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upsidedior · 7 months

Text

Reunion

Paper. Paperwork EVERYWHERE.

He hadn't been back in his office for more than a day for a break when he got the call he was needed to come back urgently to sign off on new recruits. The tall male Shaelek sat in the office chair staring at the names on the list of newest cadets most foreign to him but a few sounded familiar. There were old names of families who answered the call to serve and some new, new species and yet for a moment the older Shaelek had to pause... Never in his life would he think he'd be back working in the Federation military authorizing the recruits sign ons. Things were different now; he was older had a more established career, gave lectures about Earth studies and his time on the planet, even got to personally toss Hamsterviel into a high security prison! The most satisfying day of his life... It had been a few years since his time on earth. Actually it had been over a decade if he calculated right.

Gantu, now Admiral of the Galactic Federation Armada, sat behind the floating desk with a heavy sigh, signing away each and every cadets' life to be brought aboard and serve within the military. Funny, he never imagined he'd survive this long in his military career to be the one signing paperwork. He always thought he was too reckless and would probably go out in a dogfight. Go out with a big bang, not become his old commander refered to as "ye ol war vet." Name after name, he assigned each and every one to various positions and stations, and as he went down the list, Gantu caught a name which was different than the others....

".....Cadet #626.... Lilo Pelekani...."

It took him a few minutes to make any connection. Li...lo... Lilo.... Lilo.... Why did that name ring a bell? Gantu paused saying the name out loud, "Lilo..." His blue eyes searching for the holoscreen button to activate. Blitznak it, he'd activate it the other way. "Computer, activate holoscreen. Search database of a ...Lilo Pelekani..." In a whirl of noises the information downloaded and the projection appeared in front of him. The screen appeared on top of the floating desk, levitating before him and the image of an earth female made him do a double take.

She was older. Her feminine features soft as her body had grown filling out her curves custom to earth females. Her picture shown a bright dazzling smile; The same big brown eyes, her black hair was longer same dark skin he remembered from her youth as the image of the little earth child who used to call him a "big dummy" stares back at him. SHE WAS OLDER?!?! BLITZNAK HOW OLD DID HE BECOME!?!? Gantu dropped the pen as the synapses made the connection.

COSMIC BLITZNAKING DAMNIT!!! IS SHE IN THE FEDERATION BUILDING!?!?

He was standing now the chair almost toppling behind him, "Locate cadet 626!" He should've known she would be associated with that number! The computer produced a list of scheduled times for courses, his hand already dialing the line to the Galley to reach its Chief of staff. "Location: main Galley." The computer voiced it's answer as Gantu made a sprint run darting out of his office. She was in the main cafeteria galley, he almost broke into a run redialing the comlink to his Chief of Staff Galley Officer Reuben over and over again until he heard the ormer experiment's voice on the other end.

"What's the emer---"

"Meet me outside the galley NOW!"

He was passing through hallways following the routes through the massive buildings to get to the main Galley. He finally got the outside of the food court where he met the little beige alien standing before the doors. Reuben, formally known as 625, was standing in his uniform with a bewildered expression on his face, his tiny hand pointing in a direction towards a figure sitting in the galley. She was human, her long black hair down against her back wearing the standard female federation uniform of grey top and skirt with the Turo mark on the belt. She was sitting alone at a table with a hot drink in her hands. If he could read her right, her heart rate was calm, but there was a nervousness about her. She looked around unsure of the surroundings... and Gantu couldn't help but empathize with that. Her gaze was back at her mug taking a drink. It was then Reuben peered up at him as Gantu took one more look at the woman.

"....is that...?" All Gantu could do was nod and took a deep breath. "Feel old yet, fishlegs?"

".... ancient. You?" He felt the chuckle escape himself as Reuben looked back at the woman seated some distance away in the Galley, replying,

"At least I don't look it."

The woman who called him the "Big Dummy" sat in silence as the throng of aliens bustled about, some stopping to stare at her and others rushing past not passing a blitz where she was there or not. Gantu felt his blood pressure rise with every alien passing the earthling a nasty look, Reuben was already pestering him to walk over there and reconnect. But.... maybe.... Later would be bes---

He caught her heart rhythm jumping to a fast pace.

A group of males had suddenly descended upon the table, Lilo seemed surprised her big brown eyes peering up at all of them surround her. The males, some bigger others smaller, hunched around her like predators scouting out their prey, one touching her hair, the others kissing the woman's hand as they introduced themselves. One male alien happened to be too closely eyeing up her leg for Gantu's taste. Oh Blitznak... He knew where this was heading... Damn kids thinking with the wrong head!

It was that moment Lilo had stared to look around the table and around at the other aliens like she was internally screaming for help. And their gazes connected. Gantu caught the wave of emotions in the little earthling's brown eyes: panic to shock to sudden relief.... It was all the signal he needed And Gantu pushed the doors open each one banged against the walls. The galley hall went silent. Thousands of aliens, from all ranks, stood straight saluting the Admiral as he entered inside the Galley. "At ease," his voice commanded as the thousands of aliens waited for orders. The Shaelek made a line for the table where Lilo sat still surrounded by the young dumb and full of.... Spunk men, each cadet staring wide eyed as he approached. The boys standing taller and giving the salute.

"Cadet 626, I have been looking for you. You are to report to my office this instant. You, gentleman, have delayed the Cadet for her meeting," Gantu lowered his gaze to the tallest alien's eye level. "Drop. And give me 50. Now."

A ringing SIR, YES SIR! rang through the Galley as all the boys harassing Lilo dropped to the ground and started their push ups. She was staring up at him with her big brown eyes, standing to follow after him as Gantu caught another younger Shaelek walking over to stand before him, "Shall we demand 100, Admiral?" This caused him to chuckle,

"Whatever you see fit, Captain."

And he turned around making his way out the Galley, Lilo trailing behind him to catch up.

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They hadn't said a word still. Well he hadn't, 625 well Reuben, had PLENTY to say as he walked side by side with the little earthling he called Tyke. As all three of them walked the long distance to his office, Reuben talked about their previous missions, how he introduced sandwiches into the federation, Gantu's promotion to Admiral of all of the Galactic Federation Armada, and of course all the gossip which made Gantus roll his eyes. They reached his office, finally, Gantu held the door open until both of them were inside taking seats from across the floating desk. Lilo's image still up on the holoscreen, the Shaelek was still silent as he sat from across the earthling and his galley officer. His blue eyes searched for the keypad, typing a code onto the desk and a lock hissed from the right side of his desk. He reached for the contents within the drawer, pulling out a large glass bottle with a very worn out label. It appeared to have never been opened.

"I had been... saving this for a very long time." Gantu placed the bottle upon the desk, his eyes scanning the earthling who clung to his every word. Her bright brown eyes seemed to take him in, all of him, Reuben, the whole office...

"... I can't believe you found me..." Her voice sounded... Young but mature alot like her older sister's.

"I can't believe you're here!" Came the voice of 625, he was bursting in his seat. "What brought you here?! When did you enlist?! Where's 626? Which floor is your room!? I can't wait to bunk with ya!"

"Reuben!" Gantu's voice rose to ring in the little genetic mutant as both of them stared at the little earth girl. "Let the earth girl breathe, and I'm sure she'll answer us." It was then Lilo Pelekani sat upright in her chair and crossed her legs.

"Thank you, Admiral, but I'm not a little girl anymore..." Was her heart racing slightly? Embarrassment came over him,

"My apologies, earth woman." How could he have made that blunder? "I guess it's been so long since we've crossed paths I still see you as that little child running around, chasing after dangerous experiments." Lilo's brown eyes blinked rapidly as she gazed up at him.

"I've missed seeing you guys, sandwich boi and big dummy. " She was giggling, Lilo's hands placed within her lap. "I'm just so relieved you're here." Gantu leaned forward on the desk hearing the old nickname, an almost playful scowl crossed his face. She was smiling back at him.

"Still a child I see, huh little tyke?"

"Are they calling you Admiral Blowhard yet?"

"Not yet, primitive earth punk. Still taking in suggestions."

"Captain Catfish?"

"That's Admiral Blowhard Catfish to you, and don't forget it, you little pain in the ass."

There was a silence between them before all three beings within his office burst out laughing. Blitznak, how long had it been since he belly ached laughed like all this? Gantu had his face against his desk laughing before pulling himself back to sit properly in his chair; Reuben was sideways his arm on Lilo and she slumped back still laughing as she wiped her eyes. Blitznak it was good to laugh.

Lilo collected herself, sitting up in her seat drying her eyes. "I was never a pain in the ass! That was Stitch!" Gantu did a quick wipe of his eye before grabbing unopened bottle on his desk, he was actually smiling as memories filled his mind of those years stuck on the mudball. He twisted the cap open letting the grain alcohol breathe.

"You were lucky you were a cute kid. Naming all those experiments like pets, always calling me names, foiling my plans to catch said experiments, and my absolute favorite..." Gantu was pouring the alcohol into three separate glasses, two small one large for himself, as he placed the drinks in front of the others. "...breaking my karaoke machine."

"I swear I never did that!" Lilo protested as she took the glass 625 handed to her, the three beings clinking each other's drinks.

"Don't care, little earth punk, you still owe me one. Drink, that's an order." And down the hatch the golden grain alcohol went. It burned the back of his throat. Whooo blitznak, that was strong!

"Now tell me, Cadet, why are you here?" Lilo began to fill in all details of her life since Gantu and Reuben went back into space.... blitz had time passed quickly.

"How is your sister? She ever marry that other human male who used to follow her around like a lost pup?" Gantu asked sitting back in the office chair, an almost knowing smile spread across his lips. "She had to have. The guy was practically part of your Ohana?" He noticed Lilo smile brightly.

"They did, I'm actually an auntie to 3 little kiddos!" Reuben almost jumped from his seat.

"Seriously! 3 little ones? You hear that, Gantu? I can pass my sandwich recipes down finally!"

"Please," Gantu himself was now leaning over the desk looking right at Lilo, "Please tell me if those kids are giving 626 a run for his money."

"Between time with me and Stitch, and uncle Jumba and aunt Pleakley, everyone is normally too tired to do anything, honestly." Lilo fixed her bangs and took another sip of the drink, "Oh yeah, all the kids chase Stitch day in and day out. He's back on Kauai helping while I'm up here for basic." Gantu leaned back lifting his drink to the ceiling,

"Paybacks a bitch, trog." He chuckled downing the last of the drink.

"What about yourself? Are you with anyone? And younglings?" The beige experiment clapped hoping for more little ones to pass things down to. Gantu noticed a slight flush of rose around the earthling's nose and cheeks, she looked almost mortified at being asked.

"No! No, no I'm not--nope! No kids from me.... Yet...." Lilo answered quickly. The Shaelek reached for the bottle quickly refilling the young woman's glass, delicately he poured a generous amount.

"Reuben asks the most invasive questions, doesn't he?" Lilo was almost downing it to which Gantu barked a laughed. "Easy there, Cadet, save some for the next wave of embarrassment."

"So my cuz isn't up here with you?" Reuben asked her his eyes scanning Lilo over. Even Gantu raised an eyebrow at that.

"Yeah," Lilo was sitting back against the seat her brown eyes cast down at the drink in her hand. He could hear her heartbeats quickening again, an almost sullen emotion emanating from her. "He stayed behind to help with the Ohana, the kids would be heartbroken with out him there... And you know, we keep the other experiments in line..." She glanced at Reuben for a moment. "Guess I'm alone up here."

"No you're not." It was instant. The moment the woman spoke, it was as if she was that little earth girl sitting in the seat before him. He could see the scared little child within her and something pulled at him. Gantu leaned forward and typed a few codes into the keyscreen. Certain images of Cadet 626 flashed upon the holoscreen, check marks turned from red to green, and with a few more key stokes Lilo's image had disappeared from under a rather stern looking lieutenant of a canine alien species to another screen popping up, one where Gantu's own image was placed on top.

"Well would you look at that? I filled that personal assistant position that's been vacant for years." The Shaelek placed both arms on the desk, his blue eyes studying Lilo as she took in all the information before her. "Personal assistants follow high ranking officers at all times, including missions. Unless deemed too dangerous. And they pay well too." He gave her a wink to which Lilo brought her hands to her mouth, a small smile began to spread. "Oh, and when you're not by my side, you are to be with Reuben. Blitznak knows he won't leave your alone..."

"You got that right, tyke! We have so much gossip to discuss!" The beige experiment placed his hand on the little earth girl... woman's arm, gently rubbing it. "You're not alone anymore, were technically Ohana anyway!" Lilo was wrapping her arms around Reuben holding onto him tightly, her watery brown eyes peering up back at Gantu... Ah blitznak, earthling ocular orbs were weapons by themselves!

"How can I ever thank you?" He heard Lilo ask him as she wiped her own eyes on her sleeve. Gantu paused for a moment feeling a smirk spread across his face.

"Replace the karaoke machine." He felt the laugh escape him as he stood carrying himself around the floating office desk, his position now in front of the earth woman hugging onto Reuben for dear life. "I'm kidding, you don't have to do that! But I only ask you follow one rule; you are to never put yourself in danger. Am I clear, Cadet?"

"Yes, Admiral,"

"I mean it, Lilo." His voice was stern as he pointed a finger at her. "When you are not at my side working, you are to be with Reuben. I don't want you alone at any time. You're the first Human to be here, and with that comes a certain amount of.... Unwanted attention." His backside was leaning against the desk both hands now planted on the top. He could see her shift uncomfortably in her seat, the memory of the jarheads in the Galley fresh in her mind. "If the boys get too rowdy, just holler and let them know old Gantu will rip their throats out... Or girls whatever you're into." It was the soft smile and wet eyes that did him in, as Lilo stood with her arms outstretched.

"No. No! I don't do-- Ah blitznak..." She was already hugging his leg tightly. Damn blitznaking kids making him go soft! Gantu leaned over his large hand patting her gently. "You'll be alright, kiddo, I promise."

"We gotta do sandwiches tonight! What will it be?! Ham? Turkey? Bologna? Classic PBJ? You name it, and old Reuben will make it!" The little earth woman's attention to his galley officer, both expressing excitement about the endless possibilities of sandwiches (...great....), The Shaelek paused to note how seemingly right it felt for Lilo to be here. He could see it... One day she would be sitting on the council or captain of her own ship... Blitznak, he could even see her wearing the same uniform as he one day, Admiral of the Galactic Armada, commanding the entire fleet... She was meant to be up here among the stars...

A ping notification went off on his wrist com, his blue eyes took note to the name across the screen. He let the visitor access clearance to walk in. With a slight hiss of the door opening, the visitor walked in his vision glued to the clipboard in his hands. He was a tall Shaelek, deep shade of purple with a lighter shade for his underbelly, well built for his age and rank, and he was wearing the traditional Captain's uniform; black flightsuit with long sleeves and red stripes along the sides. He was younger with only a few minor brawl marks on his fresh face. Upon his head were those aviator sunglasses Gantu gifted him when the young one became Captain of his own ship; his bright green eyes finally looked up and gave a salute... He was the spitting image of Gantu's late brother....

"Admiral, here are the blueprints for the new BRB 12,000 you requested." The younger Captain's voice was deep but still held a hint of youth to it, "There's 170 pages of illustration alone."

"At ease, Captain." Gantu watched the younger man relax handing over the stack of papers.

"It's going to be one hell of a construction job, sir. Hey Reuben! We making that beer battered sand--" The Shaelek Captain was making his way over to beige experiment waving at him...and paused... Stopped in mid sentence.... and Gantu took note the Captain's bright green eyes honed in on the earth woman standing. Reuben was already taking a few steps back to where Gantu stood, both men glanced at one another and back to the young ones before them. He could hear the pulse race within her, ah blitznak.... Was this....??? Gantu noticed Lilo was locked in gaze with the Shaelek staring back at her. Both seemed surprised at each others existence; there was a soft red color upon her cheeks as Lilo brought a hand fix a strand of hair behind her ear. The dark purple Shaelek with green eyes was the first to make a move. "......A-And H--Hel-Hello... To you too, miss...."

"L-Lilo. Im Lilo..."

