bit more positive you brightened up a tad. “It’ll be nice to meet everyone.”

“If anyone gives you shit, you let me know and I’ll personally come by and whoop their ass.” Collin grunted, seeming a little too serious. His demeanour reminding you of the Collin you had first met when you were newly adopted, not the Collin you knew now. Closed off, cold.

“Collin…” Connor warns him, not taking too kindly to the idea of Collin coming and disrupting the flow of the humans. They left the city to get away from androids not to be bullied by new ones.

“Well, I’m just trying to protect her.” Collin bit back in defence.

“So am I, That’s why we’re bringing her here.” Connor retorts calmly as he rubs his thumb over your knuckle.

Collin goes quiet again. You don’t really know what to say anymore and neither does Connor so the three of you continue your journey in somewhat of an awkward silence. Your guilt started building up again, Collin had been hurt a lot in the past that much was clear. He had been starting to heal, was you leaving him now going to send him back to his old ways? You’d have to ask Connor to keep an extra eye out for him when they got back.

You also worried that Collin may start to resent Connor for this whole situation. And God only knows what this will do with their relationship with Richard.

And Richard…

He apologised.

He apologised and you never even got the chance to reply. You didn’t ever want to admit it but you still obviously had feelings for him. You wondered if you’d ever see him again. If he was honest, would he have changed? Would things have been different?

He’d be too proud to cry or even say sorry if it wasn’t true, right? Was it another manipulation tactic? You guessed you’d never know really.

After a long walk, you three had reached the settlement. It was a small scrappy looking ‘village’ filled with shacks made out of wood and other recycled materials, rusty abandoned vehicles like buses re-made into little houses and strings of lights hanging above head, being powered up by decrepit looking generators.

Around the settlement was a chain-link fence full of holes some of which had been covered up but not very well.

The people within the settlement all stopped and stared as the three of you entered, their eyes scanning closely, it was a little unnerving at first as they gathered around in curiosity.

“Greetings stranger,” An old man with a snow white beard, hobbled with a walking stick and smiled at Connor. “Is this the human girl?”

“Hello, again Danny Connor hugged the man who held out his arms to the android. “Yes, this is Y/N.”

“Welcome to the Family Y/N.” The old mans face wrinkles as he smiled and held out his hand to shake with yours.

You took his hand in a shake and the man began to speak again, “Life here ain’t glamourous, a lot of hard work but were free. And we look after each other here.”

You looked around to notice the other humans standing around, smiling and seeming a lot more welcoming now that they knew who, or more specifically, what you were.

You looked at all the unfamiliar faces, some were covered in dirt while others were quite clean. Their clothes all seemed worn, ripped and or sewn back together again. Connor had sometimes brought them new items and food from the city but they mostly preferred doing things on their own, recycling items, growing their own food. They even had some animals. You noticed a few chickens roaming around in the middle of the settlement.

You smiled looking around at all the people nodding to them as they did the same, that was until a shrill voice called out your name.

Turning quickly you saw her. “Emily!”

You ran to each other in an embrace, holding on to her for dear life as tears streamed down from both of your eyes, when you both finally let go you move back slightly with your hand over your heart as you take note of her stomach.

“Emily!” You repeat as your hand reaches out for a feel for the baby.

“It’s a long story” she laughs wiping away a tear. “Come on.” She guides you to sit on one of the logs by a small fire. “We have so much catching up to do.”

————————–

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marshmallow-phd · 3 years

Text

Scarlet Moon

Genre: Scarlet Heart Ryeo!AU, Time Travel!AU, Alternate History, Royalty!AU

Pairing: OC x EXO OT9

Summary: This isn’t Gwen’s time. She was from the modern era, with technology and electricity. But during a solar eclipse, she’s transported back into a previous life in a time and place she does not know. Now, as the foreign daughter of a merchant living in a prince’s household, she must tread carefully, watch her back, and guard her heart. But with the princes locked in a battle over the throne, the chances of her making it out alive might disappear.

Part: 1 I 2 I 3

********

The bright sun felt warm against Gwen’s skin. Chae Ryung half-heartedly chastised her about burning her face, but Gwen hardly gave a listen. It felt like it had been years since she’d simply stopped and took in the light. All she ever did was go to work, do her schoolwork, and watch dramas. She never really took much time for simply… being. After a minute or so, Chase Ryung convinced her to keep walking through the courtyard, but she still went slow, taking in everything.

The other servants would stop in the middle of their work and glance at Gwen in a fashion they might have thought was sneaky, but was, in fact, fairly obvious. Some gave looks of concern, others, it felt like, of awe. Gwen ran her fingers through her hair, the red catching in the sunlight. She stuck out more here than she ever did back home and it made her stomach queasy.

“So, Chae Ryung,” Gwen finally said, “what is it that I usually do during the day?”

“All day?” she echoed. She pursed her lips side to side as she thought. “Mostly you keep Lady Hae company. She’s a bit lonely as Prince Suho’s wife. You’re the closest to her station here.”

Suho. An interesting name for a prince. I remembered Papa inquiring after the pale but beautiful woman in ornate clothing. “And she’s sick?”

Chae Ryung nodded sorrowfully. After looking over her shoulder, she lowered her voice as she leaned in. “Some are worried that she doesn’t have much longer and the prince still doesn’t have an heir.”

“Is it that bad?”

Chae Ryung nodded again. Gwen’s heart went out to the beautifully tragic woman. In the single moment she’d met the Lady of the household, Gwen could tell that she had a kind heart. The look of worry and concern was etched in her mind, not a single twitch giving away possible deception. Spending her days with Lady Hae didn’t seem like too terribly a time. Perhaps she could be another person to lean on, to help Gwen when she stumbled. Because she would certainly be stumbling every other step in this place.

Gwen and Chae Ryung wandered around the grounds for hours, the latter filling Gwen in on what she couldn’t put together for herself.

Apparently, this Gwen had had a tendency to be a bit rambunctious, taking liking to archery just as much as needlework. Often, she would be caught joining in the servant boys in whatever rough game they were playing that day. Not exactly a good look for the daughter of a wealthy merchant. It had to be a comical sight, the horrified looks this girl must have produced from the other women around the household as a child. But over the last few years, she’d calmed to be a bit more demure. Chae Ryung went into explaining the wide gray area Gwen was given as an outsider. Though this girl knew the rules of society, she was able to bend them ever so slightly.

Excellent.

Coming up on the path was a pond, round and expanding, the edges lined with tall grass and fresh flowers that gave off calming scents. A family of little ducks floated on top of the clear water. Fish in bright colors of oranges and yellows swam freely, their tails creating the slightest ripples on the surface. As they walked around the water, Chae Ryung described a beautiful gazebo that this Gwen apparently loved to hide away in when she wanted to be alone. Disappointingly, though, the gazebo was already occupied by the Prince and Lady Hae.

Looking like a happy but conservative couple, they drank tea together and spoke softly. Prince Suho smiled at his wife as he brought the teacup to his lips, but as his eyes drifted over to the spot where Gwen stood, the smile changed.

It deepened, almost. An uncomfortable feeling settled in Gwen’s stomach. She smiled back, though, and waved, to remain polite. She was probably reading into things or misunderstanding them. Prince Suho held back a laugh before turning back to his wife. She still didn’t fully understand the dynamics of this world and could easily misinterpret his actions. And her head still slightly throbbed, so that could be clouding her thoughts as well.

“It’s inappropriate to stare at a married couple’s private moments,” a high voice snipped.

Confused, Gwen turned to find an elegantly dressed girl close to her age. Or, rather, this body’s age since this Gwen was a few years younger than the body she’d left behind.

This new girl’s face was pretty, but it was destroyed by the snobbish and self-satisfied look she wore. Chae Ryung bowed deeply, but Gwen stayed erect. Bowing was not something that came as second nature to her and she didn’t want to do it for just anyone. Not surprisingly, this defiance deepened the annoyance on the girl’s face even more. Sensing danger, Chae Ryung forced Gwen into a bow.

“Greetings, Your Highness,” Chae Ryung said with a shaky voice. She gave Gwen a pointed glance that was ignored.

“Apparently, not only have you forgotten your memories, but the few manners you ever had as well,” her highness sniffed. “I would be happy to be your teacher. Maybe we can make you a more respectful person this time around.”

“Perhaps we have two different definitions of respect.”

It was subtle, but the girl’s smile strained, stiffening and tightening in the corners. Gwen knew that irritated look all too well from high school. The girls of the popular crowd would often shift into this body language whenever Gwen ignored their insults or countered them with a response they weren’t expecting. It had made her extremely unpopular, but that was never important to her. All she ever cared about was getting out and graduating. It was sad that mean girls had existed back in this time as well.

“How dare you speak to me that way,” the girl hissed. “You think because you’re a freak of nature you can do and say as you please?”

“Just because I look different from you doesn’t mean that I’m a freak of nature!” Gwen shouted. Her nails dug into her palms as she tried to reign in the urge to respond physically. That particular subject had always been a sore spot for her. She didn’t think she was ugly, per se, but she wasn’t a beauty. Society’s standards, as ever changing as they were, always felt too far out of her reach. “Pretty” was not something she ever saw in the mirror. And, unfortunately, this body held the same face.

“What is going on here?”

Gwen stiffened at the Prince’s voice behind her. Slowly, she turned around and bowed deeply. Prince Suho had abandoned his wife at the gazebo to investigate. She hadn’t meant to ruin his date, especially since they probably didn’t get many moments like this. “I’m sorry for disturbing you, Your Highness.”

Prince Suho looked past her to the girl and then back at Gwen. “Perhaps, it’s best for you to go back inside, Lady Gwen. I don’t want you to tire yourself out and I fear it might get colder. ”

Nodding, Gwen bowed again and walked away. There was no point in arguing. Besides, she didn’t want to hang around this self-important girl, who she didn’t dare give a passing glance to and give her the satisfaction of besting her. Once out of sight, however, Gwen’s bravado deflated.

“Who was that girl?” She bit her bottom lip in a very unladylike manner as she slouched against the outer wall of a red-painted building.

Chae Ryung tutted nervously. “That was Princess Yeon Hwa. You’re lucky that her brother stepped in.”

That girl was Prince Suho’s sister? Gwen shuddered, feeling sorry for Suho since he had to be related to her. “Mom always said I was too spiteful. But I wasn’t being disrespectful by looking for five seconds. They just looked like a scene out of a movie.”

“A movie?”

Oh, crap. There you go again. “A novel. I meant a novel. They looked like a scene from a book.”

“Oh!” Chae Ryung nodded, though she wore an expression of confusion. “Still it would have been better to apologize and walk away.”

Gwen shrugged. “Maybe next time.”

Looking up at the blue sky, Gwen wanted to pout. It was such a nice day. Even with these layers of clothes, she wasn’t too hot and a nice breeze played with her hair. But Prince Suho had told her to go inside. He must have figured she would cause less trouble there. He also said it might get colder. Gwen hated being cold.

“When I have to stay inside, where do I like to go?” she asked as she looked ot her friend.

Chae Ryung grinned from ear to ear. She seemed excited as she took hold of Gwen’s wrist and pulled her along to a building near the middle of the compound. It wasn’t a large building, with spaces barely able to be called rooms. That hardly deterred the excitement bubbling up in Gwen’s chest.

Inside were wooden shelves, thin and easily seen through. But unlike the thick, hardbound novels Gwen was used to, the books stacked here were thinner, flimsy and held together with twine. Another servant girl shuffled up before they stepped into the room. Chae Ryung was needed elsewhere. She urged Gwen to go on ahead and stay at the library for a few hours.

Within the shelves, she lost herself.

Reading was always a comfort to Gwen, but she tended to lean towards adventurous fiction filled with romance and challenge. She doubted she would find such stories in the Prince’s library. If she could even read these manuscripts.

Gwen blinked, reflecting on her presence here. Somehow, she was able to communicate with the others despite the fact that they weren’t speaking English. The real Gwen’s knowledge - at least, with speaking and reading - somehow had remained behind. As her eyes drifted over the Chinese characters written on the spines, she understood what they said. A small laugh escaped her lips. She’d always wanted to know more than one language. All it took was being transported back in time to a different body.

From what Gwen could make out of the titles of the volumes, they were mostly science based - medical treatments and catalogs of animals and plants - along with a few recorded histories. There were no fictional stories to be found, so Gwen went for the next best thing and grabbed a book that recounted the story of how King Taejo founded Goryeo.

The wording was a bit dry and straight forward, the author giving only the occasional flourish here and there. Still, like any written word, it absorbed her attention. To receive a recount of history from a source so close to the time that it happened was not to be taken lightly. Gwen walked through the aisles as she read, unaware that another visitor had arrived. In the middle of a sentence about a deciding battle, her pacing was stopped by a soft wall. She looked up and sucked in her breath.

Prince Suho.

She bowed, thinking that her back would start aching from all this bending over. “I’m sorry, again, for earlier,” she whispered. It was a sincere apology. Though it wasn’t her fault, she’d egged it on and caused the Prince trouble, which in turn could cause trouble for this Gwen’s father. Both men had been kind to her since she woke up and she didn’t want to repay that kindness by being a burden.

Instead of acknowledging her apology, Prince Suho asked, “Do you really not remember anything?”

Gwen shook her head, unable to meet his eye. She could feel his gaze seering onto her face, however. Warmth tickled at her cheeks and she hoped that it wasn’t a visible heat. The Prince was handsome, with a strong chin and kind eyes. He spoke softly.

“Do you remember why you were at the bathhouse?”

Gwen snapped her head up, confused. Why would he be asking her about a bathhouse? “The bathhouse?” She knew nothing about a bathhouse or what this Gwen would be doing there.

He sighed. “Truly?” Did he not believe her? Did he think she was faking it to avoid getting into trouble?

“I-” she stopped. Would she be punished for something she didn’t even do? She tried to be as sincere and honest as possible. She didn’t know what could be done to her if he didn’t believe her. “I’m sorry. I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Prince Suho didn’t look receptive to her answer, but he backtracked anyway as he looked away. “Perhaps I was merely seeing things,” he murmured to himself. Regaining eye contact, he took a step to shorten the space between them. “When I invited you and your father to stay here, I took it upon myself to look after you, knowing your foreignness would make you a target. I’m afraid I’ve neglected on that duty. It has caused Lady Hae great worry.”

Gwen took a step back, her hands behind her back. “No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I think I’m causing you more trouble than I’m worth. I promise, I’ll watch my steps from now on. The last thing I want is to be in the way. If you need anything, I’ll do it. I want to be a help, not a burden.” He nodded, the expression on his face softening slightly. Feeling the conversation was over with that last declaration, she bowed and scurried out of the library after replacing the historical text.

With that haven now compromised, Gwen concluded the best place for her to go was back to her room until dinner.

********

After a few days of managing to stay out of trouble, Gwen ran into Lady Hae on one of her leg-stretching walks. She didn’t seem to be upset about the incident at the gazebo, though she was disappointed that Gwen hadn’t come to see her. Gwen stumbled through an apology, not realizing that she would be so missed. In fact, she thought she was doing everyone a favor by staying out of the way.

Accepting the apology, Lady Hae asked if Gwen would like to learn how to make lotus lanterns for the upcoming festival. Gwen raised her eyebrows in surprise. Thinking it would be fun and distracting, she agreed and followed Lady Hae to one of the buildings with open walls that allowed a gentle breeze to keep them cool. The temperature hadn’t dropped like Prince Suho had predicted. When Gwen saw who was already at work in the building, she instantly regretted her decision to join. A groan was barely suppressed as she sat down beside Lady Hae.

“Lady Hae, I see you brought a friend,” Yeon Hwa sneered cheerfully.

It took willpower, but Gwen managed to ignore the princess’s snide remark, instead focusing on Lady Hae’s explanation of how to put the lanterns together. The glue had a potent smell that stung at Gwen’s nose. No wonder they were in a building that allowed the air to drift in and out. It took a few poor looking lanterns for her to get the hang of it, but finally they looked worthy of being hung up for other people to see. Glancing over at Yeon Hwa’s, Gwen huffed internally. Though they were the same design, the princess’ were begrudgingly far superior.

“Lady Gwen,” Yeon Hwa called out. A faux-sweet smile stretched across her lips. “Why don’t you go take the dry lanterns and put them in the Moon building for storage until the festival?”

Gwen returned a smile just as fake. “Of course.”

Chae Ryung, who had joined the group soon after Gwen’s arrival, stepped forward. “I can take them, my lady.”

“Lady Gwen is perfectly capable of carrying them herself,” Yeon Hwa snapped. The evil look gleamed in her eyes, as if she were punishing Gwen with such menial labor.

Little did she know the request didn’t bother Gwen in the slightest. She was giving the perfect excuse to leave her presence. While making the lanterns, Gwen’s mind had wandered towards the village beyond the walls and - with everyone occupied here – sneaking out on her own should be easy enough. She wanted to see more of this world that she now resided in.

Filling up her arms with as much as they could carry, Gwen shuffled up the hill, following the directions Chae Ryung had given to the Moon building.

“Gwen, you’re out of your room.”

Papa walked up, a smile on his face causing the corners of his eyes to crinkle. He seemed out of place in the Goryeo fashion he donned, yet comfortable as the shiny fabric swayed around his legs. He wore the hanbok with dignity and ease. Back home, Gwen prefered less complicated clothing and was still adjusting to the multilayered dresses that needed an extra pair of hands to put on.

“Yes,” Gwen said. “I was helping Lady Hae make lanterns for the festival.” She held them up proudly for him to see.

“Those are very beautiful,” he complimented. Gwen’s smile stretched farther across her lips at the praise. “I’m happy to see that you’re getting back to your old self.”

The joy in his eyes was almost too overwhelming. Gwen thought back to her own father, with whom she was close. They seemed so much alike. Tears threatened to brim her eyes. Within the last few days, she’d grown an affection for this man. He was patient with her and caring. And, as an outsider himself, a small connection that she clung to. “I’m happy that you’re happy, Papa.”

“I have some business to oversee at the house. Please, stay out of trouble.” He gave her a kiss on the head and resumed in the direction he was headed before.

Continuing on her own way, Gwen barely reached the steps of the Moon building before a man in brown clothes ran, bowed, and took the lanterns to store them. He must have been a servant in the Prince’s household. She hadn’t seen him before but she gladly handed the lanterns over. Thankful that her task was now over, she waited and watched as the servant hung the lanterns up on a long string inside the open doors. Now it was time to explore. Taking a different path, she headed for the gate.

This place was certainly different. Monarchies weren't as widespread in her own time, most nations having moved on to people-elected governments instead of blood-appointed kings. Though it was different, Gwen appreciated the underlining respect that drove this culture. The differences in formal and informal speech and the hierarchy of that respect ran deep within the people. The mutual heritage they all shared made her a bit jealous. She was from a place that didn’t have that.

The sound of drums broke through her thoughts. They were deep, rhythmic, calling out to anyone who wanted to listen. Answering the call, Gwen followed them.

In a giant dirt courtyard near the palace stood about six figures, some dressed in red, others in black. They were spaced equally apart in a square structure. Gwen hid among the archways, too fascinated to walk away like she should have. The figures danced in unison and with power – except one of the men in red, who was lacking enthusiasm and proper rhythm. The others noticed and stopped their dance, the drums fading out as well. They all stared at the one who had finished incorrectly as he flopped down to the ground. Gwen covered her mouth to soften the giggled. He was throwing a fit. A grown man by the looks of him, he was acting like a spoiled child. Among the figures was Prince Suho, who seemed exasperated at the situation.

So, those must be the other princes.

This festival must be important, if royalty was performing. Gwen made a mental note to have Chae Ryung explain it in more detail when she went back to the compound.

A few of the princes ganged up on the one on the ground, criticizing him for still getting the moves wrong after such a long practice. Huffing, the one on the ground jumped up. He pointed a long finger and accused another brother of making a mistake as well. Gwen laughed loudly at their altercation, the noise pushing through her fingers. Prince Suho glanced up in her direction. She took off, scared to be caught.

Once among the common people, Gwen’s mind eased. She wandered around the city, trying to ignore the whispers and stares that followed. The market was abundant with people. Men gossiped with their friends while the women picked over the vegetables and meats, inspecting for any impurities. Children played loudly and ran through the streets, uncaring if their feet were covered in mud. Different stalls caught Gwen’s attention, some selling soaps and bath grains, others selling intricate hairpins that sparkled under the sun. She made a mental note to ask Papa to come with her next time to buy a few wares. Maybe Chae Ryung could teach her how to place the pins in her hair.

Leaving behind the market, Gwen came to a small bridge over a shallow river. The water flowed steadily, uninterrupted. She stared down at her blurry reflection, wondering how she could still look so much like herself. There was no railing to obstruct the view, so she bent down for a closer look.

The face looking back was still round and pale, the soft jaw line giving a youthful appeal. Red hair fell natural, gentle waves that never liked to obey. Not even the multiple hairpins keeping it out of her face could tame it completely. Sea green eyes sat in hooded sockets on either side of a thin nose and average lips. Freckles dotted the bridge of her nose and apples of her large cheeks from years of sun exposure. Forced to come back to a time that wasn’t hers, the least magic could have done was improve her looks.

The cries of the villagers reached her ears too late. Searching for the source of the hysterics, Gwen stood and turned as the villagers ducked out of sight. A mad man on a black horse galloped through the market. The rider didn’t care about others around him. He didn’t look back behind him or stop to check on those who dived out of his path. A villager with a traveling pack hanging from his shoulders scurried across the bridge to run away from the rider. In his haste, he knocked into Gwen. She lost her balance, flailing her arms worthlessly, and began to fall into the river that had served as my mirror just moments ago. She closed her eyes and braced for impact with the surly cold water. But it didn’t come.

A steadfast grip snatched her by her waist. When she opened her eyes to see who had saved her from the water, she was face to face with the rider.

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daisybeewrites · 3 years

Text

The Best Medecine

word count: 2.7k

warnings: fluffflufffluff

requested? no i just needed to see daisy take care of daniel

ship: dousy/daniel sousa x daisy johnson

PART 2!! idr have an authors note today, just enjoy :)

(gif not mine)

Daniel felt like crap.

He had caught Daisy’s cold, and the effects were hitting him harder than a ton of bricks.

Daisy had recovered fairly quickly after he smoothly convinced her to take the proper medicine and rest. They had a great few days where both of them felt alive and normal, not like zombie versions of themselves. Going grocery shopping (avoiding the soup aisle, they already had a freezer full), taking a day trip to hike the Eaton Canyon trail and picnic, testing out a new prosthetic Fitz designed, and pulling an all-nighter to binge-watch Grey’s Anatomy completed the week wonderfully.

Things were going great! Almost too great. Things never go this great in their universe. Which is why neither of them were surprised when Daniel shot up in bed at 4am sneezing, waking Daisy and, she joked, the rest of the street. He tried to go back to sleep, only to wake up with a loud achoo! ten minutes later. Daniel rubbed his forehead, the pressure centered between his eyebrows insisting that he was not going to get any sort of true rest that day.

He told a sleepy Daisy that he felt fine, that he just needed a hot bath. It was probably just the spring allergies, right? Nothing to worry about, Daniel told himself as he swung his leg over the side of the bed, grabbing his crutches and lumbering to the bathroom. He splashed his face with warm then cold water before quickly checking that Daisy was asleep again, her silhouette rising with deep breaths, outlined in diffused blue light from the stars on the ceiling. Maybe he could shake this before it got too bad? Surely, it wouldn’t disrupt his routine too much?

Daniel quietly crutched to the soft couch, grabbing a blanket from the pile on the armchair. The flannel of the blankets and the comfortable give of the couch lulled Daniel into a restless sleep.

Early morning turned to late morning turned to afternoon, Daniel only waking up from tossing and turning when Daisy shook him and offered a sinus pill, which he gulped down with an entire cup of cool water. Three ice cubes shaped like half moons knocked into each other as he tipped the cup back, letting the smooth liquid drown out the scratchiness in his throat.