"Ox. My name's O-Oximus..." Gantu watched the interaction unfold the young Captain bending down to observe the earthling before him. "You're Human... My apologies, I never met a.... Li-Lilo before..." It was then Oximus gazed up at him and Reuben, his bright green eyes wide, "Wait ..... Is she...??" A chuckle escaped Gantu as he nodded.

"Yes, she is. Lilo," he addressed her, "this is my nephew, Oximus." It dawned on him that Lilo didn't know he had other members of his family here on Turo... "Ox, this is the legendary little earth girl, who captured and tamed experiment 626 along with the other 625 experiments and assisted me in the arrest and detainment of Dr Hamsterviel, and..."

"She's the one you tripped over and fell off a cliff landing on your ass!!" Ox suddenly became animated as Reuben burst out laughing. "You're a blitznaking legend here! Did you actually get stuck with my uncle on some island with an experiment that shot flames at you guys?! And one that sank boats?! And one that stole everyone's socks?!"

"Oh that was Splodeyhead!" Lilo laughed, "there are tons of stories I can share, and a few of when Gantu caught some." He caught her brown eyes peering up at him and he had to shrug.

"If you insist."

"That's amazing," Oximus was standing now his hands behind his back. "The legendary Lilo here on Turo in the Galactic Federation. All the cousins back home will be jealous I got to meet you first." He said with a laugh to which Lilo widened her eyes. "We've been told stories from uncle Gantu all about his time on your planet... Is it true you humans strip bare and bake in the sun on the beach?"

"Guilty..." Lilo giggled as a soft rose color flushed against her cheeks, her eyes darted to the floor for a moment.

"I need to hear your side of the time you threw bird legs at my uncle's ship at the primitive earth festival." Ox was smiling brightly as Gantu felt the groan escape him.

"It took months to get the smell of earth fowl out, and so much grease stuck to the windshield..." both youngsters were staring at him now as the older Shaelek let out a sigh. "The festival had good ale though." Lilo happened to fall into a giggle spasm as she fixed her skirt.

"That was with Tank, and I'd be happy to tell you that story."

"Fantastic," Ox was now giving his uncle a look, and cleared his throat, "I'd like to make a request, Admiral, to borrow the human to join me as I retrieve the rest of the BRB 12,000 reports for you." Gantu studied the two for a moment, he could hear Lilo's heart beat faster at the mention of joining his nephew. There was an almost excited air around her and it caused the older Shaelek to ponder something...

"Request granted, Captain. The Cadet is my personal assistant and will have to learn the records hall after all. Be back at 1900 hours." Before he or Reuben could get another word it, both Ox and Lilo had given the salute to him and made their way to the door both exiting. Gantu stood in silence watching the figures walk down the hallway both talking animatedly.... He felt his mind swimming.

His hand reached for the bottle and his empty glass, and Gantu poured himself and Reuben a generous amount. When the little experiment gave him a look, he knew what the other was thinking ...

"So much for keeping herself out of trouble.." the old admiral spoke.

"More like she's found a permanent bodyguard...." Reuben said before he took a sip. "You think they'll want sandwiches at their wedding?" Gantu took a big gulp of the drink before glancing down at his friend.

"............... Probably."

"You're drinking that pretty fast there, bud..." Reuben was scrunching his nose up at him and Gantu shrugged.

"The realization just hit of Jumba and Pleakley might become in laws... One big blended ohana as Lilo would say." The Shaelek had to sign, he should be used to it by now.

"Yeah I mean, this kinda funs in the family... So when are you telling the tyke you married a human a couple years ago?" Reuben raised a brow with an almost playful sneer. To this Gantu barked a laugh placing his drink down and gave his friend a knowing smile.

"When Ox and Lilo both are granted leave for a weekend, and come for a BBQ... Then they'll meet Rachel." Reuben gave a quick pat on his friends leg,

"Your wife needs to give me that recipe for pulled swine meat sandwich, it's been years she has to give it up!"

"Blitznaking hell no, that's why I married her!" Gantu laughed pushing himself away from the desk looking at his wrist communicator; another ping notification. He noticed the time as a smirk spread on his lips. "I'm leaving early, are you alright with making sure those kids don't get into any trouble tonight?" Reuben quirked a brow bringing his face to a dead pan expression.

"I babysat you for 3 years, I think I can handle those two. Now go," the beige experiment started to shoo at him, "I'll watch the kids and make sure they behave! Tell your wife she owes me." Gantu was already grabbing his bag from his desk, the black sling over his shoulder as he looked back at his old friend.

"Have Ox put the reports on my desk, tell Lilo I'll see her tomorrow morning at 800 hours. Don't keep them out too late, 625." The scowl from Reuben was worth it. "Aloha~"

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His personal cruiser finally arrived out to a plot of land outside the bustling megacity of Turo. This place was far away from the chaos, a slice of tranquility if you will where every weekend time stood still. The house was not like the modern architecture of Turo, it was more Earthlike and homely he had come to like. For over a few acres tall grass grew fenced in around their property where a few bizarre looking illegal genetic experimentations who clung to his wife came to live out their mischievous Lives...His wife called it a ranch, he called it home.

As he made his way up the path to the earthling style home, Gantu could see the human sitting on the large porch; she was laying on the large wicker couch, three large critters laid around her in a protective cocoon. His blue eyes caught the floating lanterns' light luminating her long auburn hair in messy tressels around her, her back leaning against one reptilian experiment dozing off, her pale legs stretched resting on one of the marine experiments snoring away, her beautiful green eyes gazing deeply into the novel she held on her hand... The other hand gently stroking the green canine sock stealer's fur as it munched on one of her socks....

He reached the bottom step to the porch when 4 pairs of eyes peered up at him, the bright emerald orbs of the human he made a vow to a few years ago gazing up at him with excitement. They were his favorite. He watched his wife sit up, her dazzling smile always made his pulse skip a beat...

Gantu had to smirk... Boy would she get a kick out of this!

"Guess who finally enlisted." He could see the wheels in Rachel's mind turning as he climbed the porch steps tossing his bag to the floor and sitting next to her. He had to lift the marine critter like experiment so he could actually sit... the experiment stretched and curled back onto a ball on his lap. "Let's just say, I'm officially Old as Blitz now." Rachel's green eyes went wide at the realization and a huge smile spread on her lips.

"When is she coming for dinner?! You need to find out her favorite food so I can have it ready for her! And don't say sandwiches," Gantu rolled his eyes as his human partner stood pushing the marine experiment off his lap. "She's getting a proper Earth dinner, one that reminds--"

"Her of home." Gantu finished the sentence smirking at his wife. "I think she'll appreciate that very much." Rachel raised a brow an almost knowing smile spread on the soft petals of her lips.

"Maybe your nephew should stop by, you know, someone closer to her age to talk to?" He couldn't contain the laugh that escaped him, his hand rubbing his snout before he peered down at Rachel's inquisitive look.

"OH they met, right in my office!" His wife's stunned expression made Gantu laugh harder as he used his finger to check the air. "Beat you to it babe, completely by accident. Reuben's babysitting them so they don't get into trouble."

"You left the laziest experiment to watch your daredevil nephew and the experiment chasing earth girl?" His wife put her hands on her hips, "The Federation doesn't stand a chance!"

"No, I suppose it doesn't." Gantu let out a chuckle, his arm already around his human wife, "But, it got me out of work early to see you." Rachel's emerald eyes connected with his and they softened. Her smile spreading wider as she leaned her entire body against him.

"Want to sit out here for a while and watch the stars, hun?" The twilight was making her eyes sparkle and it made his heart skip a beat.

"For you," the Shaelek leaned down his snout touching the top of the earthling's head gently taking in her scent, "Always."

And they did, both sitting on their porch a bunch of illegal genetic experiments who needed a home huddled around them.... both watching the night skies and talking about their day. There was one thing for sure, Gantu was most certain.... this weekend was going to be one fun reunion.

#im trash #captain gantu #lilo and stitch au #gantu #lilo pelekai #alien shark dad #experiment 625 #625 you hilarious #totally see the father-daughter-ship of these two

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writingoddess1125 · 7 months

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How Strong the old men Genes are!

Funny little Headcanon for the Old Men!

Enjoy!

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Buggy

• Buggy has a curse of twins. No matter what if he gets a women pregnant It will result in him having twins.

• Due to the fact his first few sexual acquaintances were 'Paying Lovers' he does collect his kids and either has them apart of the crew or finds them a very nice homes if they aren't interested in being a Pirate.

• His kids do look like him but it's a healthy mix- His eyes and Hair Color seemingly to be his strongest genes since each of his kids has at least one of those unique characteristics.

• When he gets with his S/O who he also has twins with he is open about it.

• Has only gotten a few people pregnant but due to the twins curse- it's a lot of kids.

• Buggy much to everyone surprise is very good with kids. Especially babies.

• Maybe it plays on his power trip but having a little being that loves you unconditionally and needs you 24/7 plays well for him.

• Will buy nice clothes, dress them, feed them, play with them and even teach them everything he knows.

• His S/O is proud to see how good he is with kids. Proud of such a development. Will press him to collect/find the rest of his crotch goblins

• Gets a message from a old flame saying they no longer want their kids due to their line of work. How they are 4 and he needs to get them before they are in a orphanage.

• Hauls ass to go to Chi Chi Town to get his last batch of Twins before he got with his S/O

• "Let me guess- Twins right?" He said blandly to the madame of the brothel house, who nods in surprise. "Why yes- How did you know?-"

• "Lucky Guess. Now go get them" He says blandly as the Madame goes to the nursery area and retrieves the two twin toddlers, He doesn't even need to confirm as he sees the headful of blue hair.

• Takes them without a fuss and walks off to add to his growing collection of kids.

• Has a total of 12 Kids, all twins and he's done. No more for him-

Shanks

• Ah Poor Shanks- The Players Curse! Only Girls, He has just an ungodly amount of daughters.

• He doesn't even know we're they are till he walks through a village and sees a girl that looks a lot like him.

• All of them have red hair- No matter what. Curly, straight, Wavy but their hair is always red.

• "I'm your father! Goodness you look so lovely!" He gushes about each daughter and treats them individually. Spending as much time as he can with them and will buy them things they are interested in.

• Still prefers his single players life so doesn't settle with anyone. However running into old flames often means meeting new kids.

• Surprisingly remembers all his kids names, will write them letters constantly.

• Will he thrilled if any of them ate interested in pirating- his oldest of kids may already be working on another Pirates ship.

• Surprisingly large amount are actually Marines! So he gets special privileges of his daughters using their political power to not get him arrested-

• Introduces every daughter he has to the crew.

• The crew Secretly has a tally-board of how many kids Shanks has in the crews quarters

• "Hey Ben! How many does this new girl make?" Lucky Roux called out as he tossed the chalk to Yasopp

• "28nd girl-" Ben says calmly and smirks as Yasopp adds another Tally to the board.

• "28 Girls and 1 Boy. Good on you Luffy" The crew laughs at the stupidity of it all.

Mihawk

• Mihawk will never say it out loud but- He was a man-whore in his youth. A Massive Man-Whore.

• Knows he has a lot of bastard kids. But will at the moment only focus on the one he has with his S/O.

• When his permanent S/O finds out that Mihawk has a lot of illegitimate children they urge him to meet and even help his kids.

• At first he begrudgingly agreed- Only because his S/O asked him. Assuming he only had a good handful-

• He was wrong- So very very Wrong.

• It wasn't until he went out to collect them did he realize it was a good Idea what his S/O had suggested-

• Many of his children were in less then savorable situations. Some in orphanages, the streets picking through trash, even others working as servants or worse.

• What started as a scoffing agreement turned into the biggest rescue mission of his life.

• Once done he had the grand total of 87 Kids.

• His genes being incredibly strong since his kids all looked like him- to at least some degree.

• The main indicator was the yellow eyes- Damn near every child had his eyes. Some had his dark hair or his stoic features. But it was mainly his eyes-

• Is quiet around kids and even a bit awkward. Especially when they are in the adolescent age and talk far too much for his taste.

• By the end the castle back on his Island was actually at full occupancy. Every room filled and some of the smaller children even sharing rooms.

• He ended up hiring a full staff as well to help care for the children, especially any younger ones.

• Cost him a fortune- His wallet screaming at him buying more food, clothes, staffing, medical care and toys.

• S/O is happy since now the castle is so alive and filled with life. Makes them happy

• Mihawk laying in bed before he gets jumped on by kids. Scrambling awake as he sees 5 of his younger children laughing at seeing his startled face and runs off like little imps-

• Younger children haven't figured out to be afraid of him yet so they will run over him. He will be sitting there trying to read while a 3 year old uses him as a jungle gym.

•Secretly loves it-

• Loves having his home so warm and oddly realizes He may have been lonely before-

• "Mihawk I'm only counting 85 in bed-" His S/O calls out. Having a tradition of telling all the kids goodnight, He raises his brow at this as he sets down his wine glass and book of the evening.

#x reader #one peice x reader #buggy the clown x reader #one peice live action #one piece #buggy one piece #buggy x reader #hawkeye mihawk #shanks x reader #one piece shanks #shanks one piece #shanks #mihawk x reader #one piece mihawk #dracule mihawk

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itgetsdark-x · 2 months

Text

This Heat is Gettin’ To Me

Summary: Beach day’s with your dad had always been enjoyable; the sun, the sea, the beer and now Joel was there, it was far more enjoyable for you.

Warnings: 18+, MDNI plssss!! Public sex, age gap (unspecified but Joel would be mid forties, reader in twenties), unprotected p in v (do better & wrap it)

Characters: Dbf!Joel Miller x (f) reader

Word Count: 3.1k

(Divider by @saradika-graphics)

It was a baking hot day, the peak of summer and here you were; at the beach with your father and his close friend, Joel Miller. Days at the beach had always been your favourite times and now that Joel was here it provided a new level of attraction to the day out. You had been here since pretty early in the morning which luckily meant you had a good spot on the beach, there were people everywhere; families with young children, couples, friends and even a few dogs running around. Somewhere in the back of your mind you wondered if people thought your father and Joel were a couple.

“Do you not ever get worried that people will assume you and my dad are a couple?” You asked bluntly, peering up over your sunglasses to stare at Joel who was rubbing sunscreen into his muscly biceps.

“What?!” Joel laughed, pausing his motions in confusion.

“Well I was sat here reading my book, people watching and looking at all the couples and stuff and then I thought about you and dad.” You shrugged. “I mean, I totally ship it. Just you men never have girlfriends and now I’m thinking it’s because ladies are scared off by thinking you’re a couple.”

Joel shook his head with a fond smile on his features, he went back to applying his sunscreen; you leant back onto your arms and greedily watched him behind your shades. His large palms rubbed over his arms and eventually reached his chest, soft white and dark hairs peppered over his tanned skin and you would lying if you said it didn’t make you wet. You gently rubbed your thighs together, trying to stave off the throbbing as you imagined how it would feel to have his hands all over your body.

You were ripped from your filthy thoughts when an outline of a man appeared in front of you and handed you a beer, you looked up the sun blocking his features but you knew it was your dad.

“You okay, sweetie? You look flushed.” Your dad asked and resumed his position next to you, he laid down under the sun shade and rested his arm behind his head.

“Y-yeah, must be the sun. I’ll go into the sea in a bit and cool down.” You lied, Joel looked over at you with a raised brow but directed his attention back to rubbing the sunscreen into his legs.

It almost killed you off and you stared into the can of your beer and sipped at it, trying to distract yourself in any way possible.

“Oh, your sweet daughter there seemed to have an epiphany whilst you were doing the drinks run.” Joel laughed, sitting the other side of you and cracking open his cool beer.

“Yeah? What was it, sweet pea?”

“Nothing. Just maybe wondered if the reason y’all don’t have girlfriends is because people think you and Miller are dating or something.” You shrugged, your gaze darting between the two men.

Your dad barked out a loud laugh, which in turn, cause your own to erupt and soon the three of you were sat there in your own little world, crying with laughter. Your dad recovered from his laughing fit, wiping his tears away with the backs of his hand and shook his head.

“Sweet pea, I can’t speak for Joel but I’m single because it’s not a priority for me. I go out to bars and see all these younger women with their next-to-nothing outfits on and it just makes me sad. I’m yet to find a woman but that doesn’t mean I haven’t had offers.” Your dad smirked.

“Gross. So. Gross.” You fake gagged and looked down at your book. “Fine. I’m still convinced people think y’all are a couple and that’s why. But sure. You’ve had offers.”

Joel was still softly chuckling, he looked at you both with adoration and his heart ached softly for his Sarah, she had gone off to college and found herself a nice guy there so she was rarely home anymore, mainly just for the big days like Thanksgiving or Christmas. He watched as your dad joked around with you, his heart bloomed at the thoughts of Sarah but more importantly, he kept staring at you. The way you moved or the way your eyes seemed to sparkle whenever something made you laugh; he could watch you all day with intense interest, he wanted to make you laugh more just to see the sparkle in your features. He certainly couldn’t help the way his eyes followed your heaving chest as you laughed, the red fabric of your bikini top seemed like it could give out any second, somewhere in Joel’s mind he urged it to happen, just so he could catch a glimpse of you, more of you.

Joel knew his feelings, his lust for you, was wrong on many levels but he also felt like it was mutual at times. He was sure he could see your eyes roaming his body, he could see your mind ticking away at thoughts of him. He tried to be better than his thoughts and not get carried away with them but days at the beach made it impossible, especially when you would walk off to go swim or get a drink; the bottoms of your bikini rose up so high he could almost see all of your ass as you walked.

The day wore on, you had your nose in your book for the majority of it, only occasionally leaving to go get another drink or take a dip into the cool sea to cool yourself off. That’s where you were now, you were in the sea, just bobbing along and swimming casually, more just there to feel the cool embrace of the salty water on your tanning skin. You could see your dad and Joel, still, your father had fallen asleep after a couple of beers and no doubt, the heat. Joel was there, his thick legs outstretched as he watched people walk by; you couldn’t help but feel your stomach drop when Joel smiled at a younger woman who walked by, his eyes followed her as she left his line of vision.

You left the water, walked back over to where your father and Joel were sat and you grabbed your towel from the floor, making sure to bend yourself over in Joel’s direction. He noticed, of course he did. His eyes tracked up the length of shapely legs until his gaze bored into your behind, the wet material of your bikini bottoms clung to your ass.

“This,” you gestured at your dad. “Is the reason you old men shouldn’t drink in the heat, you can’t handle it.” You teased with a soft laugh as you sat yourself down next to Joel on the beach towels.

“I’m still standing, aren’t I?” Joel retorted with a roll of his eyes.

“Barely, Miller.” You smirked and grabbed your sunscreen from your bag.

You took a generous amount and started to rub it into the soft skin of your legs, stretching yourself to cover every inch of your skin liberally. Joel’s eyes watched you, they watched your delicate hands rub your flesh and he hungrily thought how it should be him rubbing you down like that.

“Joel?” You said annoyed, waving your small hand in front of his features. “I just asked could you please rub some into my back for me?”

Joel was pulled from his trance, crashing back down to earth and silently, he thanked someone up there for answering his prayers.

“Of course I can, darlin’.” He smiled sweetly and tapped the spot on his towel next to him. “C’mhere and sit in front of me.”

You nodded and placed yourself in front of the male, as instructed. Joel’s large hands were soon rubbing at the bare flesh of your shoulders and you shuddered under his touch, the sunscreen cool against your burning skin. His hands dipped lower, his fingers rubbing the creamy liquid into your skin; his fingers dug into your shoulders roughly and you couldn’t help the small moan that escaped your lips.

Joel couldn’t help but smirk to himself as he let his fingers expertly massage your tense shoulders, your head lulled forward as you enjoyed the sensation of him massaging you.

“You wanna stop moaning so loud, your daddy will wake up and get the wrong idea, sweetheart.” Joel chuckled, his voice fanning across your ear as he leant forward.

“Feels so good though.” You sighed happily, your eyes falling shut as Joel continued to rub your body down.

“Too bad your sunscreen is applied then, isn’t it.” Joel teased with a smirk.

You whined softly, feeling annoyed as his hands left your body and you turned your head behind yourself to look at the male.

“D-don’t stop… please. Feels so good.”

Joel cocked his head to the side as you took his hands and placed them back on your body, you held his hand as you guided them back over to your skin. You slid them slowly down the curved lines of your side, back up and let them draw slowly over your bikini-clad chest until you rested them back onto your shoulders with a soft, contented sigh.

Joel cleared his throat behind you, he could feel himself almost immediately stiffen in his swim shorts as his palms rubbed over your chest, he could feel the hard bud of your nipples under the thin fabric. There had always been flirtatious jokes between you, ever since you came into Joel’s life you had become this sort of forbidden fruit that lingered over his head. He knew he couldn’t ever have you, you were his friend’s daughter and so much younger than him. But there you were today, in an impossibly small bikini, your smooth skin just begging to be devoured by him there and then. And your hands on his? Leading him over the most forbidden expanses of your body, right whilst your father snoozed by you both.

“Darlin’…” Joel warned breathlessly, his hands still massaging your shoulders.

“Joel.” You smirked.

“What are you playing at?” He asked quietly, his face lingering near the skin of your neck, his lips ghosting over you causing you to shudder.

“Hmm?” You hummed innocently. “Just putting you to work, your massage feels amazing. Plus you’re protecting my delicate, young skin from the dangers of skin cancer.” You jested.

“Oh is that right? I forgot you needed sunscreen smeared over your bikini.”

You laughed softly, you knew you Joel wanted you and you wanted him just as bad. You weren’t sure whether it was a cumulative reaction from the baking sun, the beers or Joel’s heady scent but something was making you bold; your eyes scanned the area to ensure no eyes were on you before you took Joel’s hands once more and landed them onto your breasts. You squeezed his hands this time so he could properly cup the fleshy mounds and you bit back a soft moan.

“I want you…” you whispered, you could still feel Joel’s lips near your skin and he soon took it upon himself to kiss at the sensitive pulse point in your neck.

You pressed your body backwards to his and almost immediately you could feel the hard curve of his thick member pressing against your ass; just the thin materials of your swimsuits keeping you away from what you craved. You clenched around nothing, your body throbbing to feel him where you wanted him most.

“Fuck.” Joel cursed. “Keep making me touch you and I’ll cum in my shorts like a teenage boy.” He laughed, his hands following down the curve of your sides until he gripped at your ass roughly.

Joel stood up behind you, you turned around to protest but he was holding his hand out for you to take it. You obliged, unsure of his plan but willing to follow him anywhere.

“Where are we?” You asked and Joel just turned around to smirk at you.

He led you over to the shoreline, towards a more secluded area and slowly he submerged you both into the water. The ocean came up to around your chest, you were able to stand but the waves splashed around you to hide you both well.

“Needed to hide away from everyone, need to have my way with you.” Joel said quietly, cautious in case there were nearby people.

“We are not fucking in the ocean.” You laughed ludicrously.

“Why not? You scared, princess?” Joel smirked, his hands held your hips strongly as you both bobbed with the motion of the sea. “Thought you wanted me?”

“I swear to god, Miller if I get a UTI from this, you’ll be the one that’s paying for the prescription to sort me out.” You rolled your eyes and let your hand cup at Joel’s still hard member, your fingers squeezed his length and he let out a low groan.

“Come here and kiss me.” Joel said softly, holding the back of your head to land a bruising kiss to your mouth; his lips moved dominantly against yours, you were entirely at his will as he kissed you.

You wrapped your legs around Joel’s waist, the water making you almost weightless and your hands gripped either side of his face to kiss him deeper. Your tongue dipped into his mouth and you whimpered as you tasted him for the first time, you had craved him for so long. His rough facial hair scratched at the skin of your face and you relinquished the sting as his tongue fought against yours.

Joel reached a hand down between you both, his awkwardly pulled his member free in the water and yanked your bikini bottom to the side so he could push himself into your wet hole. He held both your hips once more and used them as leverage to bring your body down until you were fully seated onto his cock. You pulled away from the kiss to rest your forehead against his, a breathless gasp falling from your kiss-swollen lips.

“F-fuck,” you whimpered, your arms looping around Joel’s neck to hold him weakly as he built up a steady rhythm of you bouncing onto his dick.

To any passers-by you would both be seen cuddling, bobbing in the current of the ocean; just a sweet moment between a loving couple. The thrill of potentially being caught made your body ache and you fluttered your walls around Joel as you somewhat awkwardly worked yourself onto his cock.

“So tight, never wanna leave you. Should stay buried in your pretty cunt, need you warming my cock forever.” Joel mumbled against your lips.

You couldn’t help but blush at his words, your hands clawed gently at his bare shoulders as Joel nudged his cock against the bundle of nerves buried deep in your walls. You could already feel your stomach bubble with your impending orgasm, you knew you needed to be quick as to not arouse suspicions if your father awoke from his nap.

“Joel,” you whined quietly, your head still lulling against Joel’s forehead. “God I wish we were somewhere more stable so you could fuck me as rough as I deserve.” You whispered, lips tickling against Joel’s sun-kissed skin.

Joel let out a breathy laugh as his large hands pawed at the doughy flesh of your ass. He groaned softly as held onto you and pushed his hips up harder and faster.

“We need to speed this up, baby girl. Don’t want your daddy questioning where we are, do we?” He whispered. “Dip your hand down and play with your clit, need you to cum at least once before we go back.”

You bit your lip as Joel manoeuvred your hips below the water, you bucked your hips forward as Joel’s thick cock filled you deliciously and you pushed your hand into your bikini bottoms. Your delicate fingers nimbly circled your clit and you gasped loudly, the sensations building throughout your body.

“Please tell me you’ll fuck me again?” You asked, eyes pleading with the older man as your fingers moved faster. “Fuck, need you again and again and again.” You moaned, the noise louder than initially intended.

Joel groaned and nodded as he brought your hips down again roughly, the water still slowing his motions. “I’ll fuck you whenever you want, princess. Whatever you want.”

“I-I’m gonna —“ you whimpered, your voice dying off as a high-pitched whimper fell from your lips.

You clenched around Joel, your spongy walls gripping his cock like he had never had before and he moaned gruffly.

You removed your fingers from your clit and you knew Joel was close by the way his cock was twitching as he thrust into you again. You giggled as you reached under the fabric of your bikini top and released your tits from the refraining fabric. Your soft mounds bobbed in the water but it was enough to push Joel over the edge.

He came quickly, holding you in place to take every last drop of him and in that moment, you were grateful that the ocean would at least help you somewhat freshen up before you headed back. Your name fell from Joel’s lips softly as he clumsily thrust up a couple more times before his head fell forward to rest on your chest so he could suck in a few deep breaths.

“Please never put your top back on, it’s a crime against humanity that you cover your body up.” He laughed, his chest still heaving with the effort.

You rolled your eyes with a fond giggle and finally unlatched your legs from around Joel’s hips. You redid up your bikini top and ensured your bottoms were on correctly before starting to swim off away from Joel.

You reached the sand once again and began walking back to the spot where your dad was still snoozing.

“Meet me tonight.” Joel whispered, his hand resting on the small of your back.

“What?” You asked, looking back at him as you continued to walk.

“Come to mine tonight, let your dad fall asleep and I’ll come and pick you up. You’ll be back before he knows. I need to fuck you properly.”

You nodded, not trusting your shaking voice to speak.

“And for now, enjoy the feeling of my cum slowly leaking from you for the rest of the afternoon and evening. I’ll clean you up later, I promise.” He smirked, running ahead of you to go back to laying down on his towel.

You sat down and picked your book back up, pretending you had any interest in the words on the page in front of you.

#dbf!joel miller #joel miller smut #joel miller x reader #joel miller #pedro pascal #dbf!joel #joel x reader #Joel miller brainrot

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halfvalid · 7 months

Text

the blade daughter, pt. 2

ABOUT

pt. 1 | pt. 2 | pt. 3

alternate title: dracule mihawk cures your daddy issues!

rating: mature

characters: live action!roronoa zoro | fem!reader | live action!dracule mihawk | live action!straw hat ensemble

pairing: live action!roronoa zoro x fem!reader

word count: 23.6k total | 8k this part

description: after joining the straw hats on board the going merry, you're confused as to what to do with your life from now—and you can't help but get closer to zoro.

tags: mihawk's daughter!reader, female reader, canon-typical violence, cursing, no use of 'y/n', pet names per mihawk ('dear', 'darling', 'sweetheart', 'little hawk'), emotional hurt/comfort, slow burn, patching of wounds

author’s note: second chapter! i hope you like it <3 out of the three this one's probably my favorite personally, i really like the wound-stitching scene & i think it's one of the best scenes ive ever written. i'm suchhh a slut for the patching up of wounds trope.

You rose before the sun, careful to pack your belongings all in one sack. Considering the very little amount you’d brought, it was a relatively easy task—leaving the sloop would be fine, too, as you paid for the slip for a few months longer at least. Your father had so many ships across so many seas it hardly mattered much anymore.

You double-checked that you had all of your things before shutting down and leaving the sloop, consulting some of the dock men to transfer a boat lift under the berth. You moved carefully across the east port, making quick time as you returned to the Straw Hats’ ship in slip fifty-two.

There were apparent signs of life when you reached the ship, even with the sky cast over in dark hues of navy. All of the dead bodies had been removed, for one, and dock men were loading barrels up on the deck while Sanji watched over them. His expression brightened as his gaze fell across you.

“Lady Dracule!” he called out, slipping off from the barrel on which he’d been perched to meet you at the pier. You gave him an unimpressed look.

“I have a name, you know.”

“Oh, I wasn’t aware of that,” Sanji answered, a lopsided grin pulling up the side of his face. You rolled his eyes and introduced yourself, which only prompted a brighter smile and a steady pat of his hand on your back. “A fine name, for a fine woman.”

“Sanji, stop flirting with the crew.” You glanced up to see Nami, one hip cocked to the side with her hand on her waist, staring down with an exasperated glint in her eye. “Welcome aboard the Going Merry. Sorry I was a little grouchy last night. I don’t like having my sleep interrupted.” She leaned down to offer you her hand, and you took it, climbing aboard the ship.

“The Going Merry?”

“Fits it, don’t you think?” Sanji asked from behind you. Nami eyed him again, volume dropping as she tilted her head towards yours.

“He’ll quit with the sweet talk eventually. I’ll give you a tour once we’ve cast off. We’re just waiting for Zoro to get back from town, and then we’re all set.” She turned to bark out another few orders to Sanji— “Finish up with the crates already!”

“Anything you want, madam,” Sanji said with a little bow. Nami let out a long-suffering sigh.

“Luffy already prepared a room for you. I’ll show you to it.” She led you below deck, back towards the ship’s aft. There was a collection of rooms all crammed together, one beside the other. “These are the women’s quarters. Men’s’ are all the way at the front of the ship.” She nodded behind her. “You get this one here. Sorry, it’s small.”

She opened the door to the very last room, and you stepped inside, surveying your surroundings. It wasn’t much; the cabin barely scraped by as a room, consisting of only a wardrobe, a hanging bed, and a small table and chair stuck in the corner. A round window at the very edge of the room revealed the water just a mere few feet below.

“It’ll do fine, thank you,” you said. Your room back at home was far more ornate, but you’d never been picky.

“You can sleep for a few more hours,” Nami said, lingering by the cabin mouth. “Come find me when you’re ready for a tour. We should be setting off in a few moments, if Zoro’s back.”

You gave her a smile, and she left, the patter of her footsteps dying off as she walked further and further away.

It didn’t take you long to get arranged, and afterwards, you gingerly sat down on the bed, the rope tied to the ceiling causing it to sway under you. You were still uncertain about boarding the ship, but you couldn't exactly return to your sloop now. And it wasn’t the worst idea in the world, you tried to convince yourself.

You felt the ship start moving just a few moments later, and you stood up, walking across the rocking ship to get up to the deck. You were making fast time, Loguetown’s silhouette rapidly getting swallowed in the gulp of the horizon.

Nami was bickering with Zoro and Luffy when you found her. “What even took you so long? We were due to leave a half-hour ago.”

“I was getting new swords,” Zoro said calmly. Nami eyed him, then yanked something out of his hand. A wallet, it looked like, stuffed with bills of berry. “You can’t be mad at me. I spent less than half of your budget.”