A glance at the clock alarmed him, mentally calculating how long he slept. He noticed the second quilt that had been laid on top of him, the fleecy textile one Daisy frequently curled up with when she had a bad day. He could faintly smell her coconut and lavender conditioner. It tickled his nose.

“Sweetheart?” Daniel called weakly.

“Mmm?” Daisy hummed.

“I slept for fourteen hours?” Though he asked a question, his tone was almost a statement.

Daisy nodded, slightly smiling. “I think you caught my cold. Maybe cuddling so much wasn’t a good idea.”

Daniel chuckled a little, but stopped when he saw the flicker of worry in her eyes. He reached over to her and grabbed her hand. “I don’t regret any time spent helping you feel better, Daisy.”

She smiled, mirroring his expression. Their eyes both crinkled at the sides, happy gazes taking in the other. Daisy’s eyes still furrowed though, and Daniel cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the frog there before speaking. The action only scratched his throat, a string of coughs interrupting the couple’s staring contest.

“Hey, could you bring me som—” Daniel was cut off by more crackling coughs. Daisy threw him a concerned glance. He could hardly keep his eyes open, hands clammy and forehead burning, body shaking with hacks. He could feel the dip in the cushion as Daisy moved to sit down beside him, resting her hand on his forehead. Her cool skin felt incredible on his. He understood why she liked it so much when he had done the same.

He slowly opened his eyes, ignoring the dry, itchy feeling and opting to focus on Daisy above him. She looked beautiful, like an angel, with airy morning light surrounding her and two messy braids running down her back. She was his angel. His angel was smirking at the way he leaned into her touch.

“These?” she asked, as she held up a small, blue box of tissues. He nodded, swallowing thickly before sitting up and scooting back to lean against the rounded arm of the tan couch. Daisy laughed quietly.

“What?”

She continued giggling, her small laugh growing a little.

“What’s funny?”

Daisy leaned forward and rested a hand on his thigh for balance.

“You’re wearing those pajama pants I got you for Christmas,” she explained. He glanced down, recognizing the tiny planets of their solar system dyed into the plush fabric. “They’re cute on you.”

He smiled, gazing at Daisy. Then he sneezed. Luckily, he picked up a tissue and covered his face in time to not sneeze in Daisy’s face. Daisy leaned back, laughing. Daniel started to, too, a low rumble in his chest diffusing the nerves he had felt. This was the first time Daisy had ever seen him sick. There was that one time in space when he had almost gotten (unintentionally) poisoned by alien coffee, but that was an unpleasant memory he didn’t want to dwell on. Other than that, not a single sniffle had popped up.

Daisy suddenly stood up and slid to the kitchen in sock feet, a large grin on her face.

“Dais, where’re you going?” he wondered out loud.

“The kitchen, duh,” she replied as she slid to the soapstone countertops, grabbing a red and white box out of the counter.

Daniel recognized it as Daisy’s favourite tea, she had bought it on a mission in South Africa and became enamoured with it. Sometimes Daniel would catch her up at odd hours of the night, when she couldn’t sleep, out on the back patio drinking a steaming mug of Rooibos. He knew it was her favourite, and it had slowly become his, too. Lately, they have made a habit out of winding down from long days at work with mugs in their hands, on the couch or in the backyard, red-amber liquid relaxing their minds and limbs. Those were some of his favourite times with Daisy, spent talking and drinking their tea and laughing at reruns of sitcoms.

The sound of hot water trickling into a mug pulled him out of his thoughts. The mug in question was one he had made for Daisy—large and hand painted, artsy flicks of white and yellow and blue serving as reminders of their time in space. That was a modern invention he was particularly fond of (paint your own pottery, not space). It was mesmerizing to watch the colored, chalky paint glide onto the ceramic surface. He often went to this local hole-in-the-wall café that let you paint one of their mugs and bring it home, for an extra charge. Their coffee and ‘old-fashioned southern’ biscuits were delicious.

Daniel stared as Daisy danced around the kitchen, her fishtails swishing and hips swaying. There was no music, just her. She dunked the tea bag in a couple times and let it steep. When the tea was ready, she poured in a squeeze of honey and grabbed a shiny green bottle of cough syrup, carefully walking over to the couch. Daniel gently took the mug from her, using the corner of the blanket as a barrier so as not to burn his hands. Daisy sat on the coffee table across from him, smiling as Daniel took a sip.

“Hot!” he exclaimed.

“I know I am, you don’t have to tell me,” Daisy teased. “Do you want some ice cubes?”

“Jemma would disapprove,” Daniel shot back.

Daisy rolled her eyes and sighed. “Jemma has put up with my odd tea-drinking since 2013. I already made the tea wrong, might as well make it so that you won’t burn yourself trying to drink it.”

Daniel watched Daisy laugh. As ill as he felt, Daisy just being there helped tremendously. The tea soothed his scratchy throat and her laugh sped up his heart. He knew the pink dust on his cheeks couldn’t be attributed to fever alone.

The pair sat in silence for a while as Daniel finished the tea, thankful for the warm beverage. His headache was slightly dissipating, due to the tea or Daisy’s light aura he wasn’t sure. He sat the mug down on the table and leaned up to peck Daisy’s lips. She leaned in a bit putting her hand on his chest to pull away.

“How about that bath?”

“Only if you come, too,” Daniel whispered.

Daisy chuckled. “You, lover boy, are sick. If we keep this up, one of us is always going to be sick. And plus, I need you distracted while I make a surprise!”

Daniel perked up, his slight pout disappearing. “A surprise…?”

“Yes, Danny-boy, a surprise. Which means I can’t tell you, so sit here and I’ll go fill the tub and then you can feel the full effects of that chill pill.”

Daniel leaned towards Daisy, confused. “What chill pill?”

“This chill pill,” Daisy said, leaning forward until her nose almost touched his. Daniel’s head swam with the scent of her silky blonde hair and vanilla lotion. She gently rubbed her hands up and down his arms and over his shoulders. He took a moment to watch the twinkle in her eye, the warmth resonating through him. He felt the tension from staying on the couch all day slowly release, his arms coming to wrap loosely around Daisy’s back in an attempt to keep her there. She shook her head with a grin and sat up, easing off the couch.

Daisy kissed Daniel’s forehead before walking down the hall to the bathroom. Daniel watched her leave, conflicted. Shouldn’t he be able to take care of himself? He had for years, why stop now? It isn’t like he couldn’t fill up the tub, or cook or grab tissues, no matter how light headed he got. Why did she want to help him? ‘Because I love you, you stubborn square!’ Daisy would say. He could practically hear her protest, ‘Just let me take care of you! It won’t hurt!’

If he was honest with himself, that’s all he wanted.

So, he did.

Daisy came back into the living room, the faint sound of water rushing creating a comforting ambience. He didn’t have his leg on, as laying around all day didn’t require it and he was more comfortable without the prosthetic cramming against the back of the couch. He reached back and grabbed the pair of crutches that were leaned against the arm of the sofa. Daisy walked with him back to the bathroom, making sure he didn’t lose his balance due to dizziness from dehydration. Apparently, that was one reason Daisy had felt so horrible after her mission, she had been so busy taking down bad guys that she almost took herself down, too. Even knowing that dehydration isn’t contagious, neither of them wanted him falling into décor à la Daisy.

They reached the bathroom, Daisy running to their room to grab an extra set of sweats for Daniel to put on once he was done.

While she was rummaging through drawers, Daniel carefully undressed and got into the deep tub.

The bath felt incredible. He could smell the lavender from the fancy epsom salt that Daisy had gotten him wafting up from small waves he created. The water was warm, but not so hot that it burned and not so lukewarm that it would go cold in a few minutes.

“Dais, this is first-class,” Daniel called.

Daisy giggled a bit before responding. “First-class?”

“I know you’re poking fun, but thank you. It feels amazing.”

Daisy peeked her head around the corner, nodding.

“I'm glad you like it. Now I'm gonna go fix that surprise. Yell if you need anything, k?”

Daniel nodded and relaxed his head back, muscles slowly easing their tension and his eyes softly closing.

“Oh, shit!!”

Daniel startled, bath water dripping over onto the towels lining the tub. Daisy’s exclamation didn’t seem pained, but he couldn’t help his brow from creasing. He felt fairly rested, he wasn’t sure how long he had been napping in the water. It had gone from pleasantly warm to tepid, he guessed around thirty minutes at the most.

“Dais, everything alright?”

Daisy paused before responding, “Yep! Got it all under control!”

Daniel smiled and shook his head, figuring it was probably time to get out and troop back to the living room, anyway.

He grabbed the grip-bar beside the tub and eased up, sitting on the edge before swinging his good leg around and stepping onto the floor. He grabbed a towel off his hook on the wall and started to dry off. Daisy had set a pair of comfy pants and a shirt on the counter, which he pulled on before grabbing his crutches and making his way to the kitchen. Something smelled… burnt.

He rounded the corner, stopping in his tracks.

“Uh, Dais?”

“It’s burned, I know,” Daisy said, disconcertedly.

“Are you okay?”

Daisy was staring disappointedly at two bowls of seemingly okay soup. She gestured loosely to the sink, Daniel’s eye following.

“Oh, okay, yeah, I see.”

There was a large pot sitting in the sink, filled with greyish water, black bits glued to the bottom.

“I’m sorry. I know cooking isn’t exactly my thing.”

Sousa smiled, running a hand through his wet hair. Daisy’s hands fidgeted, rubbing at her neck.

“Is the soup in the bowls good?”

Daisy looked him up and down, a twinkle of mirth in her eye, like she knew something he didn’t. She shrugged, “The char adds flavour.”

At that, Daniel grinned and stepped forward a little, leaning against the counter next to her. “I’m up for some extra flavour.”

Daisy looked over at him with an odd expression. “Even sick, never fails.”

Daniel responded immediately, “Through sickness and health.”

Daisy’s eyes went wide.

“Relax, I’m kidding. Mostly.”

Daisy’s posture slumped a little as she hit his bicep. “Funny. You’re a funny, funny man.”

He nodded and felt a deep laugh in his chest. “I am very funny, yes.”

Daisy squinted her eyes at him, turning and picking up their bowls of soup to set on the kitchen island. She slid onto one of the backless bar stools that served as seats for when she didn’t feel like being fancy and eating at a table. Sousa took a moment before following, leaning his crutches against the cabinet after sliding onto the stool across from Daisy. He picked up a spoon and tasted the soup, swallowing down a grimace and giving her a thumbs up.

“It's great!” Daniel exclaimed.

Daisy pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows at him, tasting a spoonful. She was not as great at acting as Daniel was, and could barely keep herself from spitting it out.

“Oh, god, that’s awful!” Despite her wry expression, she was giggling as she picked her cell out of her pajama short’s pocket. Daniel eyed her, perplexed as Daisy hit a button in her .

“Yes, hi... Thank you. Can we get six egg rolls, a small veggie fried rice, a plate of crab wontons, and a small shrimp lo-mein?... Yes! Thank you!... Alright, we’ll be there in ten. Have a good evening!” Daniel watched as Daisy hung up, a bright grin slowly spreading across her face.

Daniel mirrored her, smiling wide. “Chinese food?”

“Yep,” Daisy nodded, popping the 'p'.

Daisy slid lithely off the seat, grabbing the bowls of blackened soup and trashing them. She felt bad, throwing away food. She never got rid of food unless she absolutely had to. Old habits die hard.

She turned around and gave Daniel a smile. She noticed that he wasn’t as pale, his face wasn’t as flushed and he wasn’t swaying like his head was full of air. Maybe she had helped more than she thought. They walked out to Daisy’s car, a metallic dark grey crossover with slightly tinted windows. Daisy got in on the drivers side, Daniel climbing into the passenger. She cranked the car and turned up the radio, checking that Daniel was okay. It was a slightly chilly evening, and the windows were rolled down just enough to let the air in.

The evening felt great, the cool air and orange-pink sky refreshing their senses. Daniel’s eyes were soft as he gazed at Daisy. Even though he caught her cold, he had the feeling that Daisy was the best medicine. Lucky him.

Maybe things do go this great in our universe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

awwwwwww, cuuuuuuute! as always, feel free to drop a request in my ask box (linked in the bio) or comment any thoughts!! thanks for reading!!

#dousy #sickfic #daisy johnson x daniel sousa #major fluff #daisysous #quakersquares #timequake #fanfic #post-canon #ashby writes #danny-boy #jemma simmons #agents of shield #aos

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crazyyanderefangirlfan · 3 years

Text

Bring on the Mania Pt 7

"I can't believe you're a designer."

"I can't believe you've been living under a rock."

After their encounter with Vil and Rook, the pair made their way back to Ramshackle. But not without Amane playfully scolding the girl.

The girl flushed at his response. "W-Well, I don't really watch fashion shows or anything related to it. But after coming here, I do now." She confessed.

He quirked a brow. "Only now?"

"Well, yeah." She said, re-adjusting the crate on her arms.

"I don't really pay attention or follow the trends, too much of a hassle. But, I am beginning to watch them after meeting Vil. Just want to support him, even if I can't understand everything."

Amane blinked at her answer, felt the corners of his mouth twitch to a smile. Despite admitting her lack of knowledge of the subject, she still made an effort to understand it for his sake. She's so sweet.

Though; that begs the question...

"So, you don't have a preferred style?" He asked.

"Not really. I just wear what makes me feel comfortable. My mom doesn't care as long as I'm happy, and my grandparents just remind me to wear shorts under my skirts."

Wow.

What felt like an hour, they finally spotted the gates of Ramshackle. Beyond the gate, Valerie could vaguely make out Gerald's ghostly form watering the flowers he planted last month.

"Hey, Gerald."

Her loud voice made the ghost pause and lookup. Upon recognizing her, Gerald placed the watering can down and flew over to open the gate. When his eyes landed on their items, he smirked.

"Ya, feeding an army, kid." He joked.

"Nah, just a chubby and over-indulgent trash cat." She retorted. The ghost chuckled.

Gerald flew overhead and opened the front door. He even offered to carry the two other bags for Amane, but the demon declined, saying it was good exercise. The ghost went back to watering.

When they entered Ramshackle, they found Grim on the couch. Taking a nap with an empty tuna can next to him. When they entered the kitchen, they found Lisha picking on some stray beetles on the counter. When the little strix noticed them, she grabbed a piece of paper next to her and flew over to Valerie. Dangling it for her to read. What it said made her bit her bottom lip.

Crowley may be the closest thing she had for a father, but sometimes she wants to shove a transformation down his throat. Turning him into a real crow, and breaking a wing, so Grim can hunt better,

She shook her head from those morbid thoughts, not the time.

"Sorry, Amane, but I have to do something. I'll come back as soon as I can to help you." She said, putting the crate down.

"Oh? What happened?" He inquired, placing the bags on the counter. She sighed.

"Crowley asked me to clean his office; while he has something to attend to."

"The fuck? Why would he do that?" Above all things crow shit makes her do...

"It's okay. In fact, I was first a handywoman and cleaning lady, along with Grim. But after a certain incident, we became students." She explained, running her fingers through her ponytail.

"Okay, let's go." He announced. The girl sputtered.

"I-I'm sorry, w-what?"

"Let's go to Crow shit's office. I wanted to see more of this school again. It's been ages." He answered, taking her hand and leading her to the door.

"W-Wait! Amane, I have frozens!"

"Don't worry, we'll handle it." As if on cue, Bennett and Wilbur floated down and began arranging.

"Well, you heard your ghostly guardians. Let's go!"

"Alright, I'll be quick, don't cause any trouble." The opal-eyed girl begged. Standing in front of the office.

"No promises, Sugar tits." The hetero-eyed male winked playfully. The brunette rolled her eyes and went inside.

With the two monsters back in Ramshackle, the demon was alone. Free to flirt with any one of these gorgeous boys without Lisha clawing his eyes out; or having her turned into her original form and trying to eat him.

He smirked.

"Get ready boys, this demon is on a hunt."

For the past hour, Amane happily flirted with several students; some even try to give him their numbers or ask for his. But he turned them down, he may love good-looking guys, but he ain't touching that.

"Oh baby, maybe if you and your dick grow a few inches, then I'll see." The incubi playfully boop a pouting student's nose before happily running away.

He turned to the corner to catch his breath, but the grin never left his face. This was too much fun!

In the corner of his eye, he found something glinting under the sun. Curious, he walked over. It was a blue tablet; it looked like it was charging. Intrigued, he pressed the power button. What he didn't expect was a voice on the other end.

"W-What a-are y-you d-doing?"

Idia felt the world finally turned against him. First, he forgot to charge his tablet last night, making him replenish it in solar mode. Next, he missed a rare event that won't come back in six months. To top it all off. A normie found his tablet.

Joy.

"Oh fuck, it talks." The person on the other side of the screen said in surprise.

'Ugh, go away. Talking to people like you drains all my health.'

"Hon, if you don't reply. I'm just gonna grab this thing and drop it somewhere-"

"No!"

Idia could feel their smirk from the screen. He wants a restart.

"The name's Amane Mania, you?"

The flame-haired male wanted to deny but decided he should if he tried anything.

"I-Idia S-S-Shroud."

"Idia, huh? What dorm are you from?" Amane questioned.

"I-Ignihyde." Idia could feel a severe drain of his energy.

"Ah, Ignihyde. A bunch of shut-ins, but high in sex drive." Amane sighed blissfully.

"What!?" The man barked in laughter.

"When I was still here, I had an occasional fuck with guys. What they lack in skill, they make up for enthusiasm."

There was silence from Amane's end; before purring his following sentence.

"Let's test that with you~" Idia's hair flared up. But, he didn't stop.

"Would you like me to call you daddy or master?"

Great seven's he cannot handle this. Please, Lord of the underworld, save him.

Fortunately, his prayer was answered.

"Excuse me!"

Startled by the loud voice, the incubus turned around and faced a...Kid?

Huh?

"That's my brother's tablet. May I have it back, please?" Innocent amber eyes stared at him.

"Umm, sure. Give me a moment." Though still confused on why a child was here, he was not going without the last word.

He whispered to the tablet, making sure the kid didn't hear him.

"Until next time, Dom switch."

Amane could have sworn something exploded on the other end, but he paid no mind. Instead, he gave the tablet to the young cyborg.

"Here ya go, Kid."

The child beamed. "Thank you!" Then zoomed off.

_______________________________________________

"Anything interesting happened when I was gone?" Valerie asked.

Just as she said, the girl didn't take too long and now walking back to Ramshackle.

"Well." He began his retelling his meeting Idia and a short cyborg.

"Oh, that's Ortho. He and Idia are considered one student. Like, me and Grim."

"Except, the little guy had a better personality than the gremlin." Amane retorted, earning a playful slap on the shoulder.

"Hey! Cut Grim some slack. Yes, he can be too much sometimes, but he has his moments." She defended. Amane just pulled her hood to her face.

"My~ Is this the infamous Amane I've been hearing so much about?"

"Fucking crack whore hell!"

The suddenness of the interruption causes the incubus to cling to the girl like a frightened cat.

Hanging upside down in mid-air was Diasomnia's playful vice-dorm leader, Lilia Vanrouge. The vampire had an amused smile on his face when he perceived Amane's shocked expression.

"Fufufufu, forgive my sudden appearance. I was merely interested to know the demon who cooked that delectable food Sebek brought."

The shock quickly wore off his body, replacing it with a familiar smugness Valerie knew.

"So, my cooking became legendary already? I'm flattered." The incubus fluffed up his hair and shot Lillia a sensual look. The ex-soldier chuckled.

"I believe we haven't been properly acquainted." Lilia landed in front of them, took Amane's hand, and kissed his knuckles. Flustering the demon and surprising the girl.

"My name is Lilia Vanrouge, a pleasure to meet you." His eyes were half-lidded, his smile fanged and filled with flirtatious mischief. For the first time Valerie has met him, Amane was blushing.

"Amane?" She called out hesitantly.

That seemed to snap him out of it; the poor man tried to laugh it off.

"Well, aren't you a gentleman? But I welcome change of pace." Amane smirked.

"Lilia!"

Recognizing the voice. The young brunette peered behind the senior. Jogging his way over was Silver.

"Finally found you, old man." The young knight huffed, relieved that his search is over.

"Good morning, Silver!" The girl beamed up at him.

The aurora-eyed male smiled softly in her direction; he took her hand and placed a lingering kiss.

"Good morning to you too, Valerie."

Lilia let out a small gasp as if realizing something.

"Oh, Dove. I forgot to greet you as well. Let me fix that."

Coming near her face, he gave her cheek a sweet kiss. The girl smiled, especially feeling the strands of his hair on her face.

"Lilia, your hair is on my face." She giggled.

Standing on the side, Amane could only freeze and stare with wide eyes and raised brows. A man was kissing her cheek, which lasted longer than necessary, and not even the slightest bit affected.

Just how dense is she?

"Okay, old man. That's enough."

Silver forcefully removed the shorter male off the girl. Jealousy bubbled in the pit of his stomach. But he tried his best to ignore it.

Lilia pouted. "Your no fun, Silver."

"Remember why we needed to find Valerie, and it's not just to thank Amane for the food." The silver-haired male sternly reminded.

"Yes, yes, I know." Lilia waved him off. Reaching to his coat pocket, he drew a small velvet pouch with a yellow rope. The sound of coins jingling can be heard within it.

Valerie groaned.

"You two know how I feel about this." She complained, rubbing her temples.

"I know, Valerie. But please, accept it just this once." Silver coaxed the girl, giving her a reassuring smile. However, she shook her head.

"Tell him, I appreciate that he's trying to help me. But like all the other times, my answer will still be no." The vampiric fae sighed at her declaration.

"You are absolutely stubborn, Dove." He said, pocketing the pouch.

"But then again. It is one of your charming points." The raspberry-eyed male flashed her a fanged smile.

"We'll be going now. We at least completed one thing needed. Though once we inform him that you refused again..."

"I'll deal with him once he comes to Ramshackle." She can already picture his pouting face in her mind.

Lilia nodded and gestured Silver to follow, giving the girl one last kiss on the cheek (Lilia) and hand (Silver). They walked away.

"Hold on." Amane broke in. "Someone wanted to be your sugar daddy?"

"My, what?"

A hoard of bats attacked the poor demon.

_______________________________________________

"H-Hey! Be gentle." Amane hissed as the cotton swab touched his face.

It took a while to get the bats off him. Thankfully, they left on their own accord, and an injured Amane too. Bite marks littered across his body, more so on his body; the skin on his arms was punctured and bleeding. Some even left small scars on his legs and stomach.

The midnight-haired male never felt so relieved for the girl's abnormal strength, carrying him bridal style and dashing all the way to Ramshackle. Without breaking a sweat or looking remotely tired.

Currently, the man was having his face nursed by Wilbur. His arms, legs, and stomach were neatly wrapped in bandages. Meanwhile, the girl was in the kitchen preparing lunch.

"I am being gentle. You keep fidgeting." The ghost remarked, dabbing Amane's face.

"What did you even do?" Grim chimed in.

On the coffee table, Grim and Lisha were waiting for his answer. Concern shone in the little Strix's eyes while Grim looked bored.

"I...Might have said something wrong." He confessed.

"Not surprising." The feline snorted.

"Hey-Ouch!"

"I told you to stay still." Wilbur chided.

"I dearly hope you won't influence Valerie too much."

Speaking of which.

"Hey, Grim. I need to ask ya something." Amane gritted his teeth, feeling another sting of pain on his face.

"Oh? So you require my wisdom? The great Grim will happily provide, what is it?" A smirk formed on the monster's face. Lisha rolled her eyes at his cockiness, and Wilbur chuckled under his breath.

"Where does Valerie get her money? I know Crow shit gives her allowance, but I'm not convinced."

"Mmm? that's it?" Amane nodded. "Alright, I'll tell ya."

"Yeah, bird brain gives her money. But we do random jobs to earn extra; she even works part-time in the Monstro Lounge sometimes." Grim explained.