“They scammed you,” Nami scoffed, eyeing the katanas at Zoro’s hip. Zoro simply shrugged. “A sword for free? It’s probably made of plastic.”

Zoro snorted. “I’d be able to tell.”

Nami cast him a look, gaze unimpressed under the line of her eyelashes. “You can’t tell the difference between a ship mast and a tree.”

“Yeah, but I know swords.”

“Oh, hey!” Luffy, who’d seemed tuned out of his crewmates’ conversation, said as he spotted you. “Glad to see you here. Officially part of the crew.”

“Oh, well…” you hesitated. “Not so sure if I’ll be joining you forever.” Luffy looked confused by that, but not particularly offended—Nami and Zoro had turned to watch you, too, argument dying on trembling legs. “Right now the plan is to help you get to the Grand Line. From there you can drop me home. And then we’ll part ways.”

“If you change your mind…” Luffy trailed off, then patted you on the shoulder. “Nami, were you going to show her around?”

“I was, but I’ve got some mapping to do.” Nami glanced over at Zoro. “Hey. Make yourself useful.”

“I hate you,” Zoro muttered. He brushed past you, just barely motioning with his head for you to follow. “Afterdeck.”

You stepped into the small space. It was easily the most secluded place on the ship deck, decorated with three young tangerine trees in white boxy planters. “I like your trees.”

“They’re Nami’s trees.” Zoro gestured with his head again, and you followed him. The tour was brief; Zoro didn’t have much to say, generally just showing you a room before telling you what it was and departing for the next area.

You were about halfway through the tour when Zoro spoke again, the words abrupt in his throat. He spat them out rather than spoke them, and you got the impression he’d been mulling over talking for a while— “You ever beat your dad in combat?”

You snorted. “No.”

Zoro didn’t look at you, opting instead to push through the next doorway and gesture vaguely around him to show you the surroundings. “Gotten close?”

“Never.” You shrugged. “He taught me the basics, but I wasn’t the best student. He’d try to be strict and everything, but… sword fighting isn’t really my thing. You’re probably better than me.”

Zoro gazed at you skeptically. “He taught you.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you—” He paused, mouth open for a moment before resuming his sentence. He didn’t sound particularly hesitant, but the pause had you stifling a smile anyway, knowing he was at least a little bit flustered. “We should train together.”

“Was that a question?”

“Not really.” Zoro’s lip quirked, one side of his mouth tugging upwards in an odd semblance of a smile. He didn’t seem the type to smile often, though, so it didn’t look out of ordinary on his face. “Have you seen enough of the ship yet, or do you want me to show you the bilge too?”

“I’m good, thanks,” you answered primly. “Now did you want to fight me or not?”

Zoro actually smiled at that.

You decided to train on the main deck, in an area wide enough to not bump into anyone else. You shed your jacket, pulling Hiru out of its scabbard. Zoro winced as the sun hit the silver blade, reflecting a blinding gleam off its surface. “That a stylistic choice?”

“I polish things when I get anxious,” you answered. “So not really.”

“Right.” Zoro untied a black bandana from where it was fixed on his bicep, fingers working fluidly against the knot. Once he got it untied, he wrapped it around his head, tying it carefully around his head. Afterwards, he slid one of his swords out of its scabbard, holding it with his fingers to follow with the other. “How low should my expectations be?”

“I don’t know, you tell me,” you answered. Zoro let a soft sound out through his mouth, but he said no more, transferring one sword to each hand. He moved carefully, arms arching over his head to lower to each of his sides. You lifted Hiru up, more casual in your movements than Zoro was.

You paid more attention to Zoro than the actual fight when you started moving. You figured you’d have time to genuinely practice later—you hadn’t kept a close eye on the swordsman in the battle against the pirate hunters, and your curiosity was eating at you. Zoro was all angles when he fought, elbows lifted and limbs pin-straight. That wasn’t to say there was no flexibility in his movements, though—he dodged your oncoming attacks easily, sidestepping with a light twist of the torso so your blade cut air instead of flesh.

Just a few seconds in you could tell Zoro was far, far better than you. You parried one of his attacks, gasp ripping from your throat as you just barely managed to block off a slash from his katana with Hiru. He spun towards you, careful not to actually cut as his blade came for the throat. You managed to dodge just in time, moving backwards with a quick patter of your feet against the wooden deck.

There was barely anything skewed in his motions, you were soon to realize. He was perfect in every sense of the word. Your styles were vastly different, of course—Zoro mainly relied on his blades, and his physicality was carefully practiced, no curves or bends apparent in the straight lines and slants of his body. In comparison, you were much more slippery, focusing mainly on your agility to carry you throughout a fight rather than your strength.

“Your elbow,” Zoro said. You barely managed to respond, letting out a grunt of effort as you blocked Zoro’s oncoming attack.

“Hm?”

Zoro’s katana came from the left. He used the other one to knock your arm up, nearly gentle in his movements, and you were reminded of how Mihawk used to train you—stopping mid-fight to reposition your limbs, using his sword to carefully push your hands in the right places. “You’re dropping it.”

“I don’t care much for angles,” you answered, ducking under Zoro’s incoming blade and sliding off to the side instead of trying to shove against it. Zoro seemed startled by that, struck off-balance as he stumbled, turning to face you.

You jerked your sword towards him, one leg coming up to shove against his torso whilst doing so. You managed to knock him fully off-balance then, and he staggered against his feet, teetering precariously backwards. “Your center of gravity is screwed.”

“You dad kept flinging me around the pier,” Zoro said. You raised your brows, the phrase nonsensical to your ears. But it did sound like Mihawk. “It run in the family?”

“Very funny.” You dodged another slash of Zoro’s swords. “The only thing I picked up well in our lessons was about keeping balance.”

“And dodging, apparently.” You snickered at that, parrying another one of Zoro’s attacks—but it was getting harder and harder, what with the immense strength of his body you simply couldn’t keep up with. As flexible as you were, you weren’t quick enough this time, and Zoro swept you off your feet so you fell to the ground, wind bursting out of your chest all in one rush. Hiru clattered a few feet away, your fingers unfolding from their grip and letting it move freely.

Zoro slid his swords back in their sheaths, letting them close with a satisfying click. “You fight too defensively.”

You lay there for a moment, trying to gather air back into your lungs. “Never found a point in attacking others, really.” You got up, straightening your shirt before bending over to pick Hiru up from the floor. “Good fight.”

“Yeah,” Zoro said, but his voice was weak, tapering off to blend in with the wind. He had an uncertain look on his face, big brown eyes all fuzzy around the edges, like there was some cloudlike film covering him from seeing properly. You frowned at him.

“Is that because I’m worse or better than you expected?” you asked, gesturing vaguely up at his expression. Zoro blinked, the fog over his eyes clearing as he glanced down to meet your gaze. You waited expectantly, but he didn’t say anything. “Zoro?” you prompted.

“Sorry,” Zoro said. “I’m—I’m going to go to my cabin.”

You watched him leave, growing more quizzical by the second. Well, you’d gotten what you’d come there for, anyway. Roronoa Zoro was a great swordsman. And he certainly had the potential to be the greatest in the world, too—a realization that shook you a little, heart trembling from where it was fixed in your chest cavity. You swallowed hard, mind replaying the firm motions of his body from the fight. He’d been confident, sure of himself. You had even forgotten he still hosted Yoru’s slash along his torso from just a week or so prior, he’d been so… perfect.

“He’s good, huh?”

You startled, turning to see Usopp sitting atop a pile of crates like a king on a throne. He was picking at his fingernails. “Zoro,” he clarified. “Best swordsman in the East Blue.”

“Yeah,” you said, glancing over at where Zoro had left. “He is.”

Usopp eyed you for a moment. “Your shell phone is ringing.”

You startled, patting down your figure before finally unearthing your phone from where it was tucked safely away in your pocket. You opened it, pushing the den den mushi in your ear as it vibrated, little mouth making soft rumbling sounds to catch your attention. Usopp clearly didn’t know a thing about privacy, though, because he kept watching even as you picked up— “Hello?”

“Back home yet, darling?” Mihawk asked over the line, and you relaxed, your entire body going slack with comfort as you heard the familiar low hum of your father’s voice. “I figured you’d go back as quickly as possible.”

“No, actually,” you said. “Luffy roped me into coming aboard his ship.”

You could practically see Mihawk’s brows lift up in surprise. “You joined the Straw Hat pirate’s crew?”

“No. They’re bringing me home. I’m helping them get to the Grand Line,” you corrected. Mihawk hummed, the sound a crackle of monotony through the den den mushi’s mouth.

“And why, pray tell, would you do that?”

You chewed at your bottom lip, glancing off the side of the Going Merry to the East Blue. The sun had risen fully, fixing itself in a warm beam in the sky. “I was curious about Roronoa Zoro. You never told me why you left him alive. Or why you let Luffy go.” You could still feel Usopp’s gaze on you while you spoke, and you just knew he’d be telling the rest of his crew this after your conversation finished. “So I wanted to figure out your reasoning.”

“Ah,” Mihawk said. “Has he healed from Yoru’s wound yet?”

“It’s not like I tore off his shirt to check, dad,” you muttered. Mihawk barked out a laugh, and you startled at the sound before settling down again. “He walks fine. I saw bandages.”

Mihawk seemed pleased by that. “Wonderful. He’s a hardy one. You should fight him.”

“Already did,” you answered. “He beat me.”

Mihawk considered that for a moment. “Eh, I saw that coming.”

You scoffed. “You have no faith in me. Where are you now?”

“South Blue, still,” Mihawk replied. “Are you at least enjoying yourself there? It’ll be good for you to make friends, sweetheart. You don’t get much social interaction other than me and the villagers, after all.”

“I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to get a ride home,” you said insistently, but your voice was weak, and Mihawk clearly didn’t believe you. Your mind wandered back to Zoro—the firm muscle of his body, the hushed tone he spoke in, and you found your face pinkening. “One of them—one of them wants to kill you. That’s his entire life’s purpose. To murder you.”

“I think you’re being a tad bit broad, darling,” Mihawk said with a click of his tongue. “You seem rather enamored with this particular young swordsman. Something to say?”

“I—” your words fumbled in your mouth, and you were certain you were entirely pink now, the sun’s glowing rays only making your face warmer than it was rapidly turning. “Stop. I’m hanging up now.”

Mihawk’s voice was tastefully dry when he responded. “I’m sure.”

“Shut up, old man,” you grumbled.

“Right. Remember the rule, dear,” Mihawk trilled, and despite his voice being as monotone as ever, you could still identify the undertones of it—laced with syrupy mocking, all teasing and dramatic. “No dating unless he can beat you in combat!”

You actually did hang up this time, practically tearing the den den mushi out of your ear. You huffed out an irritated breath, rubbing a circle into the shell of your snail as an apology just a moment later. “Sorry,” you murmured. “My dad’s a bitch.”

The snail just let out a little grumble in response. You tucked it back into its case and snapped the phone shut.

“Aw, we’re not allowed to say hi?” You spun around at the new voice, glaring upon seeing Sanji and Luffy having joined Usopp in his eavesdropping. Sanji bore a gigantic grin on his face. “Sounded like an interesting conversation.”

“None of you know what boundaries are,” you muttered, but it was light-hearted.

You didn’t see Zoro until suppertime, a fact that rang odd in your head. It seemed like he’d completely evaporated from the ship, disappearing around every corner as you spent the rest of the day getting to know the rest of the crew better. Something had happened, but you weren’t exactly sure what—and you weren’t exactly sure if you were close enough to him to even ask, yet.

Sanji had cooked up a dinner so fine you doubted it could even quality as ship food. From your time traveling with your father, rations on-board hadn’t been much of anything—a few scraps of bread or dried meat, old apples, perhaps some fish if you were lucky. Mihawk hadn’t the biggest priority on eating well, but the Straw Hat crew seemed to have the exact opposite opinion. You were served a bowl of miso soup along with a bowl of rice, and dishes of tofu and oyster sauce stir-fried vegetables were carefully laid out all across the table.

“Bon appétit,” Sanji said, taking a half-bow before slipping into the last seat around the table. “I hope it’s to your liking. Yours especially, Lady Dracule.” He gave you a little wink at that. You just stared at him.

“I thought I told you my name.”

“Well, you did, but I thought Lady Dracule had a nice ring to it.”

“It doesn’t,” you said. Nami stifled a snort, the hand not holding her chopsticks coming up to cover her mouth. Sanji didn’t look the slightest bit dissuaded. You turned your attention on Zoro, who hadn’t spoken a word throughout the whole meal. He was rather studiously focused on his bowl, eyes picking apart the grains of rice like they’d reveal the world’s greatest secrets.

Carefully, you leaned towards Nami, voice coming out in a hushed whisper. “Is he okay?”

“He gets like that sometimes,” Nami answered, her words drowned out by Usopp and Luffy’s cheerful conversation. “Nobody can crack him except for Luffy. I’d just leave him be.”

“You don’t know why?”

Nami just shrugged. “Hell, we’re all depressed sometimes. Not within my rights to question him.”

You nodded, but your gaze didn’t move away from Zoro’s figure. There was a particular squeezing sensation deep in your chest—a little flip-flop thing, a sort of panging you couldn’t quite place. He glanced up, dark eyes meeting yours for just a fraction of a second. But he didn’t flinch away. He just returned your gaze, strong and unblinking.

To your surprise, Zoro was the first to look away, craning his neck to study his bowl again and continuing on like your extended bout of eye contact hadn’t even happened. You watched him, dumbstruck, until Nami nudged you in the shoulder. The rest of the group’s idle chatter had died down, and Usopp and Sanji were staring at you, low murmurs falling out of their mouths. You cleared your throat, finally dropping your gaze from the green-haired swordsman and attempting to ignore the fact everyone had caught you staring.

You didn’t do much of anything after supper—you just returned to your cabin, carefully walking across the creaking boards of the ship. Luffy assigned you mid watch, so you had a few hours to sleep before waking up at midnight to look out for any enemies.

You couldn’t find yourself falling asleep even after you’d slipped into bed. You’d changed, a loose blouse light against your skin, black silk shorts grazing your thighs. It was cold out, so you shrugged on a robe as you headed out into the darkness of the Going Merry. You emerged out on the deck, taking in a breath of the night air as you glanced to see who had the night watch.

Just your luck. It was Zoro.

He seemed tranquil, lounging across a hammock with his white sword—the Wado Ichimonji—cradled in his arms. In the dim light you couldn’t see if his eyes were open or closed, but as you got closer, he cracked one of them open, a gleam reflecting off his right iris. “Hi,” you said, moving over to the side of the ship to watch the waves on the water.

Zoro didn’t deign to respond, so you just stood there, watching the sea lap at the side of the ship until eventually the hour struck twelve. Zoro left soundlessly. You stayed awake all throughout your watch until Usopp came to relieve you of your duties.

Zoro was avoiding you.

A few days had passed since you first boarded the Going Merry. They hadn’t been of much interest—just days of practicing with your sword and chatting with the crew, for the most part. You helped around the ship, completing various tasks apparently none of the members knew or cared enough to do. You were just emerging from the bilge, having done basic maintenance to ensure everything was working properly, when you bumped into him. The man was apparently taking a nap, though you couldn’t figure out why the storage area was a very good place to sleep. Still, he seemed comfortable enough, long body splayed along a grouping of crates.

“Hi,” you said, for what seemed like the hundredth time over a few days. Zoro just averted his gaze and let out a little grunt in response. You stared at him for a moment. The realization had dawned on you ever since the first day, but it was growing more and more apparent, and you were baffled as to what you’d done to incur the silent treatment.

“Hi,” you repeated, more purposefully this time.

“Hey,” Zoro said, though the word was clearly bitter in his mouth. You propped your hands on your hips and stared down at him.

“You’re avoiding me.”

Zoro closed his eyes, expression not even changing. “You’re not that special.”

“Ever since we fought that one time, you’ve been ignoring me,” you barreled on, entirely ignoring his quip. Zoro cocked a brow, eyes still closed, and you glared down at it. “I’d like to know why.”

“Why do you care? We’re not friends.”

“Isn’t it natural to want to know why someone is mad at you?” you demanded, perplexed. Zoro sighed then, shifting around on his boxes.

“I’m not mad at you.” You heaved out a sigh even more irritated than Zoro’s. Your experience in the realm of dealing with close-lipped men’s personal issues was, unfortunately, rather well-seasoned. You’d had to coax situations out of your father, one hand pressed against Yoru’s hilt to prevent Mihawk from lashing out his frustrations rather than explaining them. But that didn’t mean you were all too fond of it.

“Okay, well, why else would you be ignoring me then?”

Zoro’s response was annoyingly frank. “It’s not really any of your business.”

You pursed your lips, trying to suppress the irritated noise that threatened to burst from your throat. “I don’t like being on bad terms with people,” you started. “If I did something to piss you off, I’d very much like it if you—”

The floor slipped out from underneath you before you could finish your sentence. You fell with a graceless clatter, lurching forward into the stack of crates Zoro was leaning on, words dying on your tongue. The entire boat trembled, quivering from side to side as if the ocean waves had suddenly propelled a thousand more ripples at its surface.

Zoro sat immediately up, one hand pushing you off of him as he scrambled off the crates. “What was that?”

“I don’t—” Just a moment after regaining your balance, there was another dull thud and a row of quivers. You remained steady this time, glancing carefully around you before you and Zoro were both hurrying up towards the ship deck. The Going Merry was in chaos when you emerged, Nami at the helm while Sanji was firing up a cannon beside her.

“What’s going on?” you demanded, the tails of your coat lapping around your calves as you hurried up besides Luffy.

“Pirates,” Luffy said grimly, nodding towards a ship that was quickly gaining on you. “They blew through the stern railing. Do any of you recognize the jolly roger?”

You glanced up, taking in the billowing sail boasting a pure-white jolly roger with a top hat and mustache. “Nope. These things are getting more and more ridiculous,” you muttered.

“Yeah,” Luffy agreed, affronted. “Ours is way better.”

You turned your gaze up at the Straw Hat crew’s aforementioned jolly roger. “...No comment.”

“We can’t outrun them!” Nami shouted from her place at the helm. Sanji had successfully nailed a cannonball into the railing of the oncoming ship, but they had a dozen more men. “I’m going to try to get closer. Best chance we have is one-on-one combat.” She turned to fix the small grouping with a glare. “Don’t just stand there. Get to it!”

You launched into action, hurrying to climb up the rigging to get a better view as Nami veered hard to starboard. The enemy ship had dropped their cannons, and you could see them preparing to board the Merry, grabbing onto loose ropes of rigging. “They’re going to swing over,” you reported, watching as the ship tilted in your direction, gaining on you. “I see maybe two or three dozen men.”

You hesitated, glancing around at the rather stationary crew around you. Your lip tugged between your teeth, and you stood there for a moment, unspoken words heavy on your tongue. You could see the captain yelling out orders on the ship across from you, and you turned abruptly, fixing Sanji with a look.

“Sanji, trade with Usopp. I want you to nail a cannon at their port stern.”

“W—What? Me?” Usopp stuttered. You nodded.

“I want Sanji on the frontlines. That should be close enough now.” You gazed out at the rapidly thinning gap between the two ships. One final cannonball whizzed towards, and you ducked, watching as it just brushed the side of the Merry. The ship rocked, and you tightened your grip on the rigging, satisfied to see it’d barely left a mark.

“They’re coming over,” Sanji reported, and you nodded, sliding Hiru out from your scabbard as enemy pirates started swinging over on ropes. Luffy was the first to react, an arching, rubbery limb catching one of them midair and yanking them down into the ocean. Boots thudded on the ground as the enemy pirates landed aboard the Going Merry.

“Time for a fight,” Zoro murmured, barely audible from your left. You jumped down from the rigging, sword coming down to crash against one of the enemy pirates. He reacted slowly, pistol cocking towards your chest—but you just brushed it to the side with Hiru, cutting it straight out his hand and following up with a flurry of sword thrusts.

Besides you, you saw Sanji sliding into battle, spinning on his palms to deliver a mean right hook to someone’s jawbone. An audible crack pierced the air, and you winced, breezing backwards on your feet as two pirates closed in on you.

Luffy seemed to have engaged in a one-on-one with the enemy captain, who was easily identifiable due to the gigantic top hat perched upon his head. He had thick black hair tied neatly back in a ponytail, and a mustache and beard to match. A thick cutlass was tightened in one fist, thrusted towards Luffy—but every sweep was dodged with unbelievable bends of the torso.

You turned your attention away, whipping your sword at the pirates that surrounded you. Hiru clashed with their blades, gleaming silver scraping against theirs. You leaned forward, and the blade before you broke with the pressure, sword snapping under Hiru’s will.

The sword dropped out of the pirate’s hand, and you took the opportunity to pull your leg up, kicking him squarely in the jaw. The other lunged for you, and your fist dug into their torso, hands gripping tight to their belt. You bent over, twisting into his body to push him over your shoulder in a sweeping throw.

He fell to the floor all in one, and you landed a kick to his chest just to ensure he wouldn’t get up again. Another man—bigger, this time, probably half your width and inches taller—gunned for you.

You sidestepped him easily, agility tilting in your favor as you escaped his grasp. It was harder to take this one down—while you could dodge him well enough, and parry his oncoming attacks, he was simply too strong to compete with. Strength isn’t everything, little hawk, Mihawk would always tell you. Everyone has a weakness. Get them off balance. Use your points.

The man delivered a stinging left hook to your torso, and you gasped. He took the opportunity to grab onto your wrist, grip so tight you couldn’t move your hand. Hiru clattered out from between your fingers. You directed a hit with your elbow towards the pirate’s sternum, but it was oddly-placed, and he just sneered down at you.

One of his large fists rose to thud against your skull, and you braced for impact, but the blow never landed. A warm squishing sound of a sword against skin made your entire body shudder, and you turned to stare as your assailant’s head slid cleanly off of his neck.

Zoro was behind him when his body collapsed, sword slick with blood as he spun it lazily around in a hand. “Careful,” he said.

You gaped up at him for merely a second more before you realized your jaw was ajar. You flushed, bending over to fish Hiru up from the floor. “I was fine.”

Zoro just thrust his sword cleanly into the torso of an incoming pirate, eyes not breaking away from yours. He slid it out with a sickening sound, flicking the blood off the blade with a motion of his hand. “A thank you might be nice.”

“Behind you,” you said instead, but Zoro was already reacting. You watched him, an incurable sigh perched on the tip of your tongue. He was good. He was really, really good, and you didn’t know how to feel about it. “Is that most of them?”

“I think—” Zoro cut himself off, glancing over his shoulder as you both hear the familiar yell of Luffy’s voice screaming out one of his final moves. You both watched, soundless, as his foot smashed into the top hat pirate’s face, flinging him all the way across the water straight into the mast of his own ship. Only mere seconds later did the mast crack, the wooden pole falling down in a glorious, wooden heap.

“...Yeah, we’re fine.” Zoro said. He leaned down, grabbing the shirt of one of the fallen pirates to wipe his blade with before sliding it back in its scabbard. “Let’s get out of here.”

“On it.” Nami snapped her bo staff closed—when she’d jumped down into the battle, you were unsure, but she was already returning to her place at the helm. “Toss these bodies off our boat, would you, Zoro?”

“Right.” Zoro bent over, easily picking up the fallen pirate and chucking the corpse overboard without another thought. You watched him the entire time, the strain of his biceps against his skin forming solid ridges up his arms.

“I can clean your swords,” you said, words a bit too late out of your mouth. Zoro glanced up, brow creased. “While you’re doing that.”

Zoro looked uncertain, but he unstrapped the scabbards from his hip, handing the twin katanas to you. You took them, glancing over his figure again. He moved with difficulty, and while you’d originally thought that was because of the bodies’ weight, you now saw the real reason. Lines of crimson were seeping through his shirt, a pool by the left side of his lower abdomen the biggest injured site. You took an involuntary step forward. “You’re hurt.”

“I can treat them later,” Zoro said dismissively. “Gotta clean up the Merry first.”

“No, mosshead, the lady is right,” Sanji said. You startled, not having noticed him slip up beside you. “Usopp and I can manage with waste control, eh?” He winked. “Go clean up.”

Zoro glared at him, the look dripping with malice, but he didn’t argue past that. “Fine,” he said, chucking another body—this one alive—off the side of the ship before straightening. You heard the hitch in his breath as he spoke, along with the near-imperceptible wince of his face. “You good, Luffy?”

“A little hungry,” Luffy responded truthfully. He was still watching the other ship. Fire had started aboard it, and soft billows of black smoke drifted in the air. “Can you cook something up later, Sanji?”

“Got it,” Sanji said. “Tell your first mate to patch up his wound before he bleeds out all over our beautiful deck.”

“The deck isn’t beautiful, it’s got blood and guts all over it,” Zoro muttered.

“Well, have a little respect and don’t add to the mess.” Sanji fixed him with a stern look. Zoro bared his teeth at him in a grimace, extracting a sharp little laugh out of your throat. His eyes brushed over yours, a glimmer of surprise dancing in his irises, before he ducked inside.

“Why are you following me?” Zoro asked flatly, as you entered the cabin he’d gone into. You’d hastened to keep up with him, only a few steps behind before finding the room he’d gone into. Zoro had propped himself up on the hanging bed, loosening the ties of his wrap shirt to expose his bare chest.

“I was wondering if you needed any help with your wounds.” You deposited Zoro’s swords, along with Hiru, on the table in the room, moving closer to him to survey the scene. “If you wanted it.”

Zoro’s gaze met yours, and he said nothing for a moment. “First aid kit’s over there,” he finally said, nodding to the table. You moved towards it, opening up the small box to expose supplies of bandages, needles, stitch string, and disinfectant inside. You carried the box over to the bed, sanitizing your hands before carefully parting the folds of Zoro’s shirt. The cloth stuck to skin, coagulating blood making the shirt peel rather than move. Now that his entire torso was bared, though, you could fully inspect his wounds. There were still bandages from Yoru’s cut, all dirtied up now from his other injuries—you’d have to take them off and re-dress them, so he’d be in the bed for thirty minutes at least.

You turned your attention to the cut by Zoro’s abdomen, deciding it was the most important thing to focus on. The cut wasn’t too deep, but it was gushing a steady flow of blood, and you picked up a towel to press against the wound. “Hold,” you instructed, and Zoro’s fingers brushed against yours as he took a hold of the cloth. “Thanks. I’ve got to take your bandages off, then I’ll clean and dress all the wounds. That one down there might need stitches.”

“How do you know how to do this?” Zoro asked, watching as you unwrapped the previous bandages from around his chest. You were careful to touch his skin as little as possible, distracting yourself with the blood and gauze.

“My dad,” you answered. You’d spent too many late nights patching up a wound Mihawk had brushed off as unimportant, only to wind up bleeding out on your couch. Zoro raised a brow.

“Dracule Mihawk gets injured?”

“Of course he does,” you said with a huff. “Don’t be stupid. He’s a man, just like the rest of you.” The gash from Yoru had fully scabbed over, revealing a long, trembling crust of dark ochre. You finished peeling off all the bandages, and cast them to the side.

“You know a lot.”

“Jack of all trades, master of none,” you quipped. You moved away from the desk to fill a bucket with warm water, dipping a cloth into it and squeezing out the excess. You dabbed around Yoru’s scab with the cloth, careful not to break the shell while still cleaning it of any extra gunk. Then you focused on flushing out the other wounds, wiping across his skin and getting all the little nicks on his chest and arms. Zoro didn’t say a word, but you could feel his eyes boring into your skull, watching you with a hardened intensity that made your insides churn.

You nudged his hand away, examining the big cut. The rag he was holding had filled up with blood, white cotton dyed red and sodden with liquid. Thankfully, the bleeding seemed to have lessened. You wiped up all the last of it with your towel, swiping it against the pills of blood that had caught along the waistband of his trousers. Zoro hissed as you came into contact with the wound. “Sorry,” you murmured.

“Why are you apologizing?”

You frowned at that. “Because it hurt?”

“I thought you were mad at me,” Zoro said stiffly. You raised your brows. “Since… you thought I was annoyed at you, or whatever.”

“Just because you feel a certain kind of way towards me doesn’t mean I reciprocate the same feelings,” you answered, setting aside your towel after deciding everything had been cleaned out well enough. You picked up another cloth, dabbing this one with some alcohol to disinfect the wound. “This is going to sting,” you warned.

Zoro’s jaw clenched, teeth grinding against each other as you flushed out the wound. His torso clenched, and your eyes fell across his exposed midriff, watching the tight skin that was seemingly sculpted into muscles. You glanced away just a moment later, a dusting of warmth brushing over your cheeks. “On that topic,” you hastened to say, trying to distract yourself from the half-naked man in front of you, “Why were you avoiding me?”

Zoro let out a sigh, the sound stuttered as he clenched his jaw again when you brushed your towel against his wound. You waited, taking out a fresh cloth to dab at the other nicks on his body. You examined the wound near his left side again. “Stitches.”

“Great,” Zoro muttered. You ignored him, searching in the kit for some needle and thread. “Can you take the stitches out from your dad’s yet?”

“Ha ha. You’re going to need those for a few more weeks,” you said, without even looking at the scab to check. “Ask me again later. Yoru cuts are deadly.”

Zoro let his eyes flutter closed. “It’s a great sword.”

“Yeah, it is,” you said. You paused from where you were threading the needle, glancing up at Zoro’s face now that you knew he couldn’t catch you staring. He looked so peaceful in this state, eyelashes splayed along his cheeks, dark umber freckles that you hadn’t noticed before splattered across his face. There were dozens of them, skin sun-worn and bearing the marks as proof—constellations of dark brown stars, so similar to his warm, glowing skin it was easy to miss. A five-o’-clock shadow traced around his mouth, and at his left ear, his golden earrings gleamed bright.

“I don’t feel anything,” Zoro said, and you snapped out of your reverie, fingers fumbling to finish threading your needle.

“Patience is a virtue, you know,” you hissed. Zoro snorted.

“Yeah, one I don’t have.” You rolled your eyes, tying off the string and bending down to examine the cut again. It wasn’t too wide—maybe five or six stitches at most. You gave Zoro no warning except for the light brush of your fingers against the wound, and he hissed again.

You glanced up. “Do you want something to bite on?”

“I’m not a toddler,” Zoro sneered. You mouthed his words mockingly, though you didn’t actually speak them, not wanting him to catch you doing such an immature action. You fixed your gaze back on the wound, free hand resting flat against Zoro’s abdomen to steady you—his skin was warm under your palm, and you expected him to say something, but to your surprise, he didn’t even flinch.

The first puncture came carefully. Zoro hissed, the sound of a low rumble in his throat as you felt his abdomen clench under your palm. You forced yourself to continue, pulling the thread fully through the skin before moving onto the other side of the wound. You did it again, carefully to keep the string untangled as it ran through Zoro’s flesh.

“It wasn’t because I was mad at you,” Zoro said abruptly, and you paused, glancing up to look at Zoro’s face. His eyes were still closed, brows contorted tight and mouth bared down into a grimace. “Don’t stop. I wasn’t avoiding you because I was angry. Or because of anything you did.”

“Why, then?” you asked, lowering your head to continue with your stitches. Zoro took in a sharp breath at the next one, the edges of a scream cutting into his breath but not fully escaping from his throat. You were rubbing a comforting circle into his stomach before you could stop yourself—muscle memory from patching up your dad’s wounds. You swallowed hard, but didn’t stop the motions—Zoro didn’t seem offended by them.

His voice was raggedy when he spoke again. “Fighting against you. It reminded me of—my friend, from back then. I told you about her.”

Your lips pursed, but you didn’t stall your actions, running the thread through the hole you’d pricked. “The one you made the promise to?”

“Yeah,” Zoro said, the word falling out all in one breath. You fixed the string tight along the wound, fingers splayed across his stomach warning him for the next puncture. He continued speaking despite it, and your needle hovered over his skin. “We were training together—fuck.”

“Sorry,” you said again, still running your thread through his skin as he heaved out a long, ragged groan from low in his throat.