Amane carefully regarded this new information and came to one conclusion.

"So, in other words. Valerie is deadass close to being broke."

"Pretty much."

Amane grimaced. This girl seriously needs help.

Loud knocking brought their conversation to a halt. Amane tilted his head, brows furrowed. Please don't tell him it's crow shit.

"I'll get it!" Bennet's voice rang through the air. There was a thick wave of silence; before a sound of footsteps and Bennet's uneasy voice were coming to the lounge.

"H-Hey, now wait for a second"

"Where is the child of man?" A deep voice interrupted the ghost.

Entering the lounge was a tall male with black hair, lime green eyes, and horns on his head. Behind him was Bennet, who shifted his eyes to Amane.

Lime green eyes fell to the demon, raising a brow.

"And who might you be?"

Amane had to seal his mouth shut to keep himself from drooling. This male before him is positively gorgeous! Tall, dark, and cool air of mystery, piercing green eyes stared into his very being, made him chew his inner cheek. Damn, he wanted to see those in the bedroom, and judging by his size, he has to be packing under his pants.

"The name's Amane Mania. I'm pretty famous here for my notorious good looks."

The demon flashed him a flirtatious smirk but cringed when he felt something stick to his face. Weakly glaring at Wilbur, who held a pack of band-aids. The ghost gave him a warning glare, but Amane stuck his tongue out at him.

"Ah." Realization dawned on the tall male.

"The demon currently living with the child of man and the one who cooked that exquisite meal."

"Damn straight. Now, I would like to know your name, handsome."

Everyone, save for Lisha, stared at Amane like he actually said, something prude.

"A-Amane." Wilbur stammered.

"You...Don't know who he is?" Bennet questioned, just as stunned. Amane shook his head.

"Even you, Lisha!?" Grim shouted in surprise. The little strix shrugged her wings, just as confused as the incubus.

"Interesting." Mused the ebony-haired male.

"Oh! Malleus, you're here."

The lime-eyed male, Malleus, straightened his posture when he heard her voice. Valerie peeked through the door with messed-up hair.

"Child of man, may I have a word with you?" He inquired.

The tone of his voice made the girl fidget in place. His stare prompted her to clutch her apron.

Looks like he's upset with her rejection.

"Fine, but let talk outside." She answered. She took off her apron and gave it to Bennett. She followed the tall male out, leaving the rest of the inhabitants to process what they witness.

The pair walked a safe distance away from the dorm; and sat on a bench underneath a tree large enough to shade them.

"Why did you reject my gifts? You need the money, correct? So, why?"

As soon as they sat down, the fae prince wasted no time questioning her. Confusion and hurt shone in his eyes, completed with a pout.

Valerie sighed.

"Malleus." She began. "I know you want to help me, and I'm grateful for it. But please understand, you giving me money so freely? It makes me...Um, well." She paused to find the right words.

"I feel like I'm leeching off you-"

"You're not." He firmly objected. Taking hold of her hands. Eyeing down at her in all seriousness.

"Even so, accepting money; I didn't earn leaves a bitter taste in my mouth."

Silence befell the two students. Malleus seemed to contemplate on her words, rubbing the back of her hand in small circles. After a few tense seconds, he sighed in defeat.

"Very well." He conceded, reluctantly pulling her hands away.

"However. If I ever find you struggling even more as it is, please don't refuse what I give you."

His tone made it clear that he was not giving her a choice, but there was a tinge of desperation.

"Okay, fine." The fae smiled in relief.

"Although. If you want to properly earn the money I give you, you can always come and cook for Diasomnia. I cannot count how many times Sebek has eaten Lilia's cooking for my sake."

The smile faded from his face to a tired frown upon remembering the times Lilia made those horrendous concoctions and insisting for the entire dorm to try. Out of everyone, Sebek suffered the most.

That earned a sympathetic smile from her. "I'll think about it."

She stood up, re-arranged her hair into a neat ponytail again, and faced him.

"Would you like to join me for lunch, Tsunotaro?" Her smile radiated warmth like a fireplace.

Ah, that nickname such fond memories. Enough to muster a small smile and a response.

"I would be delighted."

_______________________________________________

"So...He's a prince."

"Yes."

"And one of the top five powerful wizards."

"Yes. I'm surprised you didn't know about this."

"Eh, not into that sort of stuff."

Meanwhile, the residents of Ramshackle were busily explaining who Malleus was to the two ignorant demons.

"You could at least know he was royalty. Doesn't your family branch over Twisted Wonderland?" Gerald asked. He got back from the kitchen, and here he was.

"I honestly have no fucking interest that shit." Amane's heated reply stunned the ghosts. This is the first time they saw him this angry.

Those who had witnessed it reacted in their own way. Lisha had an understanding look in her eyes. Grim, however, yelped in fear and accidentally shot a fireball at him. Who immediately dodged.

"Gah!"

"Grim!"

"What the fuck, you little shit!"

"Screee!"

"You were about to go on demon mode!" Grim argued, swatting the flames with his tail.

"No, I wasn't!" Amane protested. He grabbed the bowl of water Wilbur used to clean his face and splashed it on the burning couch. It worked, but now they were left with a charred piece of furniture.

"Oh, boy." Gerald muttered under his breath; as he scanned the mess.

Valerie won't be happy with this.

"I'm back!" Speak of the devil.

"I hope you won't mind that Malleus will join-" Valerie blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Yeah, this is real.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply; before letting it all out.

"Alright." She finally said. Opening her eyes, she surveyed their tenses expressions.

"Grim, what did you do?"

"Why me!?" The monster complained.

"You're the only one who does fire magic." She deadpanned.

"I thought he was going on demon mode, that's why." The cat explained, pointing an accusatory paw at the incubus.

"No, I wasn't, ya little shit!" The midnight-haired male furiously retorted.

"You were!"

"Why I oughta-"

"Okay! That's enough." Valerie interrupted, stepping between the demon and monster. Both looked more than eager to fight.

"Since this is clearly an accident, and Grim just went on instinct. So Grim, please apologize to Amane." She calmly instructed the monster, who looked offended.

"What? Why should I-"

"Do it, or I'll make you go on an all broccoli and spinach diet for two weeks." Her smiling face did not match the threatening tone in her voice.

If Grim was human, he would have paled at the thought only to eat those for two weeks straight.

"Sorry, Amane." The monster mumbled, but it was audible enough to hear. Valerie smiled at her accomplishment.

She turned to face everyone and clapped her hands.

"So...Ready to eat?"

Lunch had been thankfully more tamed. Even Grim didn't give his (loud) compliments on her cooking. Looks like her threat left him silent. She did well on lunch.

Kung pao shrimp, roasted salmon with green beans, and tomatoes. A chicken and radish salad, followed by pink lemonade.

"You're an excellent cook, Valerie." Malleus complimented. Taking another bite of his salmon.

"Thank you." Valerie smiled.

"Yeah, not bad. You're almost better than me. Almost." Amane emphasized the last part with a teasing grin. To which the girl rolled her eyes.

After lunch Amane's phone went off, taking it to the lounge with Lisha on top of his head. Leaving Grim and Valerie to do the dishes, Malleus decided to stay and talk to his favorite human more.

Once that was done, she scooped Grim onto her arms, walking out the kitchen with the fae prince in tow. Making their way to the lounge, they paused when they heard Amane's voice. There was slight aggravation in his voice.

"I see. In that case, please forward it to my assistant."

Valerie peered from the entrance. The man sat on the couch, running his fingers through his hair. He finally turned his head, nearly jumping out of his skin when he saw her head.

"Lover of cow tiddies!- Don't do that!" He cursed. Amane slumped on the burned couch, mentally drained from the call.

"Is something troubling you, Mania?" The fae prince questioned. Taking a seat on a nearby chair, and the girl sat next to the demon.

"Nothing to sweat about. But it looks like I have to cut my time short." The incubus confessed, tiredly rubbing his face. Lisha rub his cheek in comfort.

"Huh, why?" Valerie's face wrinkled in concern. But the demon chose to ignore what she said.

Amane got up and dragged his feet out of the room. Disregarding the concern or curious gazes of the others.

The girl wordlessly watched the man walked out. As much as she wanted to help him, she knew it wasn't her business and might anger him.

"You care for him quite a lot." A deep voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

Malleus has been observing her reactions ever since they came back to the dorm. Safe to say, he was a bit jealous of the demon. The fae prince had been vying for her attention since the VDC. Even more when she saved him from his overblot.

The girl rubbed her arms. "Y-Yeah, he opened his heart towards me the last time he stayed here. So I have to be worried for him."

The lime-eyed male stayed silent.

"You didn't forget anything, right?"

"Nope, and don't worry about cleaning the room. I already did that."

The pair stood in front of the entrance door. Amane carried a small bag filled with the items be brought and bought. In the background was Malleus, who was holding Grim at the moment. Lisha was on top of the incubus' head.

"Really? How sweet." Valerie gave him a small smile. Appreciating the gesture.

"You suffered enough bullshit from this school. It the least I could do." The hetero-eyed male playfully pinched her cheek, earning a whine from her. Making him snicker.

"See ya next time, Sugar tits, and you too ya, fat gremlin."

"Quit calling me that!" The monster fumed. Long and slender fingers scratched under his chin, causing him to purr in content. Malleus let out a mirthful chuckle at the action.

Retrieving his hand, Amane gave the girl a mock salute and stepped.

_______________________________________________

Valerie hummed as she fixed her hair into her signature style, albeit replacing her pink ribbon with a black one.

It was getting dark, which meant it was time for her shift in the Monstro Lounge. Malleus left hours ago after watching some historical movie, knowing fully well Sebek and Silver would go out and bring him back to the dorm. Meanwhile, her little monster was sleeping peacefully on her bed.

Valerie checked herself on the mirror for the final time. She was currently wearing a female version of octavinelle's dorm uniform. Except, she replaced it with a black mini pencil skirt, lavender stockings with garters, and black kitten heels.

Once she deemed herself presentable, she grabbed her phone from the bed to check the time. However, when she opened it, there was a text. Her eye twitched when she noticed it was from the headmaster.

"Please don't let this be another errand." The poor girl prayed before reading it.

'Ms. Kemonohito, I'm happy to inform you that all your student debts have been by none other than Mr. Mania. He will also pay for your schooling and accommodations from now on. Ahh, it brings my heart such joy that Night Raven alumni can be as kind as their headmaster.'

Valerie had to re-read the text five times to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks. She stood there, frozen in shock.

Just why?

A loud knocking brought her out of her dilemma.

"Come in."

Opening the door was Gerald, who held a folded piece of paper.

"I accidentally phased in Amane's room and found this on the bed. It had your name on it." The ghost informed before heading out.

Valerie eyed the piece of paper in her hands; it felt hard. Carefully unfolding it, she let out a small gasp.

Credit cards. Amane's credit cards, there were about five of them in her hands. Quickly, she read the note, desperate for an explanation.

'Hey, Sugar tits.

I hope ya like the gift I left ya. I know what you're thinking, 'I can't accept this!' But I really want you to have it, you deserved it. You've been thrown into an unknown world; and placed in the care of an arguably competent man. Which I know by experience can be utterly useless in some situations.

I also took the liberty of paying for your academics and housing of that dorm of yours too. Don't worry about paying back; it's alright, really. You worked your ass since you got here. You are tired, I can see it. Lorelei is good at hiding it too.

Also; If you are worried about earning money, I think I can arrange something, but it's a surprise.'

-Love your new reliable (and gorgeous) guardian, Amane.

A smile threatened to form her face when she finished reading it. This man, whom she known for a short while, was going above and beyond to help her. This feels like those found family tropes in media.

As thoughtful as it was, Valerie recalled a certain fae making a similar promise, and it made her stomach churned. She wasn't sure how to break the news to him. She already made him upset with her rejection, and she raised his hopes up with her promise.

The opal-eyed girl just hopes he'll take it well.

Taking a deep breath, she texted Azul that she's unable to work tonight due to feeling unwell and needed time to rest. Once she has his confirmation, Valerie flopped on her bed.

"Oi! Henchwoman! What the heck and aren't you supposed to go to work!?"

Grim growled, obviously not happy from being woken up.

The girl simply just pulled her little monster close; and buried her face on Grim's fur.

"Not tonight. Actually, I'm going to tell Azul I won't be working in the Monstro Lounge anymore unless he needs a favor." Her reply was kinda muffled. But audible. This confused them.

"Eh? Really? Then where will you get the money?" The cat monster implored. The girl merely raised her head and smiled at him.

"Let's just say; we got a certain weirdo taking care of us now."

Bonus:

"..."

"U-Uhhh, Malleus?"

"..."

"Listen, I really value your generosity and concern for me. Trust me, I was just surprised. Please believe me-"

"I do."

"Really!? Your not mad?"

"I am disappointed that I won't be able to help you, but I am thankful to him and his ability to provide for you."

"I'm not."

"No need to be jealous, Azul."

"Be quiet, Jade."

A/N: Finally done with this chapter! Sorry for the long wait, I know this long over due but I hope you like it.

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland oc #valerie kemonohito #amane mania #idia shroud #ortho shroud #twst grim #lillia vanrouge #twst silver #malleus draconia #azul ashengrotto #jade leech

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artnerd1123 · 3 years

Text

Among Us: CR3WM8TS

Docked and Loaded ——————————————

The ship finally arrives at the newly established Sector G base on a new planet. Hopefully, start of work goes smoothly. Hopefully the logs are functioning well, too...

Among Us archive/askblog Fic chapters post

——————————————

once again i am chopping a chapter in half to keep it from getting too long. anyway!!! more normal crewmate troubles n dorkiness with some ominous vibes for Flavor (tm). hopefully the next part will come out sometime soon! enjoy this for now!

===+===+===

Mission Log 10

Ship Model: SKELD D34-H120 Designation: SUPPLY TRANSPORT, EXPLORATION AND DOCUMENTATION OF SECTOR G PLANETS Crewmate Count: 9 Crewmate Colors: DARK GREEN, WHITE, PURPLE, DARK BLUE, YELLOW, RED, LIME, BLACK, PINK

Location: SECTOR G Ship Status: IN TRANSIT Course: PLANET 326-OCE-894 - SECTOR G Systems:

Navigation: COURSE INLAID / STABLE

Engines: UPPER - ONLINE, TANK 0.86 / LOWER - ONLINE, TANK 0.83 / OUTPUT ALIGNED

Reactor: ONLINE / FUNCTIONING OPTIMAL

O2: STABLE

Electrical: STABLE

Communications: ONLINE

Shields: ONLINE / FUNCTIONING OPTIMAL

Weapons: ONLINE / FUNCTIONING OPTIMAL

Security: CAMERAS ONLINE / ALL FUNCTIONAL

Administration: MAP ONLINE / CONNECTION SECURE / SHIP FILES UP TO DATE / ALL CREW ACCOUNTED FOR

Medbay: EQUIPMENT ONLINE / FUNCTIONAL / CREW FILES UP TO DATE

Supplies: [ONE] CRATES SHORT

Storage Chutes: CLEAR

Vents: CLEAR

Notes: Updates by PINK still taking well to system. Travel into sector G uneventful. Crew bonding time worked into today’s schedule, all crew in attendance for at least an hour. Crew performing normal activities.

===+===+===

Mission Log 15

Location: SECTOR G Ship Status: DOCKED AT [PLANET 326-OCE-894 - SECTOR G] Course: N/A Systems:

Navigation: COURSE REACHED / STABLE

Engines: UPPER - ONLINE, TANK 0.72 / LOWER - ONLINE, TANK 0.68 / OUTPUT ALIGNED

Reactor: ONLINE / FUNCTIONING OPTIMAL

O2: STABLE

Electrical: STABLE

Communications: ONLINE

Shields: OFFLINE / FUNCTIONING N/A

Weapons: OFFLINE / FUNCTIONING N/A

Security: CAMERAS ONLINE / ALL FUNCTIONAL

Administration: MAP OFFLINE / CONNECTION SECURE / SHIP FILES UPDATING FOR MISSION / ALL CREW ACCOUNTED FOR

Medbay: EQUIPMENT ONLINE / FUNCTIONAL / CREW FILES UP TO DATE

Supplies: [ONE] CRATES SHORT

Storage Chutes: CLEAR

Vents: CLEAR

Notes: [SKELD D34-H120] docked at [PLANET 326-OCE-894 - SECTOR G] successfully. No transport issues to report. All supplies for transport intact and in transfer process to base. Mission files currently integrating to ship system. Crew integrating to mission base to assist in tasks, exploration, and supply dropoff. Weapons and shields offline to align with docking procedures. Course will remain unlaid until HQ supplies further information.

===+===+===

It had been a good long while since Bunbun worked on an exploration ship. She’d been stuck updating supply line SKELDs for awhile, and got bogged down repairing virus bound code in defensive SKELDs for longer. Exploration ships were like little breathers in the middle. It meant she just had to worry about one ship, once all the updates were done. She could sit and watch the stars. Make a friend, if she was lucky. And, on days like these, it meant she’d be helping out with something bigger. Planet 236-OCE-849 was a gorgeous world. A new one, too! Sector G was largely new to HQ. They had high hopes for the planets and inhabitants. This one in particular was the first they’d set up a base on. Crashing waves and strange colorful formations were the source of many rumors across the airwaves. Bun had been unable to see the planet’s surface as they descended, but the views before they made landing preparations were breathtaking. Most of it was enveloped by an ocean. The water bound world was like a painted marble, little bits of vibrant colors poking through. She’d never seen land so vivid. It made her all the more eager to get down to the surface.

The door of the ship opened with a loud hiss of pressurized air. Metal clanked against itself as the two halves pulled themselves apart, the groaning making everything in the vicinity go still. Of course, what happened afterwards was anything but. The gangplank was already lowered, so the cooped up crewmates came scrambling out. Captain Groud was first, their voice echoing back towards the ship as they called for the Mission Lead. Silk trailed after, one of xyr robots hot on xyr heels. Rose and Laser went off as a pair, aiming to tend to any wounded and check how defenses were going. Nanner emerged with supplies already loaded, a couple crewmates from the planet coming to help her transport them where needed. Lemon and Junior were off to check the base’s energy status, the son sticking anxiously close to his father. River, to no one’s surprise, sauntered off the ship to go find somewhere to lounge. Groud said he’d help when they needed him, but from the looks the rest of the crew gave, there was probably a fat chance. That left Bunbun walking down the gangplank last. She was glad now that she’d pulled down her solar visor. The light outside was nearly blinding compared to the ship’s lobby. Around her she could see miles and miles of open sea, the bluish purple waves almost hauntingly familiar. Like an echo of the blue green waters she had back at home… I wonder why the water here is more purple… I bet Rose might know. She only took her eyes off the ocean when something crunched under her boot. She drew back hastily, afraid she’d stepped on some planetary inhabitant- only to draw in a sharp breath from surprise. The ground she stood on was a bright pastel orange. Upon closer inspection, it looked to be made out of some sort of… finely webbed rock? Coral, she realized, eyes widening. Her gaze snapped up to the island they’d landed on. The whole thing looked like a fractured rainbow, colors radiating across the ground. It was all made of the same webbed rock- coral, as she’d remembered. The realization had her bouncing on her heels. I’m standing on an island made of coral!!! She took another hesitant step. It crunched again under her foot. She couldn’t keep herself from giggling as she kept moving, feet dancing over coral that shifted from orange to yellow to green to purple. A myriad of colors, and all so bright!!! She’d never laid eyes on anything quite like it. “Enjoying the scenery?” a voice called, snapping Bun out of her happy dance. She froze in place, instantly standing to attention and trying not to drop her tablet. Another voice laughed, the sound carrying closer as her face flushed. When Groud’s star patched green and Silk’s beat up purple came into view, she let herself breathe. Ok. So. She hadn’t entirely made a fool out of herself. These two, at least, knew who she was. “M-maybe a little, Captain, eheheh,” she called sheepishly. “I’ve never been on a planet with coral islands before.” “Well, it’s a treat for you then!” Groud laughed. “Hey, if you’re not busy, why don’t you go head down to the power room?” “Oh, are the base crewmates busy?” Bun blinked. “Yeah, a little,” Groud nodded. “There’s a lot going on. Lots to update and lots to move.” “That, and Lemon ‘n Junior said they might need some help,” Silk added. Between you and me, I think they just want someone they can rely on to help figure the energy out.” Bunbun’s face flushed again, the warmth from Groud’s voice and Silk’s visor-shadowed smile buoying her mood higher. She’d only been with this crew a few days, but they trusted her this much? … Honestly, she couldn’t tell if that was foolish or not. But things needed fixing, and her crewmates needed help. So, off she went.

The base layout was pretty standard. It was a bit compressed to fit the strange coral island, but they’d managed to fit everything in about the right place. Lucky for Bun, she didn’t have too far to go. The building to the gangplank’s right would give her access to Electrical’s courtyard. The crunching of multicolored polyps beneath her feet made her smile with giddiness, picking up the pace to get inside the base. The door was already left open- standard procedure for operating periods- so she strolled right through. Nobody seemed to be waiting for her in the building’s lobby. She’d guess they were all outside, if it weren’t for a few voices. She could hear a couple people down in the security area. River and some other security crewmates, if her auditory memory served. They were talking pretty boisterously. She hooked a hasty left out towards the courtyard, eager to move on before one of them noticed her. The courtyard was once again standard. Four generators, one control panel along the outside wall, and cagey wire fencing around the edges. Bunbun found herself wondering once again what that was meant to keep out. On a new planet like this, nobody really knew what to expect. It could be anything. Images of creeping beasts and flashing eyes started to bubble up, so she shoved the thought out of her mind. It was fine! The fence would do its job, surely. Just as she would do hers. It’s fine. Lemon and Junior were standing before the control panel, their confused chatter making Bun glad they enlisted her help. From the frustrated looks on their faces, they needed it. They should teach more cross system repair in the academy… oh dear… “You two need some help?” Bun called, striding over to the panel. The pair looked up, relief instantly appearing on their faces. “Bunbun, thank fuck,” Lemon sighed. He leaned against the wall, pulling his goggles back up over unruly red hair. “we’re really goin through the ringer here…” “Y-yeah, uh, any help would be really appreciated,” Junior added sheepishly. He fiddled with his tablet, nervous fingers closing out a couple HQ manual tabs. “Of course, guys,” Bunbun smiled shyly. She tilted her head at the open panel, a mess of wires greeting her. Well. That was. Not encouraging. Her brows furrowed the more she looked, eyes trying to trace input to output and back. “... ok. I uh. I see several problems here.” “That’s an understatement,” Lemon snorted, shaking his head. “I don’t even know where to start.” “Did you make sure to take the relevant systems offline?” Bun asked. “Already done,” Junior nodded. He held up his tablet, a couple tabs pulled up to show electrical systems operating on reserve. “We can’t keep it offline for too long, or else the lights are gonna go out. Which, um, wouldn’t be super fun.” “Right, we’ll have to move fast,” Bunbun replied. “I think I can manage that.” Rubbing her hands together, she eyed the mess of wires before them. She’d handled worse, right? This wouldn’t take too terribly long. It was only when she remembered the other two were watching that her confidence faltered. Was she supposed to help? Was it even ok to take over here??? “... Is, um, is it ok if I… uh… manage it…?” She chuckled timidly, scuffing a boot on the ground. “By all means, dear,” Lemon chuckled, giving her a little dramatic bow as he moved back. “I’ll give you all the space you need.” “Just remember we’re here to help if you need!” Junior offered, scooting back to his dad’s side. He smiled nervously, the sun flashing off his visor as he shifted a bit in place. Gathering courage, if his next little quip was anything to go by. “We might, uh, know the reactor better, but we still know our way around a pair of wire cutters! Eheheheh...” Bunbun smiled gratefully at them both. “Of course, thank you. I’m, um, gonna get on this as fast as I can.” With that, she fixed her attention on the wires once more. Whoever set this base up hadn’t been picky about organization. She could fix that easy enough. She’d just… start by sorting the colors. Taking a breath, the electrician hefted up her tablet, free hand reaching carefully for the nearest red wire. Yeah. This would be over in a sinch. And maybe later, she could go explore a bit more. The thought made her grin wide, fingers flying between wires even faster. Oh, yes. Seeing some more of this beautiful planet would be worth any circuitry headaches. She’d just have to remember to add this to the ship’s log later…

===+===+===

SHIP SYSTEM REALTIME LOG: System setting: DOCKED [STORAGE AND VENT MONITORING]

Location: SECTOR G Ship Status: DOCKED AT [PLANET 326-OCE-894 - SECTOR G] Course: N/A Systems:

Supplies: [ONE] CRATES SHORT

Storage Chutes: CLEAR

Vents: CLEAR

…

Supplies: [ONE] CRATES SHORT

Storage Chutes: MATERIAL BUILDUP DETECTED

Vents: CLEAR

…

Supplies: [ONE] CRATES SHORT

Storage Chutes: CLEAR

Vents: CLEAR

#cr3wm8ts #au:c #among us oc #bunbun among us #groud among us #silk among us #river among us #lemon among us #junior among us #thats everyone who actually gets like. dialogue of some sort LSKJDFLSKF #n e way #yea this was half an excuse to have more bun bein a nerd in the bgLSKJFS #this planet? important #the next chapter's gonna swap perspectives tho so >:333 #hope y'all enjoy SLKDJF #arty writes

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thebladeblaster · 3 years

Text

Pokémon: the Dark Circuit (aka Vanguard Descends season 2)

Chapter 10 The Sneaky First Match! The Legend Q4 Is Born!