“We were training together,” he repeated. “Haven’t done that in a while with a girl. So it—” His voice tapered off in another breathy groan. “Reminded me of her. I got bitchy.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” you said. You were getting close to the end of the wound now, but your actions slowed, just to keep him talking—the words came out all harsh and hesitant, and you got the feeling speaking about his past was a laborious task. Might as well let him have the safety of avoiding your eyes like this while he spoke. “Do I look like her or something?”

Zoro huffed out a laugh. “Ha. No.”

“Okay,” you said. You pierced his skin again—he took this one better, muscles clenching as he sucked in hard. You waited until you finished the stitch to speak again. “Are you going to keep avoiding me?”

“No,” Zoro said. His words pierced the air, weighed heavy with a gasp of pain and a hiss, but it still rang sharp in your ears. He eased out a breath, long and soft. “It was unfair. Can’t help it sometimes, that’s all.”

“That’s fine,” you answered carefully. You threaded one last stitch, both of you mute as you tightened the wound closed with the suture and tied it off. You snipped the string with a pocketknife, using another damp towel to clean up any of the excess blood. “I’m going to dress everything with bandages now. Almost done.”

“Okay,” Zoro said. You reorganized your supplies, tucking away your stitching things to replace with bandages and dressing pads. You washed your hands again, then returned to bend over Zoro’s torso. When you did, you were surprised to see Zoro’s eyes had opened, soft brown irises boring into yours. You swallowed, feeling the burn of his gaze into your skin as you stared at the skin of his midsection.

“I’ll do the big one first, then everything else,” you said carefully. You worked in silence, pressing a dressing pad along the wound and tying it off with some gauze to fix it in place. You moved around his body, bandaging up any cuts you deemed worthy until you finally were left with Yoru’s cut.

It stretched the entire expanse of his torso, from shoulder to hip. It’d been well done, the cut deep but not deep enough to kill as long as someone was fast enough with treatment. You recognized the shape of the cut, the very tip of it thin before Yoru’s mouth caught the skin with the center of his blade. “He did it like this on purpose?” Zoro asked.

“Yeah,” you said. “He’s methodical with most things.” You wrapped gauze around the scab, tightening it up and then finally tying it off by his hip. “I’d keep that on for a few days before replacing it. Keep dressing it for another two weeks or so. It’ll probably start swelling soon, so I can help you drain whatever fluid develops.”

“I’ll let you know,” Zoro said. He was still watching you with those big brown eyes, and a soft shiver traced down your spine. “Thank you.”

“Thank you for saving me from that pirate earlier,” you said. You surveyed him again, though you were careful not to meet his eyes. A long silence filled the space, heavy with something you couldn’t quite place. You ducked your head, busying yourself with putting away the first aid kit. The words fell from your mouth before you could stop them— “I like your earrings.”

“Oh,” Zoro said. Nothing else.

You were pretty sure you liked more than the earrings. You liked the way he fought, even if it scared you sometimes—even if you knew one day he’d probably be able to beat your father. You liked his face; those big brown eyes, soulless at times but holding the world in those glistening irises at others. Those freckles, adorned with the entire galaxy, stars and planets and constellations dotting his cheeks like a mural of life. The way he talked, soft-spoken but utterly real, voice low in his throat, words disturbingly honest.

You didn’t say so, though. You stuck with the earrings, because those were safer.

pt. 1 | pt. 2 | pt. 3

taglist: @untoldshortsofthefandoms @ellisaworld @yeonieesss @sarcastic-sourwolf @rouzuchan @dashcrashbash @blossomedfloweroflove @ fangeekkk @winuvs @katiemrty @asexualimmortal @fayetheenthusiast @freedom-kitty @ren-ni @je4nc4tb0y @dwcode @albedosfiance @13-09-01 @dimplewonie @cellgore @ shabzy1644 @applepie972 @mayo0ma @smoochesfromlevi @ csmbrainrot @intoanothermind @junieloonie @yourlocalgoose @swthrxrry @lovefooi @dailybrekker @taeriffic @xxemmarldxx @alastorswife63 @butterfliesinthenightsky @mukeovernetflix @wonuskie @mysingularitybts @sorasolarium @chaitea-69 @wishyouwere-sober @mchlist @bibi-bieber-winchester @prowkarma @loveyluv7 @hhighkey @jesssssmaybankk @threadofdestiny @hinata7346 @thevampiricprincess @wreckmyimage @prettyinsatiable @fairygirl18 @idcalol @bangtannie7 @carav4l @kookie-doughs @bluesiebirdie @endeaz @q8852p @addisonwilkins1 @louweasleymalfoy @alelovesmitski

#opla zoro #opla roronoa zoro #opla #roronoa zoro #roronoa zoro x reader #roronoa zoro x you #reader insert #x reader #one piece live action #one piece netflix #one piece live action x you #one piece live action x reader #opla fanfic #opla fanfiction #dracule mihawk #opla zoro x reader #kiki writes!

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heavencanbeaprisontoo · 1 month

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Hi I hope you’re well 😊 I’m here to request your thoughts on Tommy Shelby as a father. Like how many kids you’d think he would have had if he only had one love interest (no falling in love with Grace or marrying Lizzie). Or if you think he’d be a girl or boy dad (personally i’d like to think he’d be a girl dad and have a big family haha). You can make this headcanon or just simply respond to this ask however you’d like! Thank you for taking the time to read and answer 🥰

Thomas Shelby as a Father

Tommy x Fem!Reader

Trope: Wait till your father gets home Warnings: Angst, spoilers for most of the series, period-typical sexism, references to past ab-se.

What we see of Tommy as a father is that he's distant and seemingly detached. This, I feel, is because of his trauma in losing Grace and his growing obsession with obtaining power.

We do see that Tommy is aware of his children's emotional state but seems unable to comfort his son. He goes as far as to have Arthur be the one to talk to his son about why he had to shoot his horse.

Tommy clearly cares about his children. He runs through a field of landmines to save his son, when he had almost stepped on one to purposely end his own life. Tommy goes nearly mad when he finds out Alfie Solomons was involved with the enemy that kidnapped his son. He shot Alfie for that betrayal with the intent to kill.

When Ruby became ill and he thought was all due to a curse, Tommy hunted the woman down. He went on a bloody rampage because he thought it would save her. With all of this, we know he is a loving father. But without Grace, he doesn't seem to know how to show that love.

Let's say that there is no Grace, only you, and that no sapphire is ever put around your neck.

That Thomas might be different than the one we saw parenting Charles and Ruby. I think he would want more than two children. I think he would be the sort of man who would say "one is enough," but really he wants four.

He would never raise his voice in his home without good reason. Tommy knows what its like to have a father that rules through fear and honey. He won't be kind only when he wants something. He won't make his children afraid of him.

Personally, I do see him as prime girl-dad material. Like he would have one son and three girls. Regardless of the birthing order, he calls the boy his "heir," but spoils the girls. They each have their own horse, a wardrobe of beautiful clothing, and freedom to do literally whatever they want. He has opened his briefcase to find dollies and teacups from your youngest girl's tea set before. She thought he would be lonely at work.

His girls would be the sort to follow around staff and ask them intrusive questions. Tommy would not be immune. His daughters would probably ask him questions like: "Do you not grow hair on the back of your hand daddy? Is that why it's only on top?" At least one of his daughters would have a "I'm totally a witch," phase where she's flinging curses just like he used to. Only with her, it's cute because she's only nine.

The only son of Thomas Shelby would be safely tucked under his wing. At your imploring, he would take your boy on long car rides or out into town without his sisters to bond. The boy has a lot of pressure on him to succeed, Tommy doesn't always sympathize with that.

All four of his children would be little hellions. He would be dragged to see their school's headmaster on a near weekly basis. To the point where he isn't always sure which of his kids is in trouble sometimes. He just drops a donation to the school and the problem goes away. That's not to say your children are bratty or terribly spoiled. Well, they are, but not unbearably so...

Tommy makes sure his children understand where he came from. He brings them all to the Cut to watch the ships come through. Loves to leave them at Charlie's yard for an afternoon of mischief and bonding time with "Grandpa Charlie." They also get dropped off at Aunt Polly's home for weekends every now and again. The girls always come back with a new swear word.

They are new money, not old money. There are those who will look down upon them based on this alone. He makes sure his children are educated and well-rounded individuals. Tommy often worries about the state of the Shelby Empire after he dies. You remind him that he "isn't allowed to die," before you say so.

Tommy is still more distant than you would like him to be. He's so focused on his goals, it's like he forgets all about Arrow House and the family that lives there. The oldest two girls have said as much to his face once before. He took the family on holiday after that. You knew he would go right back to long nights in the office, but it was still sweet.

Life with him is hardly perfect, but it's closer to it than you could have with anybody else. And that's enough.

#peaky blinders #peaky blinders x reader #thomas shelby #peaky blinders headcanon #peaky blinders imagine #thomas shelby x reader #tommy shelby #thomas shelby headcanon #thomas shelby x you

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cozage · 1 year

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OMG HIII I LOVE YOUR WRITINGGG this is gonna be my first request ever (literally having a nervous breakdown) but I wanted to request a fem reader who is the bio daughter of whitebeard and comes back after 2 years of shinobi training to meet the new crew member Fire fist ace! and can you pls make it a short fic (I cannot fathom the words of how obsessed I am with this man IFDFJDKDGJK) (also can she have a DF that's associated with lava? pls and thank you *literally bowing*)

A/N: God this was so adorable to write. I'm so obsessed with this fun little story. Literally once I started writing I couldn't stop. thank u

Characters: female reader, Ace, Marco, Whitebeard & Crew

Cw: alcohol, drunk reader

Total word count: 2.3k

Part 2 | Table of Contents | Read on A03

The Daughter’s Return Chapter 1: The Promised Position

The vivre card in your hand continued to move forward, but you could see the familiar outline of the Moby Dick ahead of you, and you grinned at the sight of being so close to your family again. You had been training for two years, and you couldn’t wait to catch up with your friends and your father after being apart for so long.

Your small boat looked even tinier as the giant ship loomed closer to you, but you weren’t concerned. Blue flames shot into the sky from the blue ship, and you sent out a stream of lava into the air in return. It was your code to the first division commander and friend, proof that you were who they were expecting.

You saw a creature with blue flamed wings shoot into the sky, and you gathered up your things. You only had a small backpack and a few bags of food, so there wasn’t much to pack up. You said goodbye to your small raft, thanking it for its usefulness during your journey.

Marco landed on your boat, and you squealed in delight seeing your brother again. He wrapped you up in a hug and spun you around, laughing gleefully at your return.

“Pops is going to be thrilled to see you,” he said, sitting you down. He ruffled your hair affectionately, smiling at you. “Missed you, kid.”

“Missed you too, Marco,” you said, grinning at him. You picked up a bag, handing it off to him to carry back to the ship.

“You’ve grown!” he commented. “I can’t look down at you anymore.”

You gave him a cheeky grin. “I’m stronger too.”

“You better be!” He laughed. “Pops didn’t smuggle you into Wano for you to come back the same!”

“Maybe he’ll finally make me commander now.” You stared up at the ship, thinking of the goal you’d been working towards since the beginning of your training.

“About that…” Marco trailed off, and you shot him a suspicious look.

“What?”

He sighed, deciding to prepare you. “Pop’s filled the second division commander seat, actually.”

“What?” you hissed. “You’re joking.”

“I’m not.”

“With who?” you demanded. You refused to believe him. “I thought nobody wanted it.”

“It’s a new guy.”

“A new guy?” you scoffed. “You’re pulling my leg, Marco. It’s not funny.”

Marco looked nervous talking about it. “Let’s go see Pops, alright? He’ll explain.”

You scowled, and your stomach clenched in anticipation. “Yeah, let’s go. I have some words to say to him.”

Marco wrapped his arms around your torso and extended his phoenix wings. “I’m glad to see you’re still a hothead.” You could hear the teasing in your voice, but you weren’t in the mood for jokes anymore.

“Shinobi training can’t fix everything,” you grumbled. You could feel your skin getting warm, a sign you were letting your emotions get to you.

You heard a lot of low whispers and mumbling, but you paid the new recruits no mind as you stormed across Moby Dick. Your father wasn’t on the deck, so you continued on to the command room.

“DAD!” you screamed, and you could see some of the newer members slink away from you in fear. A part of you felt some pride to have such an impact, but you were too pissed to revel in it.

You slammed the command room door open to find your father speaking with another man you didn’t recognize, but you paid the guest no mind. You were too focused on settling the score of the second division commander seat.

Whitebeard smiled at you. “Y/N! You’re-”

“You bastard!” you shrieked. You pulled out a kunai, pointing it at your old man. “You promised!”

The unknown man threw a knife and knocked the kunai out of your hand, and you turned to glare at him. He was shirtless and was wearing an obnoxious orange hat, and he was returning your gaze with a look of equal irritation.

“Stay out of this, newbie,” you hissed at the man.

You reached into your pouch to grab another kunai, but he lunged at you, grabbing your wrist to stop you.

“I don’t know who you are,” the man said in a low, dangerous voice. “But you have no right attacking Pops the moment you get on our ship.”

“Stay out of my affairs,” you snarled.

You turned your wrist to lava rocks to burn his hand, but at first the man didn’t react. You frowned, turning up the heat to liquidize your arm into magma, and finally the man pulled away in pain. He looked down at his hand in shock, as if he wasn’t expecting to be burned. You couldn’t blame him. It’s not everyday someone’s skin turns into boiling liquid.

Whitebeard laughed loud and hearty, breaking the tension between you and the man, and you refocused your anger back to your father.

“Never a dull moment with you around, kid! It’s great to have you back,” he laughed, and your face flushed with anger.

“You promised me a commander position when I got back,” you yelled at him. “Who the hell did you give it to instead?”

Whitebeard laughed even harder. “That would be Ace.”

“Who the hell is Ace?” you hissed.

The shirtless man raised his hand. “Uh-”

“I said stay out of my affairs!” You could feel steam coming off your head. Sometimes that happened when you got too angry.

The man pointed at himself. “Me. I’m Ace.”

You could feel your insides turning hot, lava coursing through your veins.

“You’re joking,” you said. You glanced at your father, who was still smirking at the two of you. “He’s joking, right?”

You father raised his eyebrows, his gaze darting between the two of you, but he said nothing.

“Portgas D. Ace,” the man said, holding out a hand to you. You rolled your eyes and turned away from him, facing your father.

“This guy?'' Your voice was full of skepticism.

“Hey!” Ace yelled from behind you. “Don’t underestimate me!”

“I could squash you like a bug,” you shot back, still refusing to look at him. “Dad-”

“The decision was made with good reason, my girl,” Whitebeard said. “You’ll be working alongside him closely in the second division.”

“No, I won’t,” you laughed, rolling your eyes at his suggestion.

“Yes, you will.” You could hear the seriousness in your father’s voice, the warning of consequences thick in his tone.

You decided it was best to not outright defy him, and you switched your tactic from stubborness to logic.

“I’ve always been under Marco,” you reasoned.

“You’ll be better suited in the second division now.” You could feel Ace smirking behind you, and you resisted the urge to turn around and punch his teeth out.

“Let me get this straight,” you said, trying to keep a level voice. “You give my commander position away and then tell me I have to work under the guy who took it from me?”

Ace laughed. “The second division position has been open for-”

You flicked a volcanic rock back at him, and he yelped in pain.

“Marco is a fire user like me,” you worked to plead your case further. “And I know him. I would work better under him.”

“The first division is a medical division now,” your father explained. You could see you were testing his patience, but you didn’t care. “Your talents are better served on the offensive front, which Ace leads.”

“But-”

“Plus,” your father added, cutting you off. “Ace is a fire user as well.”

You felt warmth spring up behind you, but you refused to give Ace the satisfaction of being acknowledged.

“Dad-”

“I’m not wavering on this decision,” he said with finality.

You felt your father’s conqueror’s haki spread out over the ship, and you knew that you had lost the argument. You could hear Ace stumble slightly behind you, and you resisted the urge to argue even further over the man’s weakness. At this point it would only make your father angry, even if you were right.