Aichi’s current team

Level 90 Takuto (Solgealeo) steel/psychic

Moves:

Sunsteel Strike

Flare Blitz

Solar Beam

Psychic Fangs

Level 93 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock

Moves:

Stealth rock

Crunch

Stone edge

Play rough

Level 91 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug

Moves:

Sucker punch

Blizzard

Liquidation

First impression

Level 95 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel

Moves:

Focus blast

Stone edge

Meteor mash

Dragon pulse

Level 100 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon

Moves:

Outrage

Iron tail

Dragon dance

Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel

Moves:

Sacred sword

King’s shield

Iron head

Shadow Claw

From his seat in his booth Gin watched on with interest as the pairings were announced. The first match was team Q4 vs team Ninja.From the entrance to the battleground stood Misaki, Kai, Shin, and Kamui. Strangely, Aichi was currently missing.

“What’s with that weird name?”, Misaki questioned.

“It’s short for Quadrifoglio which is Italian for four leaf clover, the ultimate symbol of luck.”, Shin explained.

“I like it!”, Kamui replied.

“I’m a bit worried. Aichi still hasn’t shown up yet. Do you think there’s any foul play from Team Asteroid?”, Shin questioned.

“It’s nothing like that. He’s just running late.”, Kai replied, with his eyes closed and crossing his arms.

“How do you know?”, Kamui asked.

“Because I was training with him. His final test has been taking awhile. Takuto wants to make sure he’s really ready.”, Kai replied.

The others gasped in shock hearing that Kai trained with Aichi.

Back in Kakusa many recognizable faces gathered around their TVs to watch the Circuit. At the Sendou household along with its usual residents was Mr. Mark, Miwa, Naoki, Mikuru, and Chrono. They watched the screen intently and Shizuka did a prayer for her son.

“I thought this was a tournament of 4 why do they only have 3 guys?”, Kamui questioned.

“The fourth person is as a alternate just in case and another person to switch out to. You technically can compete with just 3.”, Shin explained.

On the opposite side to team Q4 was team Ninja. The tallest of their members had cyan and black hair with grey eyes. He wore a fishnet shirt with a red scarf and a silver necklace. Another was a redhead with slicked back hair and red eyes. He also wore a fishnet top along with a purple and grey jacket. The shortest one who was even shorter than Kamui had blue hair covered by his hood and yellow eyes. He had a white hood and a gold part covering his mouth. Underneath it he wore an orange shirt and red arm warmers on his arms.

“Where’s your leader 003v? He’s not scared is he?”, the tallest one taunted.

“Hey, Aichi isn’t scared of anyone! He’s just late! That’s all!”, Kamui replied.

“Well then which one of you has the courage to go up first against a world class team.”, the redheaded one asked.

“I’ll be glad to kick your dory cuts!”, Kamui said, raising up his fist.

“Sorry butts you mean.”, Misaki corrected, making Kamui sweat drop.

“Whatever! I, Kamui the great, am gonna take you losers down!”, Kamui announced.

“We’ll see about that. I’ll be your opponent. I am Crank, a master of the grass type”, the shortest one said.

“I’m master of uhh...the winning type!”, Kamui replied as he walked up to the battlefield causing Misaki to face palm.

“Remember Kamui you only get to select one Pokémon in this battle so be careful. If you get defeated then one of us is up next against Crank.”, Misaki said.

“For team Ninja we have the master of grass, a veteran in this circuit, Crank. And for team Q4 we have the whirlwind fighter hailing from the Kakusa region, Katsuragi Kamui!”, MC Miya introduced.

“Go, Ludicolo!”, Crank called out.

“Go, Buster!”, Kamui called out.

Leon narrowed his eyes from his booth.

“003v us somewhere near here, but it seems he’s learned to suppress the energy his Psyqualia gives off.”, Leon thought.

He could feel him very vaguely somewhere near the arena. He didn’t know why he hadn’t appeared yet though.

Back to the battle…

“Buster use blaze kick!”, Kamui commanded.

Buster kicked off, launching a flying flame-covered kick at Ludicolo.

“You must really be a fool! Ludicolo is also a water type! Ludicolo ninja arts of hydro pump!”, Crank said.

Ludicolo shot a torrent of water at Buster.

“Oh no!”, Miwa said, watching the match on the tv.

“Buster!”, Kamui called out as he did Buster twisted mid air away from the water.

Buster then landed briefly, kicking off the ground and delivering a rising flame kick to Ludicolo’s face.

“Ninja art of hydro pump!”, Crank ordered.

As another torrent of water was shot Buster spun out of the way of the attack.

“Wow, Kamui’s Blazekin sure is fast.”, Emi commented, as she watched.

“My! My! It looks like Crank’s mon can’t even touch Kamui’s! We’ll our rookies get actually win over our veterans team Ninja?”, MC Miya said.

Buster was very light on its feet, easily dodging the watery blasts sent its way.

“Buster use thunder punch!”, Kamui commanded.

Buster moved swiftly like lightning before Crank could give his next order Buster struck Ludicolo with its lightning punch. Ludicolo stubbled a bit but as it tried to right itself and was hit by another punch. With every hit the was a crackle of thunder following it.

“Ludicolo ninja art of-gah?!”, Crank gasped in shock as Ludicolo fell to the ground fainting.

“Heh! Is that all you got world class losers?!”, Kamui taunted as he did Buster bounced around punching the air.

“Why you little…”, The tallest one grumbled.

“Don’t worry Jack I’m gonna teach that cocky brat a lesson.”, the redheaded one saint, putting his hand on his shoulder and smirking.

“I’ll be your next opponent. I am Lizard master of the water type.”, the redheaded one introduced.

“All you’ll be is another loser!”, Kamui replied.

Many of those back at the Sendou household sweat dropped at Kamui’s confidence.

“Let’s just hope he can continue to back it up. At least they got one win so far. That’s good.”, Shuka commented.

“Woah, that Blazekin is so rad. I should catch something like that.”, Naoki commented.

“I wonder where Aichi is though…”, Shizuka thought.

Somewhere near the area…

“Takuto!!! Takuto!!! Wait the match has started should we be-AHHH!!!”, Aichi screamed comedically as he ran from the sun lion shooting beams of light at him.

“You must be completely prepared, Aichi now fight me!”, Takuto said as Solgealeo.

Aichi looked over at the restraint bracers nervously. They seemed to be upgraded, their gems were now black and there was another one around his neck.

“But, you shut off my powers, how can I fight you without my Pokémon?!”, Aichi questioned, before squealing as he narrowly dodged another beam of light.

Back with Kamui…

Lizard walked up to the arena pulling out a Poké ball. Jack crossed his arms smirking, ignoring the sulking Crank.

“I don’t understand. I’m a veteran how did I lose to a rookie kid like him?”, Crank questioned.

“You can still redeem yourself, Crank.”, Jack whispered to him, causing Crank to turn to him and nod.

“Up next for team Ninja we have the master of the deep, Lizard!”, MC Miya announced.

“Go, Greninja!”, Lizard called out.

Buster faced the water Pokémon who got in a fighting stance.

“Greninja ninja art of spikes.”, Lizard ordered.

“Buster use thunder-“, Kamui was saying before he was caught off.

“Ninja art of smoke screen!”, Lizard cut him off.

Greninja made a hand sign and smoke filled the arena.

“What the heck now I can’t see!”, Kamui complained.

“This isn’t good. Greninja will likely be able to find Buster. But, Buster can’t see him.”, Yugi commented.

“How can Greninja see but Buster can’t?”, Jonouchi asked.

“Think Jonouchi, think. Why would he use this strategy if he didn’t have a way to find his opponent.”, a new voice said who entered.

He had black hair in a ponytail and green eyes. He had a black shirt with a red vest and pants. He wore dice earrings and had a red headband. He also had black makeup on his face under his right eye.

“I don’t remember asking you Ryuji!”, Jonouchi grumbled as Ryuji smirked at him.

“I thought you’d graduate from being a Lillipup before this tournament began. I hope you don’t hold us back.”, Ryuji teased.

This made Jonouchi growl.

“Hey! Hey! Settle down guys!”, Honda said, getting between the two and raising up his hands.

Kamui squinted his eyes trying to see through the fog.

“Oh no! Lizard has already set up his specialty! This could be the beginning of the end for our rookie team!”, MC Miya announced.

“Greninja use ninja art of water shuriken!”, Lizard ordered.

Kamui could hear a loud splash and a stumble from within the smoke clouds which was likely Buster getting hit by the attack. Kamui growled in frustration at not being able to see what’s going on.

“Buster use thunder punch! Punch around till you find him!”, Kamui ordered.

They could hear Buster swinging but no impact while instead hearing loud splashes and stumbling.

“This isn’t good.”, Shin commented.

They could hear feet running and a loud thunder crack as Greninja was sent flying out the smoke.

“Darn! He got a lucky shot!”, Lizard said angrily.

Out from the smoke Buster pulled back a fist ready to strike Greninja again.

“Greninja use hydro pump quick!!!”, Lizard ordered.

At almost the same time the lightning punch and torrent of water connected with their intended targets. Both Pokémon fell over fainting.

“Darn. I hoped I could sweep the whole team! You did good, Buster. Who’s tagging in next?”, Kamui said, returning Buster.

“I’m up next.”, Misaki said, before they high fives signaling Kamui tagging out.

“Oh my oh my! A double knock out! This battle just keeps getting more thrilling! The rookies may really win this match at this rate! All who’s left for team Ninja is their leader Jack, master of the inferno! However he’s the strongest of them all! If anyone can pull of a comeback victory for his team it’s him!”, MC Miya announced.

“So, fire type huh.”, Misaki thought.

“For team Q4 we have Tokura Misaki, the Kakusa region’s own Psychic type gym leader! She’s been rumored to have mystic powers which she uses to completely dominate her opponents!”, MC Miya announced.

A tick mark appeared on Misaki’s head after MC Miya announced the rumor. Kamui and Shin nervously stepped back from Misaki.

“I don’t have any powers, you moron!!! Just photographic memory!!!”, Misaki yelled in annoyance at the commentator who nervously flinched.

Yugi and his friends sweat dropped from the stands hearing Misaki’s outburst.

“Woah, she’s as feisty as she is beautiful.”, Ryuji commented, cupping his chin.

“She would break you in half Ryuji…”, Anzu replied, still sweat dropping.

The two competitors brought out a Poké ball.

“Go! Incineroar!”, Jack called out.

“Go, Sakuya!”, Misaki called out.

Sakuya winced as her feet dug into the spikes laid in the previous match.

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kitsutaes · 4 years

Text

pluto protector

pairing: taehyung x reader

genre: fluff, coming of age-ish, bffs2lovers!, astrophysicist!reader, & artist!taehyung

word count: 2.6k

rating: pg-13 i guess

warnings: none

a/n: this is inspired by rex orange county’s song pluto projector, a song i love so so much. also this fic is split up into small parts & it focuses more on tae’s and reader’s small but important moments together !! i hope you like it even though it isn’t too heavily edited. p.s. thank you teresa / @sketchguk for looking this over !! you da best !!

summary: you and taehyung have been in the same galaxy, orbiting one another for as long as you could remember. but as time passes, gravity pulls you in closer and closer, ready for the two of you to collide.

Kim Taehyung was your protector. Just at the age of nine, Kim Taehyung held your hand as the two of you ran around the playground, feet hitting the wood chips that spewed around. His disheveled chocolate brown hair bounced around as he ran, eyes bright as he turned around to look at you. He had a goofy smile plastered on his face, exuberant as any nine year old at the park with his best friend should be.

“___! Let’s go on the swirly slide!” Taehyung yells, pointing at the bright red slide ahead. The playground near your neighborhood was huge since it was already part of an already massive park. While the park had its own variety of plants and wildlife, the playground consisted of slides, swings, monkey bars, and corkscrew climbers that allowed you to climb up and slide down like you were going down a fireman’s pole; only round and round instead of sliding straight down.

“Okay, but only if we go on the monkey bars next Tae!” You respond, swinging your arm that held his hand. Your eyes matched his, bright and bubbly. Taehyung nodded as the two of you climbed the blue steps that led to the big red swirly slide.

“You first or me?” Taehyung asks, letting go of you hand to grasp the yellow metal bars on the sides of the red slide. You roll your eyes, seeing his mischievous grin, basically telling you he was he was ready to go first.

“You.”

Sticking out your tongue at him, Taehyung takes off, gravity pulling him down until his sneakers hit the ground. He turns around, motioning for you to slide down.

“C’mon ___!” Taehyung calls from below. His arms are crossed as he waits for you to come down. You nod, your own hands gripping the metal bars Taehyung previously held onto as you’re seated on the bright red plastic. Letting go, you slide down, feeling parts of your hair stick up to the underside of the slide.

Taehyung’s eyes widen as he knows what’s coming next. You’re up and off of the slide, ready to chase him and zap him with your finger charged with static.

“___! Come and get me!” Taehyung giggles running off to the opposite side of the playground to avoid getting shocked. You’re right behind him, but you trip on your own foot, falling onto the wood chips.

Instead of a smile, you’ve got a pout on your face. Eyes turning red, brimming with tears, ready to cry. Taehyung’s looking back at you with a worried expression, heels turning around as he’s running back towards you.

“Tae!” You cry as his arms are helping you up, feet standing upright once again. His hands are gripping onto yours, leading you back to where your parents were.

“It’s okay ___, I’ve got you.”

At the age of twelve, Kim Taehyung was still your protector. Although you ended up with different teachers and classes, the two of you didn’t drift apart like most friends did as they entered middle school. Most kids ended up finding new friends, groups, cliques–forgetting and leaving the friendships they made when they were just a few years younger. But, you and Taehyung weren’t like most kids. The two of you stayed together in gravity’s grasp, never leaving the solar system you shared.

Just like always, after school, Taehyung came over to do homework with you since you shared the same subjects. His green backpack would be plopped onto your carpeted floor right beside yours, colored pencils and papers almost spilling out of them.

“You had to read The Monkey’s Paw too?” You ask turning around in your seat, nose scrunching at the thought of the story Mrs. Tang read to your class today that gave you the chills. It was a story written by W.W. Jacobs that just had to be a part of your English class’s “Poetry and Short Stories” unit and you couldn’t wait for it to be over.

Taehyung was seated on your bed while you were seated at your desk. Taehyung looks up from his math homework, nodding at you.

“Yeah, I kinda liked it.” He says, giving you a small shrug as you shudder.

“It was creepy!”

Taehyung laughs at your expression, your face showing that you were totally repulsed that he slightly enjoyed the supernatural short story that was required to be read in every 7th grade class.

“Just a little bit,” he responds as he looks down at his homework, “I bet you’re enjoying science right now though.”

Taehyung was 100% correct, you were loving science this week. This week’s unit was about space and that was something you held close to your heart. There was just something about the universe, galaxies, protostars, and planets that intrigued you to no limit. You wanted to be like Neil deGrasse Tyson and Carl Sagan, exploring the vast universe full of the unknown. Just last year it was announced that Pluto would no longer be considered a planet and just that, broke your heart to pieces; Taehyung was there to witness it. Your love for the little planet was undying, feeling as if it deserved much more appreciation just like Neptune and Jupiter. In your eyes, Pluto was something special.

“Yes, oh my gosh! We get to make a presentation of a planet of our choice, and I’m still picking Pluto. I don’t care what Mr. Peterson says.” You scoff, a determined look gracing your face as you turn back around in your seat.

In that very moment, in Taehyung’s eyes, you were something special.

Graduation had finally fallen upon you. After days of graduation practice, you were finally here; sitting in the risers, that was placed on the fifty-yard line of the football field, clothed in your graduation gown that possessed one of your school’s colors. The night had overtaken the sunny skies, leaving you and your fellow classmates and friends underneath the shining stars as well as the bright stadium lights your school used for all sorts of events.

Your parents were in the stands, most likely with Taehyung’s family, along with other parents and family members of graduating high school seniors with their phones and cameras taking pictures to capture this once in a lifetime moment.

You didn’t graduate a valedictorian or salutatorian, but at least you made it until the end. It may pain some to hear it but grades aren’t everything. Despite getting kids into higher level colleges, grades don’t and can’t define a person, you learned that the hard way. High school’s about learning about yourself and the people you surround yourself with. Are they real friends? Do they talk about you behind your back? To you, it’s about exploration, finding the people who fit you well and help you shine brighter like the stars, and hopefully avoiding space debris that just get in the way.

Taehyung’s seated a few rows above you with only a few people separating the two of you, meaning you’re still able to make faces at each other, winking and scrunching your noses while the ceremony proceeds.

He looks great, handsome even. Dark locks trimmed just for this special event, since his mom made him. His bright eyes are shining even brighter with the reflection of the stadium lights as you peer up to look at him.

Seeing him like this, you realize how grown up he looks. Despite only being eighteen, the Kim Taehyung sitting a few seats away from you definitely does not look like the Kim Taehyung you met in 3rd grade. That Taehyung you met years ago is still somewhat the same as the Taehyung now, but just older, more mature–not mature, but more. It makes you realize how time flies, because it literally just seemed like yesterday where Taehyung first moved in a couple houses down from yours. Your neighborhood was full of elderly people, so when you found out a kid your age had just moved into town, you were ecstatic. Ecstatic to the point where you bugged your mother to take you to meet your new neighbors.

You smile to yourself as you look away, eyes reaching the stars that you were always fond of.

This was a moment you hoped you would remember forever.

“I felt like gouging my eyes out.”

Taehyung’s eyes roll at your complaint. You just came out of your physics class with Mr. Garcia’s lecture picking at your brains during the entire hour and a half. You and Jungkook (the only person you knew in that class) walked out looking as if your souls had left your body; even though that was exactly what happened. The two of you part ways with a tired wave as he had another class to attend.

Taehyung had been waiting for you since his class finished a few minutes before yours. He was nose deep into a book when you find him sitting on a bench just outside your building. His bright blue hair made him easy to spot anywhere. He made you dye his hair before the semester started, insisting on trying a brand new look.

Before the two of you graduated high school, you’d done college applications. You’d gotten into one of your dream colleges, opening the acceptance letter in front of Taehyung and your parents. Taehyung on the other hand, didn’t tell you what college he got into until after the graduation ceremony. It led to you punching his arm while exuding tears of happiness. Now, at the age of 21, you’re spending your time attending classes, studying for exams, while downing cups of coffee during breaks with your best friend.

“Seriously ___, your fault for wanting to be an astrophysics major.” Taehyung scoffs, wrapping an arm around your shoulder as the two of you head off to one of the coffee shops you and Taehyung frequent the most. Fortunately it was close, just a couple blocks away.

Smacking his arm away, you frown. “You say that every single time.”

“I’m just stating facts.” Taehyung shrugs, wrapping an arm around you again, and this time you don’t fight it.

Your own arm wraps around his waist, gripping onto a part of his coat. Taehyung, even though you didn’t want to admit it to anyone else but yourself, made you feel safe. Whenever he’d scoop you up into his arms for a hug, or just had his arm around you as you two walked down the street, it made you feel loved. Knowing that someone cares in this world full of fortunate and unfortunate events, is one of the greatest feelings in this world.

“I wish I was still in astrology 101 or 102, learning about the stars, black holes, and the Milky Way,” You say, grinning cheekily at the man beside you. “—not the chocolate.”

“I literally wasn’t even going to say that.”

“Liar.” You snort, nudging his side with your elbow. The two of you have reached your destination, ready for caffeine that you’re desperate for. Taehyung’s arm has left your shoulder, a certain warmth departing with him, as he opens the door for you like the gentleman he’s always been.

“What do you want?” He asks as you both reach the cashier and glass display case showing an ever so wonderful variety of pastries to eat with an already amazing cup of coffee.

Peering through the glass you see some newly added goods, alongside the usual but you already have your order in mind.

“I’ll have a macchiato and some madeleines please,” You say to the woman manning the cashier with a soft smile, while taking out your wallet from the small pocket of your backpack. Taehyung’s hand stops you, handing his own credit card to the lady who grins cheekily at the two of you. She was around maybe thirty years old.

“Tae—”

“And I’ll have a hot chocolate please.” Taehyung’s lips are pursed, nodding his head as she repeats your order.

“You guys are a really cute couple by the way,” She smiles, handing Taehyung back his card along with the receipt while you’re left standing there staring at him with wide eyes as he thanks her for the compliment.

At the age of 24, you’d think you would have plenty of things figured out. You don’t.

But at this age, you’ve learned that things really aren’t constant in the world, and that everything’s prone to change. Although somehow, there’s one thing in your life that hasn’t really changed.

“Tae, where are we going?” You whine, head leaning on the car window. Taehyung had just picked you up from work, a long day of work, and all you wanted to do was go home.

You and Taehyung had been dating for awhile now, after he admitted his long time feelings for you when he took you to his studio and painted you your favorite planet in the Milky Way. His feelings for you were returned, having loved him ever since you were kids as well. Now, he spends most of his time at your apartment as if you two shared it; not like he didn’t do that before already.

“___, you’ve asked me that 5 times already and I told you that it’s a secret.” He says, turning his head towards you for a moment before looking back on the road. You don’t see it, but he’s sporting a small smile on his face. Taehyung’s been waiting to show you this secret of his for quite some time.

Your head isn’t leaning on the window anymore as you recognize where you’re headed to. “Wait, we’re going to your studio?” The road to Taehyung’s art studio is one that isn’t too familiar but isn’t unknown as well.

After a few more minutes of driving and parallel parking (which actually doesn’t take Taehyung long to do it) you’re already standing in his studio, gazing at his works of art.

“Tae, these are incredible.”

While you’re gaping at his paintings, Taehyung’s laughing at your reaction to his creations. This is the first time in a long time you’ve visited his studio, and the first time in a long time that he’s shared his pieces with you. While you’re studying about outer space and the secrets of the universe, Taehyung’s in his studio painting his heart out whenever he wasn’t busy.

Whenever he was in the mood to paint, he’d enter this zone, totally blocking out anything and everything, letting his passion for the arts take over. Sometimes when he’d pick you up to have a cup of coffee or when he’d come over to have dinner at your apartment, he’d have paint marks all over his hands and occasionally his face.

Like you with your science idols, Taehyung admired plenty of incredible artists who worked with various mediums like, Claude Monet, Keith Haring, and especially Vincent Van Gogh. Taehyung had this affinity for Van Gogh’s artworks that even he couldn’t fully explain why he loved them so much.

“Wait until you see this,” Taehyung says, reaching towards one of the canvases he had stacked and leaning on the side of his wall.

You’re so immersed into some of his other paintings you don’t realize he’s right beside you, ready to reveal one of his latest pieces. Taehyung loved to experiment with different mediums, always trying to find his niche. You noticed even though he painted a variety of things, he loved to paint scenery. You could feel yourself getting absorbed into his creations full of lush greens and calming sunsets, fluffy clouds, and sometimes quite the opposite.

“___,” Taehyung nudges you, poking your cheek to get your attention and it definitely works. You’re turning your head, eyes catching a painting of Pluto that looks exactly like the real deal, as if you’re seeing the planet with your own eyes.

“I love you ___. As much as you love this little planet and as many light years it would take to reach other universes out there.”

#bangtanhq #bangtanscenery #thekimlinenet #vantaenet #btsbookclub #btswriterscollective #kim taehyung #taehyung x reader #kim taehyung x reader #taehyung fluff #bts fluff #bts fic #bts scenarios #bts

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peonybane · 4 years

Text

STAR-CROSSED: Chapter 1

Pairing: Jackson (GOT7) x Reader

Word Count: 9.6 k

Genre: Science Fiction, Angst, Fluff, Crack, Smut (much… much later, maybe...)

Summary: Being a Jack was all you had ever wanted. And now you were— one of the youngest Jacks Earth had ever sent out. It was the adventure of a lifetime. But what do you do when you lose sight of the mission: can you remain… objective?

Notes: All italicized dialogue is in Gaganis.

A/N: So... the first two chapters of this are going to be extremely world building heavy. I promise though it will pick up after that.

Let’s see… Cephaloids, Ovitcari, Mengolki… Ah! There they were— the Ingan. Tapping on your tablet, you opened up the latest uploaded document on the newest (hopefully) allied planet, Gamma Tau 7— or as the locals knew it, Jigui.

Just as you opened up the file to see what the local holiday was going to be when you’d finally arrive, your annoying partner (strictly platonic, mind you, despite everyone’s best efforts) plucked your tablet from your hands.

“Hey! I was reading that.”

Jaehwan looked down at you, lifted the tablet well above you head, even as you jumped for it. Fucking beanpole. “Do you ever not work?”

“Hey! I’m preparing for the mission.”

“For five months?!”

You huffed crossing your arms. “I just like being prepared, ok?”

“Yeah, and what’s there to prepare for? You do realize that you and I are the first of the ambassador program? Right?”

You looked away from him, embarrassed. Damn bastard was right.

The two of you were chosen as cultural ambassadors for Earth. 900 years of exploring space and with every new species humans met, it was the most effective means of avoiding a potentially hostile conflict. Miscommunications, as it turns out, could be kept to a minimum if species were introduced to each other slowly. Your mentoring Jack while you were in training used the analogy of introducing two pets that were going to live together: give them neutral ground and let them get to know each other slowly.

“I know, I know. I’m just nervous.”

Jaehwan handed your tablet back to you. “You’re worrying too much. We’ll be just fine.”

“I know.” You sighed. “It’s just… they’ve never sent anyone as young as us before.”

He made a face as he sat down in the chair across from yours. “True, I guess. But you also got to remember: this is the first humanoid like species. These are not the usual circumstances.”

You hummed your agreement. He was right. These were not normal conditions.

The intercom system buzzed to life, the mechanical voice of the ship’s commander, LightWater, called your last name, followed by Jaehwan’s, Lee. “I’m letting you know that we will be rendezvousing with the Ingan vessel, Bandisbul within four hours. Would you like to come up to the bridge to see its approach?”

Jaehwan smiled at you before pushing the communication panel. “We’re on our way, Commander.”

Putting your tablet away in the cabinet above your bunk, you paused for a moment, looking around the room (more like a closet between you and Jaehwan) you’ve spent the last five months calling your home.

Sure, it took a mere few days to get through the Fold Node gates, the natural phenomena that made inter-system travel feasible. The problem was that plant bearing solar systems were very rarely anywhere near the Nodes, with Earth being a very rare exception with it being in relatively close proximity to Jupiter, the only known Node found in a planet.

Most solar systems had a Node near them… near being defined as a few lightyears outside of their outer limits. While the Mengolki had technology that allowed ships to travel faster than the speed of light, it still didn’t mean that the journey didn’t take time. Four days from Earth to Jupiter. Less than two days from Jupiter to the Gamma Tau Nebula through five Nodes. Almost five months from the Nebula to the inner rings of the Gamma Tau system.

Leaving your room, you nearly bumped into one of the Azikil crew members. You looked up into the eyeless (well, eyes as you’d know them) face of the crew member. “Oops. Sorry. I didn’t realized you were there.”

It made a small noise of acknowledgment, the gas glands deflating a bit. The translation implant allowed them to speak in your language. The mechanical voice translated the series of gaseous exhales and clicking, “It’s alright. I understand that we’re nearing the rendezvous point?”

Jaehwan answered for you. “Yep. Can’t believe it’s already over, huh, hyung? You gonna miss me?”

You had to bite the inside of your mouth to keep from laughing. Even though you both were suppose to be using the chosen human language decided by the Interspecies Ambassadorial Program, he’d sometimes fall back into his native language, often confusing your poor crewmates.

The Azikil— a species that would best described using human descriptors as a sentient fungi— let out another puff from its gas sacs, this time dispersing a few spores, usually a sign of some sort of distress. What distress though, you weren’t sure.

Because they were sexless, Jaehwan always liked to switch between hyung and noona, certainly not helping with their confusion.

“I suppose I will miss you. Even though you seem to be determined to confuse us with your strange words.”

Jaehwan laughed, his eyes crinkling. “Fair enough. Anyways, official farewells are not until later. And we better get up to the bridge.”

The Azikil crew member bowed, getting out of your way.

It was a relatively short walk and a couple of floor jumps to the bridge. Opening the hatch, Jaehwan offered you entrance first. “After you.”

You rolled your eyes, climbing up the ladder, before pushing off as you felt your weight decrease.

Zero-g. Your stomach flipped, still not used to the sudden shift in equilibrium, despite being in it so many times.

The U.I.S. Hermes, like all human created ships, was built based on centripetal force. While the outer rings of the ship spun, creating artificial gravity (though the gravity was less than that of Earth’s for the safety of the Azikil and Ovitcari) the center, the bridge, of the ship was stationary. This mainly allowed for fewer bodies on the bridge, since the master multitaskers, the Cephaloids, could work to their full potential.

Floating in zero-g, you pressed the Cephaloid communication button the your wrist. “Permission to come on to the bridge, Commander LightWater?”

As you spoke, the holographic screen in front of Commander LightWater glowed with words written in Cephaloid script. A moment later, the mechanical voice, the voice that spoke for their species, droned, “Granted.”

You nodded, pushing off the wall and let yourself float towards the Commander as he floated in his self contained hydro-station, his arms on several different consoles, making sure that different functions were running smoothly.

The Cephaloid were unlike any other species humans had met. They were certainly the most unique (though the Azikil certainly gave them a run for their money).

They were similar to the cephalopods of Earth, cuttlefish, octopuses, etc. Like their genetic long-distant, Earth-bound, cousins, they were mainly soft, with only a solid beak and they needed to live in water. Unlike their cousins, they were… far more advance. With a dozen suckered arms and a pseudo-shell (protective but still rather pliant) like a squid, they were by far the most visually unique. Given the fact they had adapted to survive in the dark waters of their home world, commonly known as Atlantis, they had unique characteristics. To communicate, they used body language (changing colors and skin texture) and a form of telepathy, a form of communication that could only be used between themselves.

It was because of the Cephaloid that humans realized that there needed to be a program, a system, put in place to help guarantee peace. It took hundreds of years, but eventually, your species were able to communicate— humans would speak and the written form of their language (Cephaloid script) would appear on a monitor near them, and so long as the Cephaloid had an implant (a device provided by the Ovitari) their thoughts, mostly, could be converted to an auditory form of communication.

You floated up to the observation window, next to LightWater as he started initiating slow down procedures. Jaehwan floated to the other side of LightWater, startling him (if the sudden defensive stance and flash of red and white stripes, textured by his skin tensing into short spines were anything to go by).

“Lee, you are suppose to announce yourself on the bridge.”

“Yeah, Yeah. I’m sorry.”

While the sarcasm was obvious to you, you weren’t sure if LightWater could sense it as the words displayed themselves on before him. LightWater addressed you. “While tone is lost when we communicate, I believe that there was… sarcasm to his answer? Correct?”

You laughed as Jaehwan just shook his head in defeat. LightWater turned his emotionless gaze at you. Perhaps to others he would seem unfeeling, but having grown up on a human outpost on Atlantis, you could read their body language rather well. The slight shade of yellow, different from the neutral orange he mainly took on, told you that he was seeking some form of approval. “Yes, that is correct, LightWater.”

LightWater made a motion of acknowledgement before turning back to his console, his color turning to a muted cool brown. “We’re beginning slow down procedures already. I have yet to receive communication from the Bandisbul about docking procedures.”

You hummed your understanding, staring out into the endless void as Jaehwan made light conversation.

When traveling at speeds greater than light… there was no light. It was dark. Just pure blackness. It was lonely. So lonely. Sometimes, you weren’t sure how LightWater and the other Cephaloids did it. It had to be lonely up here most of the time, especially in the black. But you supposed that since their eyes were shaped differently from your own, it wasn’t too much to imagine that he didn’t just see eternal blackness. What they saw though… that would always remain a mystery to your kind, you were sure.

At about the two hour mark before the rendezvous, off in the distance, a single prick point of light slowly started to glow: the Gamma Tau star. As time went on, more and more stars regained their sparkle in the endless sea of darkness. Slowing down even further, planets and their moons added their own glows, some brilliant white, others varying hues.

“Entering the system’s outermost orbit. We should be getting the docking instructions soon. I suggest making your farewells and gathering your things.”

You reached through the hydro-barrier that contained LightWater. In return, LightWater took your hand in one of his arms. The sensation was odd, the suckers pinching at the skin of your hand and wrist affectionately. “I’ll stop by here again before I leave… old friend.”

As you withdrew your hand from the water, LightWater used his siphon to playfully shoot a small stream of water at you. The water, having just enough to force to break through the low resistance hydro-barrier, hit you squarely in the face. Jaehwan laughed at your expense as you wiped the water from your face. LightWater had the gaul to change to a deep vibrant green. Cheeky bastard.

“And I will miss you. Especially since you’re the only human that does not scream when engaging in a little squirting.”

You cringed on the inside. Jaehwan and several of the other Jacks you had trained with over the past few years took a rather accurate and naive term that you grew up with and turned it into something… else. You made a mental note to yourself to work on finding an alternative word to add to the Cephaloid-International Human Language (IHL) dictionary.

You and Jawhwan bid LightWater a final farewell before pushing off towards the ladder that would lead you out of the bridge.

Once you were back in the low level gravity rings, you both headed back to your room. “Stop it, Jaehwan.”

“Stop what?”

“I know you’re smirking.”

“What? How?”

“You get weirdly quiet.”

“What? I can’t help it. You’re the only human I know that that’s close with the Cephaloid.”

You rolled your eyes at that as you opened your room. “Like you’re one to talk. Who’s the one who was flirting with the Mengolki twins not too long ago?”

Jaehwan shot you a dirty look as he went towards his bunk, opening the cabinets below and above his bunk. You did the same on your side as you continued, “Besides, LightWater and I grew up together. I’m… I’m going to really miss him.”

Jaehwan didn’t miss the way you paused. “You’re worried that this will be the last time you see him, huh?”

You turned back towards Jaehwan. His gaze was soft and sympathetic. He may be a bit of an attention seeking man-whore, but at the end of the day he was one of the most empathetic, kind souls you knew. “He’s getting up there in age and distinction. When he returns to Atlantis… he’ll be offered the right to breed… and he’ll be gone. Forever.”

Jaehwan pursed his lips, dropping one of the bags on his bunk. Stepping over to your side of the room, he pulled you into a hug. “I know. But at the end of the day, that’s the way of his people. There are certain things that can’t be changed. You know that.”

You sighed angrily, returning Jaehwan’s hug, your fists twisting at the fabric of his muted teal jumpsuit. “Still doesn’t mean I can’t be upset.”

“I know. I know.”

You stayed like that for a moment before pushing off him gently, turning back to your stuff. Jaehwan did the same. As the two of you finished getting your things together, Jaehwan said, “You know… if you need some comforting….”

His tone left his meaning open ended. Either he was propositioning you for sex… or he was offering to use his ‘cute attacks’ that he’d use to get his way with others. Typically, making them feel good about giving into him, but that was besides the point.

Shaking your head, you called out, “ARGUS, engage privacy.”

The computer system, ARGUS, make an electric noise of acknowledgement, before it engaged the privacy screen that separated your side of your shared quarters from Jaehwan’s. Its hydraulics whirring as it disengaged from within the wall. “Get dressed, Ken-doll. We gotta look smart in our uniforms.”

You could hear Jaehwan grumbling from the other side of the screen. He hated that nickname. Chuckling to yourself, you began changing into your Jack blues.

While not a military program, the Human Ambassadorial Program (HAP) realized early on that the best structure and the best training could be achieved by combining civilian and military tactics.

You reminisced some of your earlier years as you pulled your uniform out of the only enclave that was designed specifically for dress blues. Training was hard. They pushed your physical limits, needing to make sure that you could physically handle any inhabitable planetary environment imaginable.

As you undressed out of your jumpsuit, your eyes landed on the small depressed scar on your right thigh from where you had your nano-antibodies injected. Your stomach clenched at the memory. It was the only time you ever considered dropping from the program: you body fought the anti-bodies for a lot longer than it should’ve. You weren’t sure if you were going to survive that month from how hard your body tried to get rid of them.

Once down to your underwear, you began dressing in your blues.

It wasn’t necessarily a military uniform, not in the conventional sense. When dressing, it didn’t have to be perfect, there were no dress checks, your hair could touch your collar, and make up was allowed, though you knew few Jacks who actually wore any. Instead, you just had to be professional in appearance.

You wore a white button up, with black buttons. Over it, you wore an intense navy blue asymmetrical vest, making sure your lapels were pressed down firmly as you attached your Jack insignia (a four-pointed star with a ‘J’ covering the intersection of a paint brush, a back hoe, a graduated cylinder and a pen) to the left one, right over your heart. Once you were satisfied with it, you slipped on a pair of comfortable black tights, then shimmied into your matching blue skirt. Once your were satisfied that the skirt didn’t rotate too much as you shimmied into it and twisted yourself to reach the zipper, you slipped on your issued black loafers. ‘Practical, not sexy,’ you reminded yourself as you slipped them on, remembering the phrase your first mentor drilled into you when there were complaints about uniforms in training.

Before putting on your jacket, you quickly styled your hair into a fashionable bun. ‘Practical, but a little attractive,’ you mused to yourself. Being a Jack, you had to learn quickly that being attractive was a secondary thought when it came to appearances. The first was professionalism. Making sure your hair and the light makeup you wore were all in order, you grabbed your blade from the confines of under your bunk, your fingers making contact with the cold leather of its sheath first.

Officially, the blade was ceremonial— a symbol of status, that you’d graduated from being a novice to a full-fledged Jack. Each blade was unique, designed by the Jacks that trained you. A welcoming gift of sorts.

In your hand, you withdrew the blade from its sheath, setting the knife down on your bunk. You took a moment to admire the black leather sheath, letting your fingers smooth over the subtle filigree that decorated around the Jack oath ’Amicus— Autem Semper Praesidium.’

‘A friend— but always a guardian.’

After a moment, you took the sheath and attached it to the loop at the top of your skirt designed for it on your dominant side. Once you were sure the sheath was secure (it was difficult to attach it with the blade in it), you grabbed the knife.

Your blade was Damascus steel, the sharp, curved edge and the ripples in the metal gleamed in the harsh artificial light of your room. The blade itself was not particularly long, only spanning the length of your palm. But it didn’t have to long— just effective.

You couldn’t find anything wrong with the blade itself since the last time you checked it, moving on to the hilt. The finger guard was simple, but a little more prominent than what you’ve seen on other Jacks’ blades. At first it made you ashamed, thinking that it was an indirect way of saying you were clumsy. But now— now, it just meant you could defend yourself for longer, if the need arose. The handle was just as beautiful and as practical as the blade. The hilt was the perfect length for your hand. The smooth, black lacquered hilt was covered in an azure cord wrap, reminiscent of the ancient Earth katana. Practical, yet beautiful.

Once you tested the balance, you deemed it in perfect condition and slipped it into its sheath at your hip.

Once you were sure your knife was attached securely to your hip, you finally put on your navy blue jacket. Most of your pins were already on it, but a few, you took on and off constantly, those were the most precious— you didn’t want to risk losing them unnecessarily. Once you added the rest of your pins, you called out, “ARGUS, disengage privacy.”

ARGUS once again made a noise of acknowledgment before retracting the privacy screen. As the screen retracted, you turned around to see Jaehwan also ready, leaning against the side of his bunk, the chrome sheath of his own knife at his hip twinkling in the light. His uniform was similar to your own, with a few key differences.

For one, being male, he instead wore a pair of slacks in the same shade of blue as your skirt. The collars of his vest and shirt and lapels of his jacket were replaced by mandarin collars, a design element to distinguish between places of origin: you being from the U.A.F., and him being from G.A.L. His own Jack insignia was placed on his collar.

You both looked each other up and down.

“Spiffy. Ready to go, Savant?”

You rolled your eyes, barely keeping the small curl of a smile from your lips.

You supposed you deserved that after calling him his dreaded nickname. He just had to call you yours from your training days.

Picking up your bags, you headed towards the door. “Can it. Just remember: I out rank you.”

There was no real bite to your tone, but if he was going to call you Savant, well, you might as take it a step further and remind him that while younger, you out rank him both in merits and time-based seniority. He only outranked you in age and height.

Jaehwan laughed as he was quick to follow you on your heels with his own bags in hand. “If that’s how we’re gonna play, I’m going to put everything I can as high as I can in the residence once we get planet side.”

Without missing beat, you replied, “Try that and find yourself quickly taken out at the kneecaps.”

Jaehwan only laughed, making you smirk as the two of you continued to lug around you bags. Luckily, the two of you didn’t get too far before you ran into a couple of the human crew. You smiled.

“Ahh, Lieutenant Carter!”

Lieutenant Carter looked you over, returning your smile. “I see you two are ready for departure already.”

Jaehwan replied, “Believe it. I can’t wait to have a bath. A real bath.”

You sighed blissfully in agreement. “And sunlight. Actual sunlight. No more vitamin D transfusions.”

“Noise— anything other than that drone of the ship,” Jaehwan mused, his gaze far off in the distance.

“Food… real food….”

Being Jacks, you and Jaehwan weren’t necessarily meant to stay space side for long. You trained on all sorts of terrain— connecting with nature in a way that you were sure most, humans or otherwise, wouldn’t appreciate.

Ensign Tanaka laughed. “It sounds like the two of you can’t wait to make it planet side.”

Jostling one of your bags back onto your shoulder, you replied, “There are Jacks that go their entire lives without ever even hearing of a Phase 2 mission, let alone actually going on one. The fact that we can do this… it’s a once in a lifetime mission.”

Ensign Tanaka’s eyes softened as she smiled. Lieutenant Carter coughed. “If you two would like, we can take your bags to the transfer hold. I’m sure you guys want to see the Bandisbul as soon as possible.”

The pair of them were already taking your bags as you replied, “If it’s not too much trouble.”

As he slung Jaehwan’s heavier bag over his shoulder, Carter replied, “It’s no trouble at all. If we were you, we’d probably want a first look, too.”

Jaehwan grabbed your arm, dragging you behind him towards the bridge as you shouted your thanks back.

A few minutes later, you and Jaehwan found yourselves floating in zero g on the bridge. Sarcastically, Jaehwan asked, “Permission to come on to the bridge, Commander LightWater?”

The mechanical voice replied, “Permission granted, Jacks. We should be in visual range of the Bandisbul soon.”

You and Jaehwan made your way to the Commander, looking out into the blackness. Well, not pure blackness. The stars were bright and the blue-purple haze of the gas planet, Gamma Tau 4 illuminated the eternal blackness. The sight was unbelievable.

“It looks like you two have joined me just in time. The Bandisbul should be breaching the planet’s horizon… now.”

He was right. Emerging from the haze of the gas planet, over the horizon, there was a small object— nothing more than a spec. But it grew larger and larger, its shape becoming more distinguished. It lost it’s reflective glow, initially making it white. Instead, it turned into a more of a grey-red. And its shape— it first, it was hard to distinguish— you weren’t sure if the light refractions were playing with your mind.

“Jaehwan… are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

“If you’re seeing an… angular ship. Then yes, I’m seeing the same thing.”

Chills started going up your spine. “Didn’t the records say that they had gravity on their ships? Shouldn’t it be round? Even if it’s just internal rings spinning, it should be still round.”

LightWater answered, “Yes. The files the mining base shared said that they were capable of artificial gravity.”

Jaehwan muttered, almost to himself as he held out his thumb and squinting, getting a rough idea of its size, “It’s not big enough to have to internal rings to produce gravity… no matter how I look at it. And it be impractical….”

ARGUS chirped over the intercom, Cephaloid script appearing on the console in front of LightWater. LightWater said, “The Bandisul is now in close enough range for visual communication. Shall I open communications?”

Your heart rate spiked. Your mouth went dry. Your first contact. Swallowing, you nodded. “Yes, please.”

LightWater turned a calming yellow as he opened the channel.

The face that appeared on the holographic panel at the top of the observation window surprised you. You knew the Ingan were very similar to humans, practically genetic cousins. But you didn’t appreciate just how true that was.

She was rather beautiful, her face hardened by life experiences but beautiful nonetheless. If you didn’t know any better, you would’ve assumed she had come from Earth.

She had a strong jaw and an angular nose. Her red-tinted skin was relatively pale from the obvious lack of sunlight except for the darker lines that etched her skin, almost as if she had been sketched, the artist wanting to emphasize her contours. You could tell that on Jigui, where her skin could be warmed by sunlight, her skin would glow. You were a bit jealous actually. Her auburn hair was pulled back into a series of complicated braids, a few strands of silvering hair peaking through that mass of braids. Her charcoal grey eyes studied you, just as you had her.

Clearing your throat, you introduced yourself as the Senior Jack in Gaganis, the dominant language of Jigui. “And this is Lee Jaehwan, my fellow Jack from Earth. This is Commander LightWater from Atlantis. We are please to have meet you.”

Your words weren’t nearly as eloquent as you had liked them to be. You had spent nearly a year learning the limited Gaganis inputed into the interplanetary language library, but even so, it wasn’t an easy language to learn— with sounds that you as a human had no vocal range for and a vocabulary far more expansive than any other species. The written language was easy, an alphabet of sorts and a grammatical structure similar to the structure of the IHL. But pronunciation was a completely different matter entirely.

There was a pause after you had finished your introduction— spacial delay— before she quipped an eyebrow. “I was told that the Senior Jack was gifted with languages. But I had not expected you to be able to grasp as much of our language as you seem to.”

You were elated at her compliment, but you were careful not to show it. She continued, “I am Captain Vadovas of the Bandisbul. We look forward to hosting you on the journey back to Jigui.”

Smiling, you replied, “We look forward to it very much. And thank you, Captain, for came to pick us up.”

Another pause, then she nodded. “We should be arriving shortly. You should’ve already received out docking trajectory. Bandisbul out.”

She glanced off screen and nodded, the feed going dark immediately.

You let out the breath you didn’t realize you were holding, completely deflating and slightly pushing yourself backwards in zero-g. Jaehwan began clapping. “Well done.”

Rolling your eyes, you replied, “I guess we should start making our way to the docking bay.”