“Fine, fine,” you sighed, giving up. There’d be plenty of time to talk with him about the position and prove your worth. “Can we at least have a party?”

Whitebeard’s overwhelming presence disappeared and his jolly laugh returned in an instant, already forgetting your alls squabble. He stood up, wrapping you in a comforting embrace, leading you past Ace and out onto the deck.

“My daughter has returned home!” he shouted, and the crew cheered. “Prepare a feast!”

At least the party life on the Moby Dick hadn’t changed at all. You could still beat just about anyone in a drinking contest, and by halfway through the night, your mind was cloudy from the alcohol.

You took a step away from the party and the fun to get a moment alone with the stars. You took a drink of the ale in your tankard, staring up at the million lights in the sky and thinking about how different the constellations looked during your time in Wano. You were so close to that country and those people, yet so far.

“I think we got off on the wrong foot,” a male voice said behind you, startling you from your thoughts.

You glanced back to find Portgas D. Ace walking towards you, looking up at the night sky. He was attempting to be casual about the whole thing, as if he had randomly found you here, but you could tell that he had most likely searched you out on purpose.

You rolled your eyes and turned away from him. He wasn’t even worth giving the time of day. He hadn’t done anything to prove he was anything special yet.

But Ace obviously wasn’t willing to give up that easily, because he came and stood directly next to you. His eyes were still on the sky, just like yours were.

“I just feel like since we’re going to be working together, we should probably get to know each other a little better,” he said.

You thought of plenty of snarky responses, but said none of them. You knew the silent treatment would be the best way to shut him down. Portgas D. Ace was not your friend. You wanted nothing to do with him.

“Are you happy to be back on the ship?”

Still nothing came out of your mouth. You didn’t even look his way, you simply took another long drink. But you could see him starting to pout. It was only a matter of time before he gave up and returned to the party. You just had to keep your mouth shut.

“All the guys said you had a pretty smoking ability. But I dunno, I think my fire ability is pretty hot.”

You scoff at that. “I’m hotter,” you shot back.

Damn him. He could rile you up, and he knew exactly how to. You could see him smirk in the corner of your eye, and you cursed yourself for being so easy to manipulate.

“That’s what they all said too,” he said quietly, a smile still lingering on his face.

You turned to look at him, your face full of frustration. “What do you want?”

He seemed surprised by your question. “What do you mean?”

“Why are you speaking to me?” you demanded. “What do you want?”

“Wh-No-I just-” Ace stammered, trying to find his words.

You stared at him, your scowl deepening every time he started his sentence over.

“You’re Whitebeard’s daughter, aren’t you?” he finally asked.

“Yeah. And?”

“I’ve just heard a lot about you,” he said.

“And?”

“I dunno,” he said. “You intrigued me.”

You scowled at him. “What the hell does that mean?”

“I dunno!” He let out an exasperated sigh, turning his gaze to the stars. “You were just this larger than life story people always told since I got on this ship. Everyone always had something to say about you. I guess I just wanted to know how much of it was true.”

“All of it is true,” you said.

Ace let out a laugh, and then clamped his hand over his mouth to stop himself. “I really hope not.”

Your eye twitched, and you could feel your skin starting to tingle. “If people are lying about me, they’ll pay for it.”

“Marco talked about you like you were this sweet little kid.”

“Marco’s delusional.”

Ace laughed again, and this time he didn’t stop himself. You found yourself smiling along with him.

“He definitely sees the best in people,” Ace said.

You shot him a look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

You could see Ace tense. “Oh, nothing! I-”

You let out joyous rings of laughter now, and you see Ace give a strained smile, mostly unsure of how to react to your sudden friendliness.

“You’re funny, Portgas D. Ace.” You go to take another sip of alcohol, just to find your cup empty. You frowned at it, and turned to go find more booze.

“I’ll get it,” Ace offered, holding out his hand to take your cup. “I’m empty too.”

You nod, handing it off to him. The party was so loud anyway. You preferred the quiet atmosphere this late in the night. He strode away, and you watched him go, your father’s emblem displayed proudly on his back. He still wasn’t anything special, but at least he wasn’t scared of you like half of the crew.

You hadn’t realized how much alcohol you had drank throughout the night until you were alone, and suddenly the world was spinning. You laid down on the deck to get your bearings, and then found yourself stuck there.

When Ace came back, he found you sprawled out, staring upwards.

“You okay?” he asked. He bent down to look at you, his face obscuring part of the sky.

You giggled. “Your freckles look like stars.”

“You’re drunk.”

“No you’re drunk.”

He chuckled. “Your insults get worse as the night goes on.”

You stuck your tongue out at him, and then patted the deck next to you. “Come lay down.”

He obliged, his head resting next to yours. “What are we looking for?” he questioned.

“Shhhh!” you hissed, pressing a finger to his mouth. “You’ll scare them away.”

You felt his lips turn upward against your finger, but he was quieter when he spoke.

“What are we looking for?” he whispered.

“Shooting stars!” you whispered back.

“Oh,” Ace whispered. “Of course.”

“Tell me when you find one,” you said quietly. “I’m going to rest my eyes for a minute.”

You’re not sure if he ever found one. You were asleep before he responded.

#im a sucker for stargazing SUE. ME!!!!#one piece #one piece imagine #one piece scenario #one piece x reader #one piece x you #portgas d ace #portgas ace x reader #portgas d ace x reader #portgas d ace x y/n #portgas d ace x you #ace x reader #ace x y/n #cozage #the daughters return #✧˚ace✧˚

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honeybeefae · 11 months

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Forgotten Ties (Eris Vanserra x Reader)

Summary// Years trying to forget him. Years forming a new life, a new home, to try and rebuild what he had so carelessly thrown away. Only for it to all come crumbling down with a single meeting.

(Okay I totally wrote this all at once. It’s just an idea I had, I’d love to write more parts if y’all want! It’s a bit different from what I usually write so I hope you like it!❤️)

Part Two / Part Three / Part Four

Playlist for Story

WARNINGS: Slight angst

You lived with your daughter Helena in the Rainbow district of Velaris, having moved here shortly after giving birth thanks to a friend who opened up her home to you.

Being from the Autumn Court you had never known the beauty of the Night Court, especially Velaris, and even now you were still blown away.

When you had moved here you offered to create some gowns for your friend to display, to try and gather some money for rent and your child, and were surprised at how fast they were snatched up. It was so successful that you eventually had the money to open up your own store.

The shop you owned was small, squished between a pottery shop and an artists den. You were a seamstress just as your father was. You loved the intricate patterns you could create with your fingertips, how the different fabrics mixed and felt. It was something you had grown up doing and had also seen you through the trials under the mountain.

The nights were tireless, the days long as you took care of your daughter while also running your business. However you never let Helena see your worries. She was your entire world, the light of your life, and you did not want her to fuss over you.

She was a spitting image of her father with her auburn locks and amber eyes. You never regretted having Helena but you wish you hadn’t been so naive when you had met that man, hadn’t believed his lies and sweet words.

He still haunted your dreams to this day. The nightmares were of him leaving you the day you were all freed, passing you by as if you didn’t exist. The dreams were of the nights you spent together, the promises you had made and the comfort of his arms.

You kept a napkin next to your bedside table so you could wipe away the tears before Helena ran into your room in the mornings.

“Mama! Mama! Can I have this one? Pleaseeee?” She whined, breaking you from your thoughts as you turned to the window full of dolls.

The two of you were strolling through the shops on your way home. It had been a rare day off and you took her out to go see the ships sailing away with a picnic by the sea.

“Helena, don’t you already have that one?” You smiled lovingly, brushing the hair out of her eyes as she pouted. “Your entire room is filled to the top with dolls.”

“But not this one!” She argued, crossing her arms.

Your shoulders shook with a chuckle as you shook your head, placing a hand on her back and ushering her forward.

“Perhaps another time, love, maybe we can-“ You stopped in the middle of your sentence when you looked down the street, seeing someone you had never thought you would have to see again.

He was the same as you remembered, though he seemed to have more frown lines. People were whispering as he walked beside the High Lord and Lady, his hands behind his back as he took in the city.

“Mama?” Helena tugged on your arm, a worried look on her face. You took a deep breath and gathered yourself together, bending down to Helena’s height.

“I’m alright, darling. I just need you to hold mama’s hand tight, okay? We need to get home now.” You tried to say softly though even you could hear the urgency in your tone.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, observant as always. You kissed her cheek and stood up straight, grabbing her hand.

“Nothing, I just forgot that I left the stove on! I need to go turn it off.” You lied through your teeth, not waiting to see if she bought it as you started speed-walking through the crowd.

You had to go the way the trio was coming in order to get home so you did your best to lay low, weaving through the crowd like a snake. The sign of your shop started to peek through and just as you made into the clearing, you heard your name.

“Y/N!” Feyre called, waving her arm. You winced, closing your eyes. “Y/N! I need a favor from you, from Nesta!”

If you pretended you didn’t hear her you could be home within minutes. However, you knew she knew you had heard her. You pushed Helena behind your skirts and turned to your High Lady, bowing.

“What can I help you with, my lady?” You asked, giving her a small smile.

Feyre rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Please, there is no need to be so formal. Nesta was wanting a dress tailored for her for Solstice.”

“I can certainly do that…though it is short notice.” You point out, smirking. Feyre nodded and apologized on behalf of her sister but you assured it was fine. Nesta had become somewhat of a friend to you as you were apparently the only person who could get her outfits “right.”

“I appreciate it, Y/N.” She smiled, noticing Helena peering out behind you. “And how has this little princess been?”

“She’s been good. We just-“ You were cut off by Rhysand’s sudden appearance, his violet eyes warm as he gazed at Feyre. However you didn’t have time to dwell over the love between them as their visitor also appeared, his eyes widening when they connected with yours.

Tension was heavy in the air as you felt your heart stop. You felt warm and cold at the same time, your stomach twisted in so many knots that you were afraid you would vomit up your lunch. It felt like time stood still until he whispered, “Y/N?”

You took a step back, your heart breaking at hearing your name off his lips. It was too much. And Helena…

She was looking up at you innocently, red curls framing her face perfectly. You looked down at her, your lips parted, before back up at him.

“Do you know her, Eris?” Rhysand asked, his tone confused as he sensed something between the two of you.

However Eris was paying him no mind nor you. His gaze was entirely fixated on your daughter who was now clinging to your dress. You could see him studying her, working through dates in his mind, and watched as his face changed from confusion to shock.

“Goodbye.” You croaked, barely giving your High Lord and Lady a glance as you picked up Helena and tore through the crowds at breakneck speed. She was holding onto you tightly, mouthing of questions about the man with the red hair, but you couldn’t hear her over the roaring of your ears.

Eris stood there, watching you disappear with a child…a daughter.

His daughter.

#acotar #eris vanserra #acomaf #acowar #eris vanserra x reader #eris vanserra fic #eris x you #eris vanserra acotar #eris acotar #eris x reader #eris x reader ACOTAR #eris imagine #eris fic #acotar fics #acotar fic

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falloutdeux · 5 days

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PEOPLE!! THE GHOUL AND LUCY ARE NOT THE EQUIVALENT OF JOEL AND ELLIE!!

I feel as though so many people are instantly calling Ghoulcy gross or wrong because they’re intertwining the two. They’re totally different relationships that are in no way similar. Joel and Ellie have a father-daughter relationship because that’s what they need in eachother. The Ghoul wasn’t looking for a daughter, Lucy wasn’t in need of a father (and also isn’t a child). It is perfectly reasonable for people to ship them and see a romantic relationship between the two!!!

#fallout #the ghoul #ghoulcy #vaultghoul #lucy maclean

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bridenore · 9 months

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HD longer fics recs : 125k to 150k words

Here are a few recs for fics ranging between 125k and 150k words.

You can see my recs for fics that have more than 200k here and between 150k and 200k here.

All Our Secrets Laid Bare by @firethesound [149k]

Over the six years Draco Malfoy has been an Auror, four of his partners have turned up dead. Harry Potter is assigned as his newest partner to investigate just what is going on.

Any Instrument by @dictacontrion [131k]

Draco Malfoy wouldn’t go back to England for anything less than an exceptional case. Being asked to figure out why Harry Potter can’t control his magic might be exceptional enough to qualify.

By the Grace by @letteredlettered [139k]

Harry is an Auror instructor. Malfoy wants to be an Auror.

Dwelling on Dreams by @the-sinking-ship [135k]

Draco thought he could avoid Potter for the duration of his brief return to England. He’d stick to his schedule and be back home in Paris, where he belonged, in a few short months. No trouble at all. He had plenty to occupy him, what with the opening of the London branch of his successful apothecary, his innovative research, drinks with Pansy, a backlog of unread potions periodicals.

Except Head Auror Potter is everywhere — in Draco’s chair, at his door, in his dreams. All six feet of motorbike-riding, combat-boot-wearing, sex-hair-sporting Saviour of the World packed into one unfairly fetching uniform. Potter won’t leave Draco the bloody hell alone, won’t let him breathe, let him forget, let him sleep.

Because no matter how fast Draco Malfoy runs, Harry Potter is always hot on his heels.

Eight Days A Week by @romaine2424 [121k]

This is foremost a love story and second it’s about those growing up years. Becoming adults with adult lives and adult decisions.

Yes, Harry’s a Trainee-Auror and Draco’s a Healer-in-Training after the war. Yes, Harry eventually moves into 12 Grimmauld Place. And, yes, attraction happens between Harry and Draco and they fall in love, but then there’s more. Draco is now free from Voldemort, free from fear of going to Azkaban, free from his Father’s beliefs, and free to be the person, the witch, the woman she always felt she should be. And for Harry, it’s time to lose the shackles of his childhood and discover who he really is and what’s truly important in life. This story begins one year or so after the Battle at Hogwarts and follows their relationship faithfully for two years. The final chapter will take place later in their lives.

This is a positive transition story without body dysphoria, but will contain moments where prejudice and slights arise. This story is categorized as M/F.

25 Holiday Scenes for Eight Days a Week by @romaine2424 [16k]

Eight Days a Week continues with 25 Holiday Scenes. As of now, they are all family oriented. If that changes, I’ll update the ratings! We begin where we left off in the Main Story (before the epilogue), which is a few weeks after Libby’s surgery. They were married in the summer, and Prim, their daughter was born in September.

Every New Beginning by @fencer-x [140k]

“You curl your lip and wrinkle your nose and sneer and call me Saviour, yet you only seek my help at the eleventh hour. That’s what’s fucked up, Malfoy.” || Draco Malfoy is dead, and Harry is absolutely totally fine with that.

Graceless Heart by shushu_yaoi_lj [132k]

Harry is lost and broken after the war. He has gone to countless funerals, broken up with Ginny, moved back into Grimmauld Place—which feels darker and dirtier than ever before despite how much he tries to fix it. He feels lonely and desperate, but he won’t ask for help, and he still can’t cry.

When he agreed to help the Aurors at Malfoy Manor over the summer, he thought that he would be breaking dark curses. Harry never thought that he would actually spend his days sorting out dusty books with Draco Malfoy, or teaching him how to cook.

Little by little, as they begin to navigate their life post-war, Harry and Draco become intimate…in more ways than Harry could have ever expected.

A Sword Laid Aside by @korlaena [128k]

When Draco’s cover is blown during a deep undercover operation and the Ministry is compromised, Ron takes Draco to the only safe place he can think of—Harry. Hiding out with Harry Potter, who has been missing from the Wizarding World for almost two decades after a shocking fall from grace, is nothing like Draco thought it would be.

Taking Chances by @gracerene09 [135k]

After the war, Draco disappeared and started over in America, vowing never to return to Great Britain and the fraught past he left behind. Unfortunately, when his mates convince him to sign up for an exchange programme for the last year of their Auror Training, Draco learns that he doesn’t have much of a choice in the matter.

That Which Divides Us by oldenuf2nb / @dianacopland [126k]

Three years after what would have been their seventh year at Hogwarts, the war between the forces of light and Voldemort’s minions grinds on. But even within the ranks of the Order of the Phoenix there are vast disagreements over what is good for ‘the Chosen One’ and his volatile relationship with Draco Malfoy has many on edge. Sometimes even the best intentions can reap disaster.