Jaehwan nodded sadly. “I’m going to miss this place.”

You patted his arm. “Me too. But we’ve been wanting this forever.”

He hummed in agreement. “We… We really should be getting back there.”

Jaehwan had already pushed himself off one of the walls towards the bridge hatch. He looked back at you when you didn’t immediately follow. “You go on ahead. I gotta say goodbye.”

LightWater eyed you curiously, his whole body lightly changed to a paler color, his nerves getting to him. As soon as Jaehwan was through the hatch, you muttered. “I’m going to miss you.”

“As am I. You are the only human I know that is tolerable.”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it.”

LightWater flashed a defensive red. He may not have been able to understand your tone, but he’s clearly picked up on one or two things about human body language. “I am reaching the end of my life cycle. I either die passing on my genes to the next generation. Or I die without completing the greatest mission one of my kind can do.”

“I know!” You sighed in defeat. “I know…. I just don’t want this to be our final farewell, old friend.”

He didn’t respond immediately. His coloring turned a more muted shade of orange— almost brown. A moment later, he extended one arm out towards you, breaching the barrier of his oversized water droplet. It took a moment before you realized what he was doing. Your eyes grew large, realizing what he was doing.

You took off your jacket and rolled up your sleeve. You offered up your hand to him. He grabbed your arm gently, the suckers pulling you towards him. Your hand entered the water and you made eye contact with him.

This was… an act of trust. Typically performed at a formal event, this was a test. A test of trust and friendship. Very few Cephaloids trusted any of the other races to touch them— they weren’t a particularly affectionate species to begin with. And for humans, at the very least, Cephaloids scared us on an instinctual level— they were predators, dangerous. Alien.

He wanted to use this act as a good-bye.

With your arm elbow deep in the water, you watched as LightWater wrapped his arm around your own, the suckers gripping your arm even more tightly, preparing for you to reflectively fight him. You wouldn’t deny it— letting your hand being dragged closer to his razor sharp beak was… a little terrifying. But you trusted him. You knew he wouldn’t hurt you.

His mechanical voice startled you. “This may be the last time we meet in this life— but we will meet in the next. Our bond is proof that.”

You smiled gently at him, eyes watering a bit. Always the sentimental. Your gaze fell to where your arm was wrapped in his, watching as your hand made contact with the smooth, hard surface of his beak. He opened his mouth, bringing your hand to it. Your heart rate spiked, every instinct in you tell you it was dangerous like this. But in the back of your mind, you had to remind yourself, he was probably scared: his own instincts telling him that you were a threat.

His hold on your arm let up, letting you move your hand freely. You let him enclose his beak slightly around your finger. The feeling reminded you of when a bird bit at your finger, probably thinking it was a worm or something other food. The only difference was that this beak was much larger and the touch much gentler.

A moment later LightWater let go of you completely, letting you slip your finger from his beak as you blinked, your tears floating away in zero-g. Just before you were about to slip your hand out of the barrier, you affectionately squeezed his arm. He didn’t flinch, nor did he flash a bright red in warning. Instead, he shifted to a gentle green, his skin completely smooth and relaxed. He trusted you completely.

You shook the fine layer of water that stuck to your arm away, letting the droplets fly around in the bridge. Inspecting your arm, your could already see the circular bruises from where his suckers pinched your skin. Your arm would be tender for a while, but the red splotches were strangely beautiful— artistic.

Reaching for the sheath at your hip, you withdrew your knife. You brought the knife to the back of your head, your free hand pulling a single lock from your bun at the base of your hairline. Carefully, you cut the lock. Re-sheathing your knife, you offered the lock of hair to LightWater.

“I don’t have… a telepathic image I can give you like your people would in final good-byes. Instead, I offer up a moment of our childhood.” You laughed. “You and the others would often pull out clumps of my hair if I ever got too close to you on Atlantis. I had always thought you hated me. It took me a while but I finally learned that it wasn’t to bully me. But rather it was just some dumb children who were curious and didn’t know their strength. So… I give it to you.”

LightWater gazed at you blankly for a moment before reaching out through the barrier once again, taking the lock from you. “I will… protect it. Until we meet again in the next life. I will… miss you.”

You could barely control the sniffle. “And I’ll miss you.”

“I may not be able to join you at the docking bay, but I will watch from here. And know that I will always watch you.”

“I feel safer already. Thank you, LightWater.”

LightWater flashed an array of colors, greens, purples and brown. No more word needed to be exchanged— it was too hard.

Grabbing your jacket, you pushed off towards the hatch for the last time. As you floated past the hydro-barrier, you let your fingers dance across them, creating ripples. LightWater watched you until you were completely through the hatch.

Back on the gravity rings, you cleaned up your face a bit and re-dressed yourself properly. Crying would come later. You had a job to do.

It took longer than you had meant, but you finally made it to the docking port. Jaehwan, along with a few other crewmen were there, waiting for you.

“You’re late.”

“They haven’t clamped on. I’m fine.”

“You’re a shit liar you know that, right?”

You glared up at Jaehwan, getting ready to shoot him a snarky reply when the klaxon sounded, signaling that the Bandisbul has latched onto the Hermes’ docking port. After the klaxon has sounded three times, the doors, separating the two ships opened.

Your heart thundered in your chest. Your first meeting, face to face. As the doors opened, your gaze fell first on Captain Vadovas. She was… shorter than you thought. Then you realized that the small entourage behind her was also shorter than you expected. ‘Higher gravity world,’ you reminded yourself.

Both you and Jaehwan bowed (something the Jacks discovered was universally non-insulting) as Captain Vadovas stepped onto the Hermes.

“Welcome, Captain Vadovas to the U.I.S. Hermes.”

She nodded. “I am glad to be on board. It is good to finally see you both in person.”

Vadovas looked over the two of you, her gaze piercing. You noted that she looked over Jaehwan far more incredulously than she did you. And honestly, you couldn’t blame her. Even amongst humans, Jaehwan was on the taller side. With angular, expressively eyebrows arching over dark, mischievous, almond eyes and full, pink lips that quipped up cutely, he was beautiful. You always thought it was odd but his large nose balanced out the rest of his face— rather than taking away from the rest of his features, it enhanced them.

“The same, Captain.”

Turning to her right slightly, Vadovas signaled for the man behind her to step forward. “This will be your guide Jigui.”

She then said his name. You knew that you would eventually run into this problem sooner or later… you just didn’t expect it to come so soon. His name was a series of sounds— sounds that came in vastly different pitches and in such a quick concession that a human could never hope to be able to pronounce it. The male at Captain Vadovas’ side smiled kindly at you, probably noting the brief moment of panic of your face— you were never good at masking it according to Jaehwan.

His voice was rougher, deeper than you thought it be. “For now you can just call me, ‘Guide.’”

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Jaehwan gape at him. “You speak IHL?!”

Captain Vadovas smirked. She clearly didn’t speak IHL, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t read the situation. “Yes, he speaks your language. When your… library was sent over, he studied it, making sure that he could communicate with you and to help clarify things.”

“Thank you…” you paused, considering to make an attempt at his name, but quickly chose against it. “Guide. That will help greatly.”

“Of course. I look forward to our time together.”

His gaze was intense— the smaller pupils of his eyes making the russet color of his eyes more intense, just adding weight to his already heavy gaze. The only word that you could think to describe his gaze was… bright. It made you feel nervous… but not necessarily in a bad way.

Captain Vadovas cleared her throat, gathering your attention. “Now that you’ve been officially introduced, I’d like to make way. I believe most of your equipment was sent when you were initially suppose to arrive.”

Your guide confirmed, “Yes. Your equipment is being stored at the Science Institute of Shistanp. Are these bags yours? Is this all you’re bringing on board?”

“Yes. We ca—“

Before you finish your sentence, let alone reach for your bags that had been neatly put away against the wall, your new guide grabbed all four of the bags. As you sputtered, trying to explain that he didn’t have to carry them, he just smirked at you and was already on his way back through the hatch, the rest of the entourage following behind him, almost chasing after him. As if they intended to stop him.

Vadovas chuckled, muttering something under her breath that you did not catch. She turned back to you. “Forgive him. He’s always been a little… over zealous. I ask that you make you final goodbyes before we depart.”

She followed your guide back through the hatch, waiting for you just beyond it.

Jaehwan broke the short revery of silence. “Interesting people.”

You glared at him. “You followed only every other word, huh?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m surprised I got that much. Given that,” he brought his fist to his mouth, making an exaggerated cough. “I failed my rudimentary language test, like what, three times.”

You scoffed. “You’ll pick it up in no time. You wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“Thanks. Anyways, you got anyone you need to say goodbye to?”

You showed him your hand, the circular bruises already blooming purple from the back of your hand and trailing around and up your wrist and arm. “I’ve said mine. You?”

Jaehwan smiled sadly at you after looking back at the few crewmen who had gathered to see the Ingan. “Already did. Let’s not keep them waiting any longer than necessary.”

You nodded in agreement as the two of you headed for the hatch.

Just before making that step first step onto the Ignan ship, you looked back. The docking bay was empty (the crewmen already having dispersed now that they had to prepare for detachment)— sterile— but it held so many memories. For just a short while— this was home.

“You coming, Savant?”

You sighed, stifling a laugh. “Yeah. I’m coming, Ken-doll.”

Pulling the docking door shut, you secured it, sealing your future. Turning back around, you joined Jaehwan and Vadovas. It didn’t hit you immediately until after you shut the hatch, but the artificial gravity was higher here, the increased pressure constricting your lungs a bit— your first taste of what it would be like on Jigui.

“Your guide has gone to drop your bags off at the cabins you will be staying for the remainder of the voyage. If you would like, we can do a tour of the Bandisbul. And then dinner in the captain’s mess.”

You nodded. “That sounds wonderful, Captain.”

She smiled, nodding. “This way. We’ll make our way to the bridge first to watch the detach.”

You nodded your understanding before repeating what she just said, to Jaehwan. To which he immediately nodded his head excitedly.

Following the captain towards the bridge, you took note of how similar the inside of the Bandisbul was to human ships. Jaehwan was like a kid in a candy shop, his gaze large and starry-eyed taking in every detail.

The three of you stopped when a voice called out for the Captain. Turning you were met with the sight of your guide joining you. He was a little out of breath but otherwise, fine. “Your bag are in your cabins.”

“Thank you very much. The Captain was just about to take us on a tour.”

“Great! I’ll join you.”

Captain Vadovas exclaimed, “Excellent.”

She continued to lead the way to the bridge. Following behind her, you now had the chance to sneak a couple of good glances at your guide.

Your guide had a slightly stocky build with wide shoulders, filling his uniform (a garment that seemed similar to a jumpsuit like you wore on the Hermes) out nicely. He wasn’t particularly tall (not like Jaehwan was), but he also wasn’t short, still standing quite a bit taller than Captain Vadovas. And he wasn’t quite as pale as the Captain either, whether that was his natural complexion or if he been recently exposed to sunlight, you weren’t sure. His skin was also lightly tinged a red tone.

Like Vadovas, his skin was covered in patterns, except… his were lighter in color and you could only see them peaking out from under his sleeves and collar of his uniform. Since the marking stopped at the underside of his jaw, you would have almost thought he was human.

Emphasis on the almost.

Following the contour of his high cheekbones and temples, along his sharp jawline, were lines of iridescent skin. As they reflected the sterile light of the corridor, their color, the way they shifted slightly with color with his every step— from blue to green to purple to white and back again— reminded you a little of the abalone shell your father found on one of his geological expeditions. It was… odd. But incredibly beautiful.

The blue of his markings complimented his round, russet eyes. Long eyelashes (Mother Nature was cruel: readily gifting long eyelashes to the males of any species) hid the deep creases of his eyes. Strong, angular eyebrows balanced the gentle curve of the markings along his temples. You thought his nose was round, like a button nose from the front, but from the profile, it was straight as an arrow. Below his nose, his lips were thin, but surprisingly soft looking given then he’s been in the extremely dry environment of a spaceship.

His umber brown hair was cut in a style that the closest analogy you could find was an undercut. The hair left longer was tied back in a topknot, giving him a clean, but almost aggressive appearance.

You glanced away sheepishly as he looked your way, probably feeling the weight of your glances on him. After a moment, you hesitantly glanced back up at him again. He was smiling a bit, smile lines emphasizing the contour of his lips and jawline. You couldn’t help how your cheeks flushed red briefly as you realized he had caught you staring at him.

Sooner than you expected, you arrived at the bridge. As you entered, the crewmen, a total of three that you could see, turned to stare at you and Jaehwan. You swallowed, suddenly feeling nervous under the weight of their curious stares. Captain Vadovas introduced the two of you to the crew. Once introductions were in order, she ordered for them to detach. You and Jaehwan were led over to the observation window. The pair of you watched, wide-eyed.

It was a strange feeling. The Hermes had been your home for almost half a year. As the Bandisbul detached, it hit you just how fast the rings of the Hermes rotated as the Bandisbul detached in a straight trajectory. The two of you stood there is awed silence as the Hermes became smaller and smaller, the further out you flew towards Jigui.

Once it was out of sight, the two of you rejoined Captain Vadovas and your guide. “Shall we begin the tour?”

“Yes.”

Captain Vodovas led you all around the ship, her and your guide explain everything the best they could. Like most other spaceships, it was compact and designed for efficiency. Slightly different though in purpose from what you were used to. The Bandisbul was built to transport miners to and from the astroid belt back to their home planet once they’ve completed their circuit.

Some stops were short, such as finding the head of the ship, very important, especially since you felt like you’d need to relieve yourself soon. Other stops were longer… much longer. Jaehwan was in heaven in the engine room, staring at one of the greatest invention neither of you knew existed— a cold fusion reactor.

After much prodding and reminding him that there was food at the end of this, Jaehwan finally allowed you to pull him away from the ‘magical’ engine room. The tour continued on a little longer before you ended up at the captain’s mess.

Entering the room, you were surprised by how… intimate it was. It wasn’t overly decorated, but there was a tapestry on the wall. You walked over to it, admiring the weave. It was a simple scene, a cliff, crashing waves, and Jigui’s twin moons. “It’s beautiful… the detail amazing.”

“Thank you. It’s been in my family for several generations. Shall we?”

Captain Vadovas indicated for you to sit down as she took her own seat. It was a square table, each of you taking a side. As the four of you waited, your friendly guide made some idle small talk. You had often worried about your guide being stiff and cold like you had read about in the journals of past Jacks, but it seemed like you were blessed with that being false in this case.

While the conversation was a little awkward at first (idle chitchat not necessarily translating quite as nicely as you thought it would), you welcomed the distraction. Especially for Jaehwan.

Neither you nor Jaehwan were looking forward to another meal of dehydrated, packaged food— the gloriously named MRE (meal ready to eat), especially when it would be compromised of foods neither of you had ever seen.

A knock at the door caught your attention. As the Captain bade them to enter, a wonderful smell hit your nose. A wirey, small male entered, followed by a young female, each carrying a plate. As the plates were set down in front of you, you said your thanks to who you assumed was the head chef of the ship in Gaganis. The food in front of you was so familiar and yet, so different.

Steam rose from the roasted cutlet of meat— some of sort of poultry if the texture and shape were anything to go by. Covered in some spices, it smelled delicious. Next to it was a small pile of vegetables, also roasted and covered in herbs from the looks of them. The vegetables reminded you of some that you’d seen on Earth: turnips, peas, rhubarb, and onion. There was also a piece of what looked to be a flat bread with some unmilled grains of some kind that looked similar to oats.

As if yours and Jaehwan’s stomach shared one mind, they roared their demands in sync with each other. Your cheeks flushed red and from the corner of your eye, you could see the way Jaehwan’s ears turned scarlet as the four Ingan turned to stare at you. Sheepishly, you tried to explain, “It’s… been a while since we saw real food.”

Your guide was the first to laugh, relaxing the atmosphere of the room immensely, getting the others to join in. Captain Vadovas smiled and said, “I was going to apologize for the similicity of your first Ingan meal… but it seems that I should never have worried.”

She turned to the male and asked him for something, you weren’t sure what though— you were too busy drooling over the food in front of you. As he and his assistant left, Captain Vadovas and your guide began eating. You and Jaehwan mimicked them, grabbing the utensil that looked like a fork, except that it was two pronged instead of four, and the great universal tool: a knife.

As you ate the first bit of meat, you couldn’t help but moan happily. It was so… good, the flavor being a cross between chicken and the tanginess of red meat.

Your guide laughed again. Turning red, you couldn’t help but shoot him a pointed look, forgetting for a moment that you were suppose to be cordial. He just gave you a lopsided goofy grin. “You act like you’ve never eaten food before.”

Mouth stuffed, Jaehwan answered, “After months of nothing by MREs this is like the food of the gods.”

Your guide inquired, “MREs?”

Between mouthfuls you explained, “Dehydrated, freeze dried food— Meals Ready to Eat. Exploratory vessels like the Hermes aren’t big enough to house a hydroponics bay, a cryo-static freezer, nor a real kitchen. So, we’re issued MREs instead. Disgusting but nutrient packed.”

Your guide made a face before going back to eating own meal, clearly much more… content with his meal than before.

Soon the crewmen from before returned, this time with bottles in hand. He handed each of you one and disappeared out of the room once more before you could express your thanks. Opening the bottle, you were glad to find it was water and not something else. You weren’t sure if your stomach could handle a new liquid on top of new solids. Especially after only eating MREs for months.

The conversation flowed easily and Jaehwan was becoming more and more confident, slowly picking up bits and pieces of Gaganis, just like you said he would.

As the dinner wrapped up, your guide asked, “What does ‘Jack’ mean? I cannot find it in the library.”

You replied, “It comes from an old Earth phrase, ‘jack of all trades, master of none.’ Jacks, as ambassadors of sorts, need to be skilled numerous different areas. Kind of as a means of not only being able understand numerous different parts of different cultures, but give perspectives that specialists might not see otherwise because they see the universe through just one lense. It’s also the best method of introduction. Having as few… aliens as possible on your planet at one time in the beginning has been the best course of action in the past when the Interplanetary Alliance meets new species. By only sending two representatives, but skilled in multiple areas, it’ll allow for easier and perhaps quicker integration if your people choose to join the I.A.”

His brows knit together, listening to you intently. You could tell he didn’t understand everything you said, but he seemed to understand enough. “A rather interesting phrase, I like it very much.”

He smiled at you and you returned the gesture. Captain Vadovas interrupted. “You must be tired. It will be a few days before we reach Jigui. Your guide will take you back to your cabin.”

As the four of you stood up, you said, “Thank you, Captain. Lead the way.”

Your guide smiled once more at you, holding out his hand, indicating for you and Jaehwan to leave first. Once out into the corridor, your guide led you through several halls until you arrived at a hall with four doors. “Since this is normally a mining transport vessel, each of you get your own room. Lee is over there,” he pointed to the door kitty corner from the door you stood in front of. “And you will be here.”

He pointed to the door you stood in front of. “I will be in that one if either of you need anything or wish to speak.”

Your guide pointed to the door directly opposite of your own and next to Jaehwan’s.

You smiled at him. “Thank you very much.”

“Of course.”

He bid you both goodbye before he entered his cabin. As soon as his heavy door closed, both you an Jaehwan relaxed. Jaehwan was the first to break the silence.

“He seems… nice.”

You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose. You knew that tone. It only meant trouble. “Why would you say it like that?”

Jaehwan hesitated before replying, “Male instinct. Goodnight.”

Before you could stop him to question him even further, he was already in his cabin. Under your breath you muttered, “Little shit.”

Entering your cabin, you noted that it was rather homey… for a space cabin that is. It was still nothing but a metal box. But there was an actual bed, not a mattress put on a set of cabinets to maximize space like you were used to. You could actually stretch out a bit. You could only imagine how excited Jaehwan must be not to have to sleep either on the ground if he wanted to stretch out, or in a fetal position on his bunk because of his height. There was a wooden desk tucked away in the corner.

Behind the desk was a beautiful tapestry of a dormant volcano, the slopes of it covered in green but the crater at the top of it remained ashen in color. The sleeping fiery titan sloped down across a valley filled with flowers you had never seen before. The valley ended abruptly with the sudden drop of a cliff, giving away to violent waves crashing up on it. In the sky, the sun hung high in the sky with the ghostly gleam of one of the moons hanging on the horizon.

You ran your fingers over the fine embroidery. So much detail and patience went into it… it was absolutely amazing.

Jostling yourself out of your admiration, you reminded yourself just how uncomfortable you had gotten in your uniform. Grabbing one of the bags your guide had placed on your bed, you pulled out your old t-shirt and cotton shorts. Both of them were Jack issued, but the t-shirt held a special place in your heart.

It was covered in little messages from your fellow Jacks— your friends. You traced over Miranda’s elegant hand writing, telling you how much she was going to miss you, how proud she was of you. You couldn’t help but smile at Jin’s blocky ‘chicken scratch.’ Rather than telling you he’d miss you, he just gave you a list of all the things you needed to remember to do to take care of yourself. Forever the mother hen.

As you read over each and every message, you eyes welled with tears. All the emotions that had been building up in you over the last few months finally gave way. Between saying goodbye to LightWater, leaving home, the stress of making a good first unofficial impression— the floodgates opened.

Clutching the shirt to your chest, you cried, letting all of it out. It was cathartic, just letting it all out in such a primal way. After what felt like far too long, you finally calmed down. Wiping the snot and tears from your face, you felt so much better. You felt like you could finally relax, like you could really breath for the first time today.

Once you had changed out of your uniform and dressed in your pajamas, you stood there, looking around the cabin that would be your space for the next few days. In a burst of restless energy, you felt incredibly awake. There wasn’t much do to in your cabin, so you slipped on your work shoes— the eternally useful tennis shoes— and left your cabin with tablet in hand.

You wondered around the ship, taking in every detail, making sure that you kept track of where you turned and when so you could get back to your cabin. After a while, found yourself in one of the few places on the ship with a view into the great blackness. It was like an observation deck of sorts, a bench was placed against a wall, the perfect height for viewing out the four feet across circular window.

As you sat there, you felt drawn in by the sight before you. On the horizon of sorts, you could see the astroid belt. The line of rock split the near blackness in two. Off in the distance, the only other identifiable body in the darkness was the Gamma Tau star, illuminating the astroid belt, making it sparkle.

Jigui wasn’t observable yet— the light of the star drowning it out at this distance.

It all looked familiar and yet… so different.

2,500 days— seven years before you’d be on your way back to Earth again.

You felt so small by the thought of being so far away from home for so long. And yet, you couldn’t help but be excited at the prospect of the unknown.

Chapter 2 <ACCESS DENIED>

As always, reviews, comments, asks, and tags are always loved! ~Peony

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amosbrittany · 4 years

Text

Shattered Chapter 5

I swear I did not entirely die on this. lol Have up to chapter 9 done, shit just happened and video games are most distracting.

Disclaimer : I don’t own Transformers Animated or any characters for that matter.

Notes : I haven’t done fanfiction, let alone TF based, in ages. And never for TFA, So I don’t really know what the hell I’m doing but what the hell, I’m going for it. lol I took quite a few liberties, pulling bits from various continuities to build this sucker.

Warnings : I have a tendency to put characters through hell. A bit of Bumblebee/Blitzwing this chapter. Eventual Optimus/Sentinel, Megatron/Ultra Magnus, Jazz/Prowl and Ratchet/Pharma.

Summary : The road to hell is paved with good intentions, but Sentinel’s latest stunt might just kill them all…or worse.

The day Ultra Magnus decided to make his way to Trypticon, his chosen agents had set neatly hidden explosives all over Iacon's warp drives over the past few solar cycles as they worked from the shadows silently and swiftly. Fortress Maximus and Metroplex, as well as Omega Surpreme and the Steelhaven, had been prime targets. The only significant structure on the planet at the time capable of transwarping would be Trypticon. A few cycles after he relocated the prison, while they were scrambling to figure out what happened and retaliate, the Nexus would be taken down. It would give him a decent head start as the Autobots tried to make heads or tails of the chaos when their edge of the war was lost. By the time any wayward ships abroad came home to lead a pursuit, he would have a decent lead.

He walked down the long strip of road leading to the ominous prison in Kaon, muttering curses under his breath as it seemed his transformation cog no longer functioned. It made the trip longer than he liked and he had to adjust given the delays the defect caused, as it wasn't simply isolated to himself. Ultra Magnus already had his agents in place, lying in wait within the prison walls to take out the guards there. When he relocated the prison, he would make a deal with the Decepticons. Granted, he knew better than to trust them, but Megatron's head would prove a fine bargaining chip and outing their traitor, a show of good faith.

He had made sure the guards were prepared for his arrival, to accelerate the whole process. They quickly ushered him in once he reached the entrance and he proceeded to make a beeline for the control hub of the city-like compound. He found the warden waiting for him. "Ultra Magnus, always so good to-Uh...huh." Springer had started to greet him, hand extended before he visibly balked at his appearance. The green Autobot cleared his vocalizer apologetically then grimaced. "You...look different."

"Yes, so I'm told." The Magnus scoffed, rolling his optics. His gaze swept hungrily over the control room. "How is Trypticon's transwarp system?"

"The transwarp system? Everything is running just fine, sir." The question was oddly specific and that caused Springer to squint with suspicion. "Is...that why you wanted to visit, sir? To check on the systems? Cause that sounds like a comm-link sort of thing to me..."

"Oh, I have other reasons." He glanced at the clock, watching the time intently.

The warden gave him a quizzical look, following his gaze. "You waiting for something...?"

"Indeed I am."

~+~

Optimus rubbed his face plates. He had some newfound respect for Sentinel concerning this position at least. With Ultra Magnus being unusually difficult and flighty, it had been a lot of work to keep up with. With the capture of the Decepticons and their leader, things had to be shifted around, changes made, plans formulated. He had to oversee the construction of a prominent outpost on Earth, re-order teams, and assist the Council in as many matters as he could. Ultra Magnus and the Fringes debacle had not helped in the slightest.

Alpha Trion had accepted the agreement with Blitzwing and after going over the rosters, it was decided that Bumblebee would head operations for Autobot City on Earth with his own team consisting of the reformed Decepticon, Ironhide, Bulkhead, and Ratchet. At first he had wanted to keep the old medic close, but they had talked it over and he understood his friend's concerns. Ultimately, Pharma would become his own crew's medic. Earth, Ratchet worried, might prove something of a sensory overload for his already delicate processor and he preferred the idea of a leader who had a better track of patience than Bumblebee. Besides, two mechs with several screws loose on one team was just begging for trouble.

The yellow minibot was excited to get the assignment underway and had taken off for Kaon with the necessary documentation files to pick up their new 'Autobot' and get him up to speed. They still had a few solar cycles before they set off for Earth on the Ark, but he was sure Blitzwing could use some repairs and upgrades after his lengthy prison stay. His paint certainly could use a major touch up. As for his badge, it would likely take some time and convincing to get him to wear it just yet.

It had been tempting to go with Bumblebee, if only to see if he couldn't convince Springer to let him see Sentinel and maybe even see what Ultra Magnus was really up to over there. He imagined the Magnus staring down Megatron's disembodied head and having a little chat with him. Oh, to be a nanofly on the wall for that one. But besides that, he was concerned, mostly for Sentinel should Ultra Magnus decide to pay him a visit. He sighed wistfully, taking a moment to relax before his office doors flew open and Jazz rushed in on him. Optimus twitched, sitting up straight when he saw how agitated the other was. "Jazz, is everything okay...?"

"Pit nah, it ain't okay! Prowl's body is MIA!"

The claim sent him reeling for a klik and Optimus had to shake his head to get the sudden daze to clear. "I'm-Sorry, what? What do you mean by that?" A chilling feeling crawled up his back struts as he recalled Ultra Magnus's presence in the mausoleum a few solar cycles ago. Surely he hadn't done something nefarious...But with the way he'd been acting...Optimus pursed his lips as he opened his desk screen and began hunting through the various channels to find anything on the security for the tomb.

"You look like ya got somethin' in mind, bossbot." Jazz rounded the desk to watch over his shoulder. The cyber ninja often visited their fallen comrade's place of rest. It was a habit that caused Optimus some concern due to how often he did it, it made him wonder about the pair, but now he was almost grateful for it.

"...Ultra Magnus was at the mausoleum a few solar cycles ago. I had a bad feeling about it, but I didn't think much of it. I mean what could he possibly do in there...Here, I think this was it." Finding the backlogged security footage, he narrowed it down to the day and time. As they watched, Jazz let out a strangled noise of horror and Optimus offlined his optics. He felt like he'd just been run through the chassis as the scene played out, Ultra Magnus tossing their friend from his resting place and dragging him off like a sack of parts. Although part of him absolutely hated to press on, he forced himself to find the other footage, which led them to where Magnus had gathered several others...

And proceeded to do exactly what Sentinel had done to him, to the dead Autobots before him.

Blitzwing's words came back to him. "Cyclonus alvays zaid it came from zhe 'heart of darkness und zhe root of all evil'." The stuff was a scourge not even the Decepticons would touch. They knew it did this, Oil Slick had told Sentinel as much, but this was the terrible detail the mad scientist had omitted. It could spread like a terrible cancer. Bumblebee had said Blitzwing warned him that the Decepticons had hoped this would cause them enough of a distraction that their 'reformed comrade' would be able to find a way to release them. This was the whole dirty plan to begin with.

As the resurrected Autobots disappeared off the screen, the main question he had now was WHY...Why do that? What was the purpose? Why...

Why was he at Trypticon?

"...He's going to do something at Trypticon."

Jazz recovered from his horror only slightly. "You don't think he'd set the Decepticons loose..."

"I don't know, but I'm going to treat it like that's the plan." Optimus opened his comm-link, reaching out to Springer. <Springer, I need you to get Ultra Magnus out of there. By any means necessary. His accomplices might be there as well! Lock down the prison!>

~+~

That was a hell of a task. And what accomplices was he referring to? Ultra Magnus had come alone.

Back in Kaon, Springer's optics widened slightly when he received the call and now he had a tall order to fill. There was an alarming edge to Optimus's voice. 'I knew there was something fishy about this.' He thought to himself as he turned to Ultra Magnus and stalled, staring back at his violet gaze.

"I take it Optimus told you to get rid of me." The Magnus calmly assessed. The green Autobot froze, mouth failing to work properly. Ultra Magnus smirked smugly. "Oh, don't look so surprised. I don't normally toot my own horn, but I like to think I am an excellent strategist. I knew if anyone got a clue before the big bang, that it would be him. But I'm afraid my pieces are already in place. And there is nothing you're going to be able to do about it."

"Big bang? What big bang?" Springer demanded.

"Mmm, the biggest..."

Drawing his sword, the warden took a step towards him only to stop when cries and the sounds of battle erupted in the central command hub where they were. Magnus's agents struck out from the shadows, the initial targets of the attack going down quickly and violently. While he was distracted, Ultra Magnus swung his hammer, catching Springer upside his helm and rendering him unconscious. He accessed his comm-link as he sauntered over to the controls for the transwarp, letting his agents scurry out to incapacitate or kill any guards in their way. <Oh Optimus, that was almost well timed...Almost.>

<Magnus. What the hell did you do? Where's Prowl?!>

As he let Optimus stew in silence, wracking his processor to make heads and tails of his scheme, he picked the coordinates for a location on Earth from his data banks and proceeded to enter them into Tyrpticon's destination as the transwarp drive began to power up.

~+~

"But if you go to Earth then I won't see you again...And I feel we have much to discuss." Really, there was much for Pharma to get off his chassis. For stellar cycles, he was always too damned proud to just come out and say what he felt, he had always waited for Ratchet to say something. But it was becoming painfully clear that the older medic was insufferably oblivious. He was also spending a great deal of time with that teacher and he didn't know what was going on there. He hated it.

"Well it was either you or me, and we both know you woulda hated workin' with a reformed Con. Besides, I wanna see Sari again and being on Optimus's team means regular trips back and forth so it ain't like ya won't see this old rustbucket. Just try not to give the kid too much trouble."

Pharma started to grin with delight at the idea of regular visits for himself while Arcee was glued to her classroom, but it faded quickly when there was a commotion on Ratchet's end of the line and something violently exploded, knocking the other medic out of sight and killing the connection instantly. "Wh-? Ratchet?" The jet held his hands up, flabbergasted. "What just happened? Ratch-!"

The sound of something falling over made Pharma jump and twist around, met with the sight of a walking corpse crouching on a medical berth. It was Dodger, but he had died some time ago so how was he there now? Pharma let out a small squeak, backing around the console he was using. The dead bot was spattered with energon and brandished a pair of soaked blades he flicked menacingly. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no-! Not today, Mortilus!" Pharma cried, breaking into a run with the assassin hot on his heel struts.

An idea struck him at the last nanoklik and he threw himself into a quarantine chamber, slamming the door shut behind him and engaging the lock. He didn't care to be locked up in a quarantine cell again, but it beat being murdered. The bloodied blade slashed against the thick glass but after several attempts, the other stopped. His plates shivered fearfully as the corpse settled for staring him down through the door, as if it waited long enough, it would have him. "What in the Pit is happening...?"

~+~

"Vhat in zhe pit iz going on..." But a few cycles ago, Springer had told him approval for his pardon was underway and Bumblebee would be there shortly to collect him. He had tittered with glee, ready to put the mines and the prison behind him. Now however, the air was alive with battle and screaming Autobots. Energon was everywhere. A familiar and terrible sight had descended on the guards. Undead Autobots, the only color on their frames the insidious violet flow of Dark Energon. It was Karn all over again, just on a minuscule scale. "Oh Primus, Oil Slick...vhat did you do..."

"Scrap." Said scientist muttered. His gambit had backfired in the worst possible way.

"Oh great! Fan-fragging-tastic! Way to go, you-you-you...goop head!" Drag Strip screamed from her cell.

"Goop head, niiiiice one."

Lugnut rumbled, pleased with the wanton Autobot slaughter taking place around them. His only regret was that he wasn't taking part in it. He banged his arm against the cell wall he shared with Blitzwing. "At least you will not have to go along with the sham of pretending to be an accursed Autobot and you can die A PROUD DECEPTICON SOLDIER IN GLORIOUS AND VIOLENT BATTLE!"

Blitzwing sighed, regretting he would not see Bumblebee again as he turned from the bloody scenery beyond his cell. "I vould razher not die period..." He muttered to himself, crossing his arms petulantly.

~+~

"What in the Pit is happening?!" Since Ultra Magnus decided to let his surprise answer for itself, Optimus was trying to get a handle on the situation. But when Metroplex shook from several explosions, he was finding himself at a loss. Other, more distant explosions could be heard and reports were flying in that Fortress Maximus and several ships including the Steelhaven had been hit. He knew they were merely distractions, but he still wasn't certain for what. He was still trying to work out the why.

"Optimus, what is going on?" Alpha Trion hurried over to him with several other council members.

"Sir, it seems Ultra Magnus has launched some kind of attack here in Iacon and we've lost contact with the staff at Trypticon. We just found evidence that he used the shards from himself to resurrect other Autobots as well."

The old mech's face plates crinkled in thought. "...What has been struck here?"

"Seems like it was the...transwarp engine rooms. That's where folks are narrowin' down the origination of the explosions." Jazz supplied.

"The-" Alpha Trion stiffened as it struck him. "He's stealing Trypticon and preventing us from pursuit."

"But WHY?? That's what I can't wrap my helm around!" Optimus's servos flew up to grab his helm. What in the name of Cybertron was the Magnus doing? As Alpha Trion tried to reroute any and all warships to Tyrpticon for a full blown assault, the Prime tried to get his focus back. "And how long will it take for him to actually do that?"

"The quantum engines will need but twenty cycles to jump the entirety of the prison wherever it is he plans to go. Much less if he plans to take only part of it. And if he is freeing the Decepticons, it will most likely be to a place like New Kaon or Charr."

Jazz shook his head. "Not gonna get much there in time to take the prison down, sir. Not unless we kick on the Nexus and if Magnus rigged the fortresses and ships-"

"Then we will use only one tower while the trackers seek out the other explosives..."

~+~

Ultra Magnus watched the quantum engines power, waiting for when it looked like the core of the prison would be good to go. No doubt Alpha Trion was expecting him to take the whole kit and kaboodle, but all he needed was the heart of the beast. That was where all the essentials were. He idly peeled away his Autobot badge as he continued to observe the engines's progress. There was little point to wearing it now...

He wasn't much of an Autobot. Not anymore.

"Report." He ordered.

Flanking him, his Terrorcons bowed in compliance. Prowl answered him. "All of the guards, civilians and workers that ran or fought have been slain. Along with the warden, we have detained three guards, two civilians, and five workers. The only surviving medic, Pharma, has locked himself in one of the quarantine units. We cannot get him out without specific codes, and he cannot get himself out."

"We'll remove him shortly then." The codes were not an issue, as Magnus he had access to everything, and the medical bay was a part of the core he intended to take. It was fortunate they had Pharma of all medics. He could easily be scared into doing as he was told. Ratchet wasn't around to embolden him. "Dispose of Scalpel. I don't need that little crab scuttling off where I cannot find him and I especially don't need that being the case and he puts Megatron back together before I am ready to deal with him."

"Of course, master." The cyber ninja disappeared to deal with the Decepticon in question.

The main screen of the central command hub pinged. He smiled eerily. "Someone is trying to make a house call. Delightful." He leaned back languidly in his chair, enabling the screen. As expected, Alpha Trion's ancient visage greeted him. He couldn't see Optimus, he was most likely out on the field, trying to handle the chaos, save the injured and assess the damage. "Oh...Where is the SIC? Attending to Ratchet, I suppose...I did leave a nasty little something on Omega Supreme in particular. Can't have that beast come after us, after all..."

"Ultra Magnus. I do not know why you are out to free the Decepticons, but I-"

"Hm? Oh, no. That has nothing to do with this at all actually. Before I'm done, they'll be offline, I assure you." Ultra Magnus waved his hand dismissively. "Particularly Blitzwing, I've no doubt. When I tell the others about his little plans, I'll let them rip him apart."

The way the old mech's face plate crinkled, indicating that he had been thrown off and confused, was quite nice. He always enjoyed that look on his face. But the old mech pressed forward, speaking to him as if he were addressing a wayward son, a troubled youth. His tone was almost pleading and weary, as if his answer would fill him with understanding. But they both knew it would only be more questions, more confusion. "Then why, Magnus...Why are you doing this?"

"In the end, Alpha, death claims us all. But this? This was not how it was supposed to be. Not for me. I was but a step from the Well of Allsparks, and now...It's forever denied me." Magnus lifted his hand, staring at it. The proto-flesh of his form was slowly deteriorating, becoming emaciated. What had once been thick, strong digits, were becoming thinning claws. He had no idea if he had a time limit on what his body could endure of the Dark Energon, but he wasn't inclined to find out. He pushed up from his seat, discreetly glancing at the console screen. The time was now. "I am going to have this remedied. I will not suffer for eternity for the selfish and foolish actions of a swine in search of his glory. And if I have to take everyone and everything down with me to save myself from oblivion, I will. I’ll gladly take my stay in the Pit for it all if I have to. If you want someone to blame, feel free to blame Sentinel...although I promise that while I do my work, I will ensure he is properly punished. Good bye, Alpha Trion."

Punctuating his grim words, Ultra Magnus reached down and threw the switch, teleporting Trypticon's main body away to Earth.

#transformers animated #transformers #fanfiction #ultra magnus #optimus prime #prowl #jazz #bumblebee #blitzwing #ratchet #pharma #megatron #idfk yall

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onthesandsofdreams · 4 years

Text

From Now On [1/4]

Pairing: Steve x Diana Rating: T Summary: Diana is summoned by her mother to her personal solar chamber, and she doesn’t know what to expect. Well – that’s not entirely true. She knows to expect a personal announcement for her engagement. Her mother’s council have began to make noise about her marriage and children.

Diana has always known that it was bound to happen, that doesn’t make it easier to accept that she will not get to pick. Because if it were up to her, she would not hesitate to pick Steven of the House of Trevor, son of a Duke and an heir on his own right. Words: 1684 Notes: For the @wondertrevnet Lock Out Bingo. Square: AU. [WonderTrev Bing Masterlist]

Read @ AO3

Diana is summoned by her mother to her personal solar chamber, and she doesn’t know what to expect. Well – that’s not entirely true. She knows to expect a personal announcement for her engagement. Her mother’s council have began to make noise about her marriage and children.

They had known each other since babyhood, and Diana knows well what kind of man Steve is. He’s kind and compassionate, calm and passionate, fierce in battle and wise in council. He’d be an excellent match for her, but she never spoke anything of a potential match and now… well, no use of crying now.

Diana knocks on her mother’s door. “Come in, Diana.” Her mother’s voice is calm, measured and betrays nothing.

Diana enters and closes the door behind her, “You wanted to see me, mother?”

Hippolyta smiles, opens her arms. “Yes, dear child, there’s much we must speak of.”

Diana walks into her mother’s arms, feels as she is embraced tightly and she returns, tucks her face in the crook of her mother’s neck. “I am listening.”

Hippolita pulls back, her eyes and face are serious and Diana swallows the knot at her throat. “Your engagement has been finalized.”

Diana does her best not to cry, instead she gives a jerky nod. “Whom am I to wed?” She does her best to make sure that her voice doesn’t shake. And she’s thankful for the years of training she’s received with her mother and tutors.

Hippolyta grabs Diana’s face between her hands, “I know this is not what you’d like, but you are a princess, a queen-to-be, we out of all people have so little freedom. If I could, I’d let you choose your consort, but the pressure grows and I had to pick for you.”

Diana watches her mother. “I understand, mother. I trust your judgment.”

Hippolyta searches her eyes, but Diana doesn’t look away. Then Hippolyta gives Diana a tiny smile. “Your future husband, is no other than Steven of the House of Trevor.”

Diana freezes, she’s sure that she has just misheard. She blinks, then searches her mother’s face, Hippolyta’s smile grows and she knows, her mother’s not lying. Her heart begins to beat loud and fast within her chest, hope blooms and she allows herself a tentative smile. “Mother?”

Hippolyta laughs at her tone, then kisses Diana’s forehead. “Do you think me blind, child? That I have not seen how you search for him? How he looks at you? I am old dear daughter, I know what I am seeing without needing words. Your darling Steve is to be your husband.”

Diana grins, her shoulders relax and feels like a weight has been lifted from them. “Truly?”

“Yes, child, truly.” Hippolyta takes Diana’s chin and holds her. “I’m not blind, you love him and I dare say he loves you too.”

“And you approve?”

“He’s of noble blood. And more importantly, a good man. You’ve both grown together, he’s no stranger to me and I rest easy to know he’d not complain about not being King. I will rest easy knowing that he will not stab you and take your crown. I approve, yes.”

Diana launches herself at her mother, “Thank you mother.”

Hippolyta embraces her daughter just as fiercely. “Be happy my love, be happy.”

***

Steve comes to the palace three days later. Diana does her best to be polite and well mannered, they are in public, after all, it could hardly do that she throw herself at his arms. As much as she’d like to, they are being watched by the whole court and some of the public.

“Welcome, Lord Steven,” Diana greets him, she’s smiling and so is he. “I hope you can make a home out of Olympia.”

Steve grins widely and knees, takes her hand in his and gives it a kiss, “My thanks my Princess, I am sure I will make a home out of Olympia, after all, it’s my bride’s home, it’s only fitting I make it so.”

Diana’s grin doesn’t fade and she just can’t wait for them to be alone, “Then come my Lord, allow me to show you your new chamber.”

Steve offers his arm and Diana takes it, she guides him through the palace, not that he needs to, after all, he’d spend a great deal of time in it already. He knows it by heart and she knows it. The court follows them inside, but only a servant shadows them when they make their way towards the family wing. And for the lack of words, their walk is not awkward, the silence suits them well.

Once they reach Steve’s chamber, they come to a halt. “I’ll leave you to your rest Steve,” Diana speaks softly. “I’ll be seeing you at the welcoming dinner.”

“Of course,” Steve says just as softly. “See you in a bit.”

Diana, feeling quite mischievous, gives him a quick kiss to his lips and all but volts. Steve is left at the door with a silly grin on his face.

***

Diana and Steve met at his door once more, she had chosen to wear a deep scarlet gown, her jewels were gold and inlaid with rubies, her hair was braided in the fashion she loved and wore a simple tiara that matched the rest of her jewels.

Steve was quite the handsome sight himself, he’d donned his uniform, the blue an almost perfect match to his eyes. “You look so beautiful.” He said, voice full of awe while he offered his arm.

Diana smiled and took his arm. “And you look quite handsome. Shall we?”

“As my Princess wishes,” Steve said and they made their way to the palace ballroom.

Diana looked around, her mother had surpassed herself. White flowers adorned everywhere, from centerpieces to garlands that hung from the ceiling and the pillars. White silk linens and tablecloths were set with gold plates and cutlery.

Dinner passed in a blur and Diana felt a tad nervous. She knew that she and Steve would’ve to open the dance floor, but not only with a simple dance, oh no, it would’ve be a public proposal and then they would open the dance floor.

The time came faster than what Diana would’ve liked. A moment she was finishing dessert, the next her mother had quietly nudge her. Then Hippolyta stood, at once, the hall felt silent. Diana always admired her mother’s ability to command a room.

“My dear people,” Hippolyta began. “I thank you all for coming, for tonight we celebrate a very special occasion. Diana…”

Diana stood and so did Steve. She took his hand and they walked to the center of the ballroom. Once there, she could feel the eyes of everyone just… watching and waiting. “My Lord Steven,” she began. “For years we have known each other, and I have come to make the decision of asking if you would marry me.”

Gasps went up. Not everyone knew of the betrothal deal Diana knew, and she couldn’t help but to smile a little, it would seemed that her mother had outwitted some people, again.

Steve knelt, never taking his eyes off her. “My Princess, you honor me greatly with your proposal. And I’m very honored in accepting it. I hereby swear to always strive to be a good husband and consort.” As he spoke, Steve reached into his pocket and pulled an engagement ring. It was an oval sapphire, clear blue, a perfect match to his eyes.

Diana smiled and offered her hand, and watched as Steve slid the ring with care. And once the ring was in place, Steve gave her hand a kiss and then stood. Diana nodded, at once the music began and they began swaying.

Both of them had only eyes for each other, the world disappeared for a moment. And they danced until late the evening, changing partners here and there, accepting well wishes and congratulations. But they always came back to one another.

***

It had been two weeks since the formal announcement, Diana was the happiest she’d ever been. The prospect of marriage didn’t scare her anymore, she knew that she had a good partner in Steve and there was nothing to be afraid.

One night after dinner, Steve asked her to walk with him in the gardens. Steve directed her to their favorite fountain, there, he stood and looked at Diana with such tenderness, that she found herself blinking back tears.

“Diana,” Steve began. “I know we had to be the circus monkeys, but,” he reached into his pocket and pulled another ring and went to his knee. “Would you make me the honor of marrying me?”

Diana beamed, “Of course!” The ring, Diana noticed was one that spelled ‘Beloved’ with colored jewels set in yellow gold. This time, she offered her right hand and Steve slid the ring.

Steve rose and all but lifted her off the ground. “I am the happiest man alive!”

Diana laughed freely, holding onto him. “As am I! I feared the worst when mother announced that I would wed, only to find that it was to be you!”

Steve gave her a cheeky grin, “And you can’t take it back.” Diana laughed again. “Wouldn’t dream of it. I love you,” she said and cupped his face with her hands. “I would have no other.”

“I would have no other myself.” Steve’s intensity took her breath away. “Our story starts now Diana, from now on.”

Diana nodded and kissed him. Steve returned the kiss eagerly, his lips gliding with hers in perfect synchrony. She deepened their kiss, their tongues fought for dominance, warm and wet against the other, teeth clashing. They only parted when they ran out of breath.

“From now on,” Steve said.

“From now on,” Diana agreed, breathlessly.

#wondertrevbingo2020 #wondertrev #Diana x Steve #Diana Prince #steve trevor #diana & hippolyta #queen hippolyta #wonder woman fic #au: royalty

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blues-fandom-bullshit · 4 years

Text

Prologue

Posted 5/25/2020

This is the opening to Ancif.

Under cut due to length.

You had only recently bought a house -more of a small Victorian style manor- in the deep forest, a couple miles off from the thin suburbs, just under a high cliff that was just under a quarter mile high. You had your own reasons for moving so far out; mental issues, family, an ex, health, or just liking the charm the house had.

Even though it was a good hundred or so years old, it had been lightly renovated, no water damage, excellent electrical wiring, no breaks in the interior or exterior, and was just great overall. And, to make sure you didn’t waste hundreds of thousands o n bills, the water supply was from fresh water lakes and rain, electric and heat was solar powered, and was overall self sustained.

Not to mention the area surrounding. Just a couple hundred yards away was a rather large deep tropical water lake that once connected to the ocean a century ago, which held a vast ecosystem and half the forest was the manors property, so you could fish at the lake, plant food, take down trees, build structures, and do whatever you wanted.

Of course, that didn’t mean you would never have to go into town. You still had to go into town for groceries, work, or for buying things for your house and other non-essential bills.

As these passing thoughts went through and out of your mind, you turned the corner as you drove the large U-Haul towards the obscured residence, the waning gibbous moon shining light onto the narrow dirt road narrowly escaping being concealed by the branches and leaves of the mid spring trees.

As you drove at a low speed, you caught glimpses of different animals around. Was.. Was that a wolf? A.. rather.. large one at that? No! Of course not.. You’re mind must be hallucinating due to lack of sleep from prepping to move, loading your things in alone, and it being rather late -quarter passed two.

Finally, after a minute or two, the house took shape in front of you in the clearing.

As you parked the U-Haul and stepped out, you were greeted by a.. large red fox with black markings sitting on the steps that lead to your front porch.

For some reasons, you didn’t feel fear when seeing the canine, and they didn't seem to mind you, even tilting their head at you curiously.

“Hey there,” You greeted softly, crouching to the ground and stretching out your hand with the palm up as they backed away some but did not flee. “Aren’t you gorgeous. Beautiful patterns and a magnificent coat.” You muttered softly to yourself.

This brought the fox in, stepping over to you hesitantly, and then sniffing your hand, which was then that you saw two things. One being they had a duo of scars on their and the second being a glimmer from under their lips, which drew a surprised gasp to leave you, making the fox jump back.

“Oh, you poor thing..” You muttered, gently drawing them closer.

The small fox seemed to have calmed, gently setting their chin onto your hand as you brought the other up to pet them gently, your soft gaze connected with their -now- relaxed gaze, soon gently caressing their ear as your thumb came close to the top of their scar, before a loud call of a bird broke the serenity and the fox's’ head shot up and they quickly disappeared into the forest, but not before a large bird-like shadow crossed over the ground in the moonlight, making you look up in confusion.

Shaking your head some to clear your groggy mind, you stood and headed for the door, a key in hand to unlock the house. As you inserted the key, you heard a creaking from above on the roof, turning around some with furrowed brows.

Probably just a bird. After all, the call you heard told you so.

As the door clicked open, you stepped inside, having to give yourself a moment to cough from the accumulated dust from the house having not been used in quite a bit.

As your eyes adjusted to the dark, you couldn’t help but be a bit surprised upon seeing some cloth covered furniture already here -none of which was yours.

“Huh,” You muttered in a small laugh. “Someone gift these to me or are they haunted had the previous owners didn't want any spirits coming with them?”

With a light smile, you went to the wall to switch on the light, only to near shriek as you felt a mass of fur brush against your leg out of no where.

Quickly flipping on the light and whipping your head around to stare at the floor, you felt your suddenly high nerves calming as you saw a one eyed black puff ball of a cat.

“Aw, hey there sweetie.” You greeted, crouching down to be level with the cat, holding out your hand for them to sniff, resulting in the cat taking a small whiff before nuzzling the backs of your fingers.

“Aren’t you just a darling?” You cooed softly, gently petting the cats head, before your eyes caught on a reflective glimmer from the tree line a few yards away from you porch.

Standing, you then grabbed your keys for some sort of weapon and walked out onto the porch.

“Hello?” You called out loud enough to be heard, but not enough to disturb the sleeping ecosystem. “Is this your cat? I didn’t know. I just moved into this house.” You explained to the night, waiting a few seconds before a light smile cracked your lips. “Maybe leaving the city was good for me.. I’m pretty much talking to myself, aren’t I Little Kage?” You whispered, crouching down to the cat once again, petting them once again, before both your heads shot up at the sound of quiet hissing.

They, however, seemed to calm and instead take interest in the looped chain of the house key held loosely in your hand.

“Oh? Like the key, do you?” You asked with a light laugh, slowly turning your attenuation to the cat once again. “Beautifully crafted, isn’t it? I heard it’s made from steel and a hint of brass and titanium. You’ve a nice taste.” You commented, tilting your wrist down so the key caught and glimmer in the moonlight. However, before you can react, the cat was running off into the forest, your hand suddenly bare from the metal shape.

Looking down at your empty hand, then your gaze going up to follow the mischievous glint in the cats eyes as they glanced over their shoulder with your key hung from their mouth, before leaping off into the forest.

“H-Hey! I need that! Get back you thief!” You yelled, getting up and sprinting off after the reason black cats can be called bad luck.

After a good ten minutes of running and effectively loosing the cat, your body decided it needed a break and bent over, panting heavily as you felt nauseous from all the running.

Your gaze, however, shot up when you heard a lot of rustling from a bush a few yards in front of you. This wasn’t what put under a terrified freeze. The sight of ruby red eyes stared back into yours, a few inches taller than what you would be standing up.

The piercing red had you pinned in place as the orbs seemed to have a mist surrounding them. The way they seemed to radiate anger, danger, and.. hunger finally made your body move with a fearful shudder.

You immediately took off once again, a new rush of adrenaline filling you and pushing aside the feeling of sick.

Behind you, you could hear whatever that was chasing you, gaining quickly at inhuman speed.

Soon, however, you tripped over an uprooted tree root, falling and rolling down a slope. After gathering yourself, you sat up, only to have three pairs of glowing eyes of three large shadowed figures staring down at you.

One was a dark orange speckled with blurs of yellow and brown which held some concern, one a light wine red which had irritation, and the last had a large red one with a tiny flickering second and held a desperate hunger. All of them, however, had shock in their gazes, as if you had stumbled in on a secret meeting that wasn’t supposed to be known about.

It was then that your ears heard the deep hissing above you from where you fell. The glowing red eyes stared down at you with seemingly hatred.

This was all you needed to clamber up and to run once again, pushing passed the full pair of red and orange eyes, and bolt once again.

There was no way you could fight whatever these were. Were these the forest spirits that teens had talked about after they came out traumatized and scared, wide eyed and once the bad kid now turned silent?

Ether way, you had to get out of the forest and back to your place. Screw that cat! If it wasn’t for them, you wouldn’t have to be chased down by angry creatures that seemed to want to kill you!

It wasn’t only then that you realized you were going up hill. The only hill around was the cliff that overlooked the forest on all sides except the one you were scaling. However, it was way too late to turn back now as it seemed the red eyed hissing spirit had been swapped for the flickering eye spirit, deep growling and panting coming from them as their gaze stayed locked on you, freezing you to the core with cold terror.

It wasn’t very long until you were shoved to the ground with the massive snarling spirit above you, finally being able to see their face.

They were a rather masculine skeleton with a large build, huge sharp canines or teeth in general, and a broken skull. He also had a single torn blood red wolf ear. But what surprised you the most was the desperate look as he suddenly buried his face against your neck and took a deep, shuddering breath, seeming to visibly relax... Before suddenly getting thrown off of you.

Towering over you now stood a shorter, leaner skeleton with an agitated look. “You fucking idiot!” The skeleton shrieked, his attention completely on the other who he’d pushed off of you. The idiot was on his lower arms and knees, seeming in a trace as he stared wide eyed at the ground, saliva dripping from his jaws as his gaze slowly lifted to you.

Your gaze, however, was on the newer skeleton. He had a dark brown colored feather wings from his wrists to his lower back, also having a slight beak-like jaw that came out some and had a gold-like tint. He seemed to have a light orange-red shoulder feather.

Your attention was soon snapped from him as a tall and lanky skeleton gently tugged you up. “Human? Are you alright?” He asked in concern, but you recognized the rust-like magic color. He was the one who towered above you along side the flicker magic skeleton after you fell getting chased by the first spirit -who you could guess was also a skeleton.

Rusty helped you stand as Feathers tried to keep Flickers attention off of you, which seemed impossible as he stared right through the smaller skeleton and straight at you with desperation, need, hunger, and fear.

It only took a second, before both Feathers and Rust were pushed down and Flicker was after you once again.

You bolted once again, like a scared rabbit. Little did you know you were headed for the three-way cliff.

A yell from Flicker was all it took for you to loose focus and take a run off the cliff.

Was this how you died?

Trying to settle alone? Getting hunted by monster forest spirits?

As some tears filled you eyes as you braced yourself for the ground which was hundreds of feet away, the world jolted as wind -instead of coming from below- gently whispered passed your face as a deep voice grumbled curses.

After all the excitement, a small glance up at a grey-white face with blue eyes was all it took before your mind went black, as did your sight as consciousness slipped your mind.

The sun gently filtered through the windows and onto you through the fluttering blankets that replaced curtain.

As you sat up, you winced as you held your side.

Looking down after lifting your shirt, you saw a large bruise.

It was then you saw the bottle of water and pill bottle beside it, rested by a folded note with.. animal parts surrounding it?

You wondered what each of these could be used for, before a headache hit you and you quickly downed the pills and started to read.

‘Dear new owner, I’m sorry for all the excitement last night. Some of us were excited to meet you, others upset at your arrival. Try to be more careful when entering the forest. Some parts are off limits. Don’t bother trying to tell anyone about what happened. No one would believe you. -Mono’ This part unnerved you, despite the carefully placed and neat writing, but the small round deep blue stone lined with black and white veins held a sense of security.

‘Hello human! I am excited to meet you, but glad the others had got to do so! Don’t be afraid to ever find me! -Talie’ This writing was slim, but sort of bold, bigger than the previous one. Despite the short pair of lines, a small smile was brought to your lips. This was paired with a small cream colored shell, the cream paired with a soft brown speckled with red and sandy yellow.

‘Greetings human! I hope we can meet in person soon! You are a rather magnificent being! Very, very pretty! -Invei’ Despite the handwriting that was a bit shaky and curved, this made you on edge. Who was this? Who had seen you enough to analyze your face? Despite this, a soft blue pearl was in duo with this part.

‘Hey human. Hows your knee? You fell pretty hard last night. Careful when you come into the trees. Call my name when you hold a clover. I’ll guide you safely for whatever you want up until you leave. -Al’ The loosely drawn letters with such an uneven pattern gave you a bit more ease than the actual words. A unlike all the other writings, this held no gift.

‘Human, I apologize for chasing you last night. I simply didn’t like you naming my cat nor touching him. However, you moved into the house he was staying, so it wa-’ At this point you lost interest in this part as it irritated you. You did however, look at the name ‘-Viper’ Paired with Vipers note was your house key!

‘What’s up human? Ya like the dirt do much you fell for it? That’s not alright y’know. Rather filthy, dirty even. -Domni’ Your nose wrinkled some from the jokes as a small sigh left your mouth. A red scale was settled next to this section.

‘How stupid can you get?! Why would you ever go into the woods known for traumatization, disappearances, and death?! Humans are still stupid after all this time? Next time don’t go jumping off cliffs! You’re lucky Mono had been there to save your ass! -Centri’ Not gonna lie, Centri sounded like a dick, but it was better than him not caring, you guessed. He had a feather with his note, starting with black and fading to the rusty red coloring half way to the tip.

‘Are you alright human? Ren hit you hard. Are you hurt? Good. Maybe you’ll learn to stay away from my brothers nesting peak! He’s the only reason you aren’t torn apart and eaten! But’ a spacing. Hesitation, maybe? ‘try to be more careful. Thank you for being kind to me. -Relia’ There was a tuft of black and red fur with this. Odd.. reminds you of the large fox you’d encountered.

‘Hello new friend! I am writing on the behalf of my brother. He wants to apologize for the actions he undertook last night. He was rather hungry last night and the others have constantly moved prey out of our land so you can surely understand what happened lest night. I can’t wait to meet you! In fact, let’s meet tomorrow! -Inten + Ren’ Duo with this font was a co-dominant red and white rose head with a small fluffy black feather curled around the side.

With a slight smile, you placed these objects onto the table in a display and sat down for a bit longer, before deciding to get up and start cleaning the house and move things inside.

#ancif #anciftale #ancifswap #anciffell #ancifswapfellr #ancifswapfell #horrorancif #undertale #au #undertaleAU #mono #talie #envei #taif #domni #viper #centri #reali #ren #inten #sfw

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the-gunslock · 4 years

Text

Amanda 3 - Hammer

Third canon-deviant fic about Amanda Holliday and her journey to being greater, from a mini-series of four.

"This one would be pret-tyyy cool…"

The burnt-blonde Shipwright scrolls through the 'Collections' of Exotics Guardians found in their journeys, analyzing their perks as she patiently waits to be called inside the most envied library in the City.

For some seconds, her emerald eyes fall on a pair of knightly silver Gauntlets that could be what she looks for. She ‘hmm’s to herself for a second, trying on some shaders, and nods in approval.

"Amanda, let's go."

Her head moves to pay attention to the Warlock that has just arrived at her usual spot at the Bazaar, greeting her with a nod as she stows her tablet away and is transmatted into the library. She makes a mental note of the name ‘Stronghold’. Shaxx would probably appreciate her dedication to swordplay.

Other pieces like Fr0st-EE5 and Transversive Steps, which do not require Light usage, would also benefit her while she fought. Good to know, good to know. So many loopholes to be exploited.

Ikora Rey had devoted the day to silent studying and rewriting of her books, still not completely updated after the Traveler’s awakening in recent times. In order to focus better, she does most of it quietly and alone in the library, save for the Hidden that appear to report to her on occasion. Today was an exception, for she allowed the Tower’s Shipwright to keep her company under the pretension that she wanted to learn, and there was no better teacher for that than Ikora.

Ikora’s library has dim, yellow lighting and a rustic aesthetic, with bookshelves and flooring made of dark wood covered with blue and white tapestry. The overall layout of the place was circular, the center having her desk and simple chairs and couches disposed about.

"So, Amanda." Ikora begins, making herself comfortable at the table and suggesting Amanda to do the same, across from her. "What do you seek?"

Amanda quietly taps her fingertips at the table, fidgeting as she tries to formulate a good reason.

"I wanna learn how to… to fight. Like y'all Guardians do."

Ikora doesn’t turn her head, but smiles.

“Is that so?”

“Uh… yeah?”

Ikora gives a chuckle as she finishes rewriting a page.

“I think not.”

“...Why not?”

Not faltering, Ikora turns her head to face her friend as she hovers her hand above the book. “Because if you wanted to learn how to fight, you would have asked Zavala. And, if the words I received are true... you already did.”

Amanda doesn’t have an answer to that, only looking at the desk and pressing her lips together, the inquietude only building up. She observes Ikora using an emanation of Solar heat to dry the ink on the pages.

“Ikora, I… want to be a Guardian. I thought I could ask you to teach me how to think like one.”

As the Warlock turns to the book again, she turns a page and looks at a previous version of the book, also spread open on another part of the table, for reference. “Okay. And why aren’t you?”

She is caught off-guard by this question. She struggles to let out her answer, and the next sentence comes out a bit more condescending than she’d hoped.

“Because I’m not a Lightbearer?” Amanda replies as if it was something obvious.

“During the Red War, we weren’t either.” Ikora says as she starts writing once more. “And I went through the same dilemma. I was lost. I looked to the ashes emanating from the City, and vowed… never again. And since I had nowhere left to go, I found myself on Io, in search for answers. As time passes me by, I realized I was left without answers, without Light, without my team... without anything to hold on to.”

“And then?”

“A Guardian found me. One of those who had made the pilgrimage to the Shard of the Traveler and recovered their Light. They could have refused, but they didn’t. They could have quit the fight, but even if they knew they were going to die, they didn’t. And their very presence reminded me that, while the terms are, indeed, very associable to the outside observer, they are not the same.”

The Shipwright listens intently as Ikora recounts her tale. There were many angles to this. Most, she didn’t consider. Multiple viewpoints are a virtue Guardians must possess.

“It took me some introspection and some... unprecedented incidents, for me to believe that I am more than just my Light, and in being greater than the Light, protecting it and the people who live through its influence is what made me who I am. So, as long as you strive to perfect yourself, you’ll always be one."

Ikora eyes her friend without turning her head this time. Her eyes are amiable, as fierce as they looked.

"A Guardian, Lightbearer or not... is always a Guardian.”

The Warlock delivered each part of that sentence in a very light, but thorough manner, a way that Amanda didn’t even think was possible. It was a nail she still had to hammer, that Guardians are more than just their Light.

During the Red War, Amanda had argued with Zavala after the Traveler was imprisoned and the Light lost. “There are thousands of people like me stranded down there in the City", she had said; “We're all the same now, Holliday. The Light is gone.” She was too angry to realize at the time, but looking back, she realizes she had taken the Guardianship for granted.

While she still didn’t like having to obey Zavala and leave citizens to die, it was paying off, in a way. Everything they did, they did for mankind. And it was beginning to thrive again, the best they could. She could feel it, even if her mission was far from over and new threats were still bound to come.

With a deep breath, she promises to face them gladly.

"Thank you, Ikora." The Shipwright says, eliciting a smile and a deep nod from the Vanguard that was still focused on writing the page.

Amanda pulls out her sketchbook and starts drawing over a sketch of herself. But before she continues, she has an idea for the final part of the 'secret-unnamed-project'.

"Can I, ah, look around for a book?”

“Do you need help with anything?”

“Yeah, actually. Wanna know where the name ‘Leviathan’ comes from.”

Ikora pulls up her own tablet, doing a query search for the word on the archive. It narrows down to multiple editions of a religious book from the old world, called ‘Bible’. Taking a break from writing, she hovers over to a particular section of the library, taking an intricate, gold-foil crafted book, meticulously turning its pages to where the query told her. “Job 41:1–34”, it said. She floats back to Amanda, laying the open book in front of her, before going back to her own seat.

She devours the verses, at first barely making heads or tails of what was on the pages. 'Why'd people back in the day write so weird?' She thought to herself. But eventually she managed to understand what it was about, and suddenly the name of Calus' ship made much more sense.

"Did you gather something new, my friend?"

Amanda recaps in her mind, making sure to try not to miss anything.

"Right, so- uh...” Amanda begins to explain her thoughts, trying not to let anything pass her by. “There was this man named Job, whose faith in this god couldn't be waived. In this part, the god is tryna teach Job how questioning a powerful being is futile by presenting him beasts so powerful that only he can control, one a them being a sea monster called, you guessed it, the Leviathan."

"How awfully appropriate."

"Yep. Apparently there were two beasts, a sea one, and a... land one."

Realization came into Amanda's mind as a name for her project finally snuck through her hands and into the paper.

"Reminds me of the World Serpent..." She adds nonchalantly, having doing some reading on the Edda in her free time back at Hiver’s place.

Ikora finally perks up from her book, stretching her writing hand. "You've been doing some homework."

"Hard not to, when you date a Warlock."

"And you are going to tell them about this… when?"

The one question Amanda dreaded, and it shows. Her 'Lightless Guardian' idea was nothing short of life-threatening, it's amazing she's got this far without being stopped.

Amanda had survived her whole life on the road, fighting off Fallen and hiding with hers and other families, but she would never, ever get rid of the pain of losing them. She survived and is happier than she's ever been, even if it's not a perfect life. Now, she was Hiver's family, and cannot bear the image of her lover having to go through the same — because of her own incompetence, nonetheless.

There was no telling how Hiver would react, the woman is already being a pile of anxieties, but of one thing she was sure.

It wouldn't be pretty.

“I don’t... know.“

"I can help if you'd like. But remember that this is your responsibility — and your burden."

She nods with a nervous face and gives a deep sigh.

“I’ll think of something. Can you take me back to the Tower?”

“Yes. And Amanda?”

“Yes?”

“Congratulations on finding love. Hold on to it. It is powerful.”

As nervous as she is, she nods smiling.

“Ophiuchus?” Ikora says to no one. Her Ghost, white and red and with spiking protrusions on the back of his shell, appears in the air next to her shoulder.

“One second.” He replies, spinning.

With a flash, Amanda is back at the Tower’s bazaar. Eyeing the drawing she has just finished, she runs to the Courtyard, in search of a person who could help her make it look much better.

Trying to ignore the built-up tension, she runs.

The Awoken woman stationed at the Tower Courtyard is, as usual, cleaning up dust and reorganizing her inventory, because it’s not home yet, but it would be. Then she hears a familiar voice calling to her.

“Tess!”

“Oh! Hello, Amanda. What can I do for you today?” Tess greets the Shipwright, assuming her usual hands-behind-back posture and giving her usual, welcoming smile.

“See, I got a lil’ project o’ my own, and wanted an expert’s opinion on how ta make it look the sharpest it can.”

Amanda presents the sketchbook with her sketch to Tess, who analyzes it meticulously.

It’s a suit of armor. Titan armor, to be more precise.

“Gothic knight inspiration… baroque decor… exquisite. Practical, but carries a lot of elegance. This looks incredible. Also, you draw extraordinarily well.”

“Thank you,” The Shipwright says, blushing. “But it lacks color. What would ya say works?”

“Excuse me.“

Tess takes the notebook into what appears to be a scanner, converting Amanda’s drawing into a digital projection that can easily be colored, and bringing it to the desk where they both could see it.

“Right, in my opinion the ornaments and trim should definitely be gold.” She says, quickly selecting the decorative parts of the plates and changing their colors to a light golden color. “The style reminds me of Gjallarhorn and the old Iron Lords’ armor. Maybe we can make it a bit more orange…”

“Would black fit with it, maybe?”

She changes the main plate colors to black. Tess and Amanda look at each other in disapproval.

“How about…” Tess changes the color to a deep blue.

“Can you try dark gray?” Amanda asks, and Tess obeys. However, it still seems to not fit, and they experiment with a midpoint between blue and gray.

“What do you think?”

“I like it.”

“Me too.”

Amanda scratches her nose, taking some time to think. The girls mix and match palettes for a while until finding one that fits the armor well.

Dark gray plates with crimson details, gold ornaments, and a white, gold-trimmed mark.

“Whew… Thank you, Tess. Anything I can do to repay ya?”

“The pleasure is mine. Although if you have some Silver on you…” Tess says, smiling smugly. “Just kidding.”

“My girlfriend does. She’ll probably come by again, she wants that duster you’re selling. Says she wants to look like a cowgirl.”

Tess laughs at this, eliciting a grin from Amanda, who picks her sketchbook and transfers the colored illustration file from the Awoken vendor to her own tablet, almost walking off and ready to send it to Crux/Lomar for forging.

“Oh, Amanda.”

“Yeah?” She turns back to face Tess.

“Does it have a name?” She asks in genuine curiosity.

Amanda smiles contagiously in pride, remembering what she read from the Bible in Ikora’s library. She had the perfect name for her project, given what was going down on the System — and how she’d fight it, if need be.

“The Behemoth.”

#destiny 2 #destiny fic #amanda holliday #hiver the gunslock #ikora rey #oc x canon

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