This Ain’t the Garden of Eden by @romaine2424 [131k]

In 2020, Hit Wizard Harry is starting to enjoy his life. He’s divorced, and no longer Head Auror. His biggest project these days is trying to remodel 12 Grimmauld Place for him and the kids.

Draco Malfoy is recovering from his wife’s death. But is happy with his Ministry position as Temporary Head of the Department of Intoxicating Substances, and with his son who he adores.

This all changes quickly when Minister Shacklebolt decides not to run for another term. The assumption is that ‘all is well’ in the British Magical world, and that Hermione Granger-Weasley will easily be voted in as the next Minister for Magic. However, Draco knows better. He knows she has a strong competitor who is wooing those who live in Knockturn. And if he wins, the Ministry, and all that has been accomplished the previous twenty odd years, will be destroyed.

To have a Home by Aulophobia [126k]

Not quite a decade after the war, Draco Malfoy was happy with his quiet little Muggle life in Oxford. He had a small group of friends from the university he’d attended, and colleagues from the law firm where he worked as a solicitor. He played folk music on his violin around the city. And he volunteered to provide legal services getting mostly idiot teenagers out of trouble with the law. His life was full. He had no contact with the magical world, and all was the way he liked it. And the feeling of emptiness in his chest, the feeling some part of him was missing, was at least better than the alternative. Or at least it was until the last few months when he kept getting called down to the police station to get Harry Potter out of trouble. Indecent exposure and possession was one thing, but the latest charge was for murder. OR Harry and Draco find each other again after the war in Oxford, a completely non-magical city. Together they solve the mystery of the city which hates all wizards but them.

What We Pretend We Can’t See by gyzym [131k]

Seven years out from the war, Harry learns the hard truth of old history: it’s never quite as far behind you as you thought.

where all the veins meet by eight_of_wands [146k]

It's the summer of 1998. The battle is over, and Voldemort is dead, but Harry still has more questions than answers. Who is he without a piece of Voldemort's soul in his head? What is he supposed to do now?

His friends try to help, but the only thing that can hold his attention—one of the only things that ever has—is Draco Malfoy, out on parole and weirdly hanging around the British Museum.

As they keep running into each other, Harry sees that Malfoy is different, and he wonders if he can be someone else, too.

Featuring rumpled band shirts, poker games everyone hates, fumbling sex, and a Harry going a little mental over how wands even work.

I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I did!

#drarry #drarry recs #my recs

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dumbbitchenergy17 · 11 months

Text

Clan of Three (BOBF) - Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Return of the Mandalorian

Plot: A Mandalorian, an infant with a history of the jedi, and a teenager with similar powers with a slowly discovering lineage. With the child off with the Jedi, the close-knit pair continues their travels through the galaxy.

Word Count: 6.1K

Pairing: Father Figure!Din Djarin x Platonic!Teen!Reader

Warnings: Wholesome fluff, father-daughter moments, just generally happy for one

------

An apostate, a child off with the jedi, and a teenage girl with similar powers unsure of her Mandalorian or Jedi past. It was an unlikely group to have come together but now only two as they arrive at a spaceport, the crowds of people going towards their ship to take them to whatever planet in the galaxy or other is returning from parts of the galaxy. Your hand stayed clutched in the former Mandalorian’s as he leads you through the crowd. Luckily his intimidating appearance people moved out of the way making an easy path, you weren’t sure where he was taking you but you would follow him anywhere he goes.

“Attention, please. Flight 1020, nonstop service to Tatooine, is now ready for boarding at gate number one. All passengers, please proceed to the boarding area immediately.” An announcement goes off as Din follows the signs toward flight 1020.

“We’re going to Tatooine?” You ask and you see the boarding ship and both walk through a gate but the alarm goes off and a security droid appears, “Excuse me, you’re both going to have to remove your weapons.”

“I’m a Mandalorian. Weapons are part of my religion.” Din argues but the droid is adamant, “I’m sorry, sir, you can’t board a commercial flight with your weapons.” Din sighs frustrated about having to part with his weapons, “If you wish to discuss this with my supervisor, I will gladly book you on tomorrow’s flight.”

“Fine.” He says taking a card to open the check-in luggage in front of you both. Quickly pull out your blaster, and your vibro-knife placing them inside the crate, you hesitate with your saber before placing it inside. Watching Din as he places his blaster, shakes out the whistling birds, and slides the bullet capsules off his bandolier and you see people boarding the ship as he looks over before speeding up. Pulling out a pair of pliers you didn’t even know he had, the other bandolier he had strapped to his ankle, the charges on his belt, removing the wire from his vambraces coiling it up, before holding out the Darksaber before placing it in the case and closing it. Taking out the card he points at the droid,

“I know everything that’s in there.” “Proceed.” Din gives one last look at the droid before you both board the ship. The passenger lounge area filled with different people with you and Din settled in your seats. You had snatched up the window seat watching as you depart from Glavis Ringworld.

“Hey kid,” Din calls out and you turn away from the window looking at the man, “You were up real early. Try getting some sleep.”

You wave him off turning to look back at the window, “I’m fine…I’m not even tired.”

You snore quietly leaning against Din’s shoulder, it was the second they entered hyperspace you were out. Looking down at you Din fixes the hood that was slowly coming off your head and you shift mumbling something in your sleep before you are fast asleep. Though your mask covered everything minus your eyes he could see the total relaxation in your face the crease between your brows smoothed out as you peacefully dream. Din glances away at the cloth holding the two gifts for his children he only hoped you both enjoyed them. It was tradition for Mandalorians to gift the foundlings with small portions of beskar that they had earned. A flash of movement comes in front of him and he looks meeting the gaze of a Rodian child backward on his seat looking at him. The child stares at him before raising a hand and waving at him, Din makes no notion in return and his mother quickly pulls him back down to sit while scolding the small child. Din sighs trying to relax but he couldn’t with the dreaded news of becoming an apostate, Mandalore had been abandoned for years the planet apparently cursed a toxin for all. If he wished to be accepted again into the clan he would have to figure a way to get to Mandalore and bathe in the living waters…that’s if those even exist anymore.

You're gently awoken as you rub the sleep from your eyes as you follow Din exiting the ship where you see the same security droid waiting with the luggage card, “Welcome to Mos Eisley.” It greets you both as Din puts the card to open the luggage finding all your items still intact. Returning your weapons back to their rightful places and Din is back in full Mandalorian armor plus weapons he returns the card to the droid.

“On behalf of all our crew, thank you for traveling Star Liner Travel. We wish you a pleasant stay and hope to see you again very soon.” The droid wishes well as you both head off into Mos Eisley. It’s been a long time since you’ve been back to Mos Eisley just to your home planet in general, it felt natural being home. The sand beneath your shoes, the dual suns shining down on you the heat however for some unbearable it’s a welcoming feeling. Following Din through the streets before you grow closer to the Mos Eisley docking bay to return to a familiar friend. Entering the bay and heading towards a specific hanger you hear yelling coming from hangar 3-5 as you come down the stairs and Din whips out his blaster firing it at the womp rat killing it.

“Oh, good. Oh, boy!” Peli stands up looking at her savior spotting the two of you, “Hey, look, everyone. It’s Mando.” You see the droids cheer though hesitant with the man’s former anti-droid sentiment. Following behind as you pull off your hood and mask now out of the public eye and the woman spots you.

“Kid? That you! Look at you, you’re all grown up and sweet duds.” She compliments your new outfit and the growth since you were last here.

“What do we owe the pleasure? You here to slay another dragon? Chasing down some elusive bounty?” Peli asks wiping the sand off her pants as she moves around her hangar with the two of you following after, “I got your message.” Din says and she turns to look at you.

“Message? What message?” “You said you found me a replacement for the Razor Crest,” Din says and she snaps her fingers remembering.

“Yeah, that’s right. That’s what I said. That’s what I do. I’ve been working my butt off, yeah. Did you bring the cash?” She holds out her hand and Din pulls out the latest bounty tossing it to her, “It’s right here.”

“Mind if I count it? Not that I don’t trust you. I just wanna make sure you don’t give me too much.” She starts counting them before turning towards where her droids are poking at the dead womp rat, “Hey, droids, make yourself useful. Count this up, and then fire up the grill before that thing gets gamey. Right, this way. Wait till you get your eyes on this baby. So, where is your other unlikely companion?” She says over her shoulder as you follow,

“I returned him to his own kind.” Din explains and Peli gives him the most shocked look, “Why the hell would you do that? I could’ve made good money off that thing. Open a petting zoo.” She grumbles though laughs at her own joke.

“Where’s the ship?” Din asks and Peli gestures to follow to another hangar out from the sun, “Right this way. Ready to have your mind blown?” She says the businesswoman in her coming out as she moves in front of something covered in a tarpaulin before she pulls it off revealing a modified N-1 starfighter. Both of you have two different reactions.

“Holy shit!” “Where’s the Razor Crest?”

“I never said I had a Razor Crest. I said I had a replacement for a Razor Crest.” Peli clarifies though giving pizzazz hands towards the ship and you looking at the ship in awe…all the modifications that could be down. Though Pre-Empire this ship was good but better than the Razor Crest in aspects.

“I don’t have time for this.” Din turns to leave but Peli holds her hands up calling him back, “Hang on a second. Do you have any idea what this is? This is an N-1 starfighter, handmade for the royal guard and commissioned personally by the Queen of Naboo.” She explains slapping her hand on one of the engines and part of the cover falls off and you wince. Yeah, this wasn’t going well

“This is a pile of junk.” He deadpans and Peli sighs, “Do you want your credits back?”

“Yes.” He says and she wipes her hands, “No skin off my dip-swap. Droids, bring this lovely man his money. Here you go. It’s that easy. Sorry to waste your time. Okay?” You give Din a scolding look and he gives one right back both of you silently communicate as Peli sighs dramatically.

“While we’re waiting, can I tell you a little something about this honey?” She asks and Din has no choice but to listen as you both wait for the credits, “I know she doesn’t look like much, but you got here a lot earlier than I expected, and I didn’t get a chance to finish. I mean, clearly, you can see I’ve got all the parts right here,” Din fully pulls out a part of the ship that wasn’t meant to come out none of it fully put together as Peli opens a panel looking in, “Hmm? It all has a home. Okay? Oh, look, a family of scurriers. Let’s not disrupt the nest. You know how hard it is to find all original parts from way back in the Galactic Republic? I mean, these are all handmade. No droids. And not only that, what I’m gonna do, just because I like you, is I’m gonna add on some custom modifications that’ll make her faster than a fathier, and because this baby’s pre-Empire, she’s off the grid.” Peli says continuing to move around the ship as you both look at it. You could see the potential and you really did need a ship unless you were going to continue riding commercial flights or seedy transportation. “And did I mention, she can jump into hyperspace with no docking ring? I mean, come on! You gotta see the potential. Whoo! I’m telling you, Mando, you gotta believe me. This is a classic. Look, at least let me put her together before you decide. Can you give me that?” She says with a convincing tone as you look at Din who is silently looking at the ship before he sighs and nods.

Peli claps her hands together in glee, “There you go. Hmm? Get this baby up and goin’.” Before moving to start working on the ship before glancing at the two of you, “You know, it’d be a lot faster if you two helped.”

You’re already moving forward pulling your bag and cloak off ready to get down and dirty, “Really kid?” Din says seeing you quickly move to help to grab a piece of fabric to pull your hair back away from your face.

“I’m sorry I’m given the chance to work on an N-1 Starfighter yeah I’m not letting this opportunity pass.” You grin. For the first time in a long time, there was a smile on your face and excitement in your eyes and Din didn’t want to see that leave even though Peli is going to make you do all sorts of odd jobs.

“Actually Mando and I have this ship to work on,” Peli says and the smile fades slightly and your shoulders slump. Did she think you weren’t capable of working on this ship? Din could tell her about how you helped with the Razor Crest all the time. “However there is another project I need help with, you get it up and running while we work on this.” She says and you perk up, you get to work on a ship by yourself…you had died and entered heaven. Peli moves to another more secluded part of the hangar to another tarp covering a ship and she pulls it off your jaw drops and you're frozen in shock. Both Din and Peli look at the shocked expression on your face. You haven’t moved an inch just staring at it, if you blink it’s going to disappear.

“Kid-” “Holy kriffing shit!” You yell out in complete awe and jaw as you race toward the ship looking all around it in awe turning the corner and seeing a droid waiting beside it as well as beeps seeing someone. “There’s a droid too!”

“It’s a ship kid.” Din says not fully understanding your excitement and you run around to see Din again, “Not just any ship! This is a T-65B X-wing Starfighter used during the Rebellion and this model!” You point at the ship behind you, “Was used by kriffing Luke Skywalker when he destroyed the Death Star.” You ramble internally and externally freaking out being in the presence of this kind of ship, you whip your head over Peli, “Who’s ship is this, man I would die a happy girl if I ever got to fly this thing.” You sigh looking back at the ship.

“It’s a good thing it’s yours.” “Yeah my ship, she must be a luck-” You cut yourself when you register the words coming from her mouth, and you slowly turn back to face the two adults. “My…my ship?” Your voice cracks and Peli crosses her arms nodding,

“Yeah just need to fix it up since I was working on both at the same time.” Peli explains and you look at Din who looks also confused by this, “I didn’t get this for you.” Now you’re confused if Din didn’t get it then who…

“It’s a gift…” Peli says continuing to work on the N-1 barely glancing at you, “Some Marshal I think pretty good on the eyes told me to find this specific model plus the droid came as a bonus. Said it’s to count for the missed birthdays.” Peli goes back to working on Din’s ship while you turn to look at the X-Wing well your ship. You hear footsteps coming up and you glance at Din whose looking at the ship as well.

“Why didn’t you say your birthday passed?” He asks and you look up and him. He felt guilty being so busy with the bounties and keeping them afloat that he hadn’t even acknowledged the fact that you turned older. It just happened when someone mentioned your age and it switched from seventeen to eighteen. You shrug, “I don’t know, we seemed so busy with other things that it just didn’t seem important.” You completely forgot about your own birthday until you happened to see the date following it and realized you were eighteen. With Tatooine always hot there were no seasons to remind yourself but the only indicator of remembering your birth following your parents’ death was that four days after Empire Day you were born. Though the holiday was no longer celebrated when the day arrived and people would give their disgust and their ill comments to the Empire you would be reminded four days later that would be your birthday. Din goes to speak, to give you the gift resting in his satchel burning with its reminder but he’s called away by Peli.

Looking at the ship you hear a beep coming from your side looking at the droid, it was an astromech model similar to the blue and white one that Skywalker had, this one was red and white though a bit scratched up and dirt compared to the pristine one. “Alright, buddy I’m assuming you’re going to help me fix up this ship?” You ask and it beeps excitedly shaking side to side, “Alright R4 well I’m Y/n very nice to meet you.” You pat the top of its head as it beeps more. You stand up looking at the X-Wing that needed a lot of work.

“Okay let’s get to work.”

It was relaxing to just work at it, every ounce of work put in by your hands as you get it to function status before you could start modifying it. You were deep inside the X-Wing the canopy taken off resting to the side as you sat in the pilot’s seat, well after you had taken out the small nest of scurriers that seemed to have taken base in both yours and Din’s ship. The fusion cutter rest between your teeth as you fuse wires together having to change some of them which resulted in the panel right beside you being taken out showing an inside view of all the wires and parts of the controls.

“R4 turn just the tiniest bit..thank you!” You thank your droid as the light from its arm shines into the panel. Putting the new wire into the panel to have the navigation work the cables long fried and corroded. Climbing out landing on the sand looking over seeing Peli walk in with a turbonic venturi power assimilator.

“Great news! I found you a turbonic venturi power assimilator. You’re gonna be the fastest ship on the Outer Rim.” Peli says entering with the engine part and you come over R4 following behind you as you wipe some of the greases off your hands with a spare rag. Din looks over at the engine part in shock, “Where did you get this?”

“It’s brand-new. Well, Jawa-new.” Peli explains and Din still eyes the part, “The Jawas had a turbonic venturi assimilator from a Galactic Republic-era starfighter?”

“Well, they didn’t have it. They got it.” Peli explains as if it was obvious and anyone who has interacted with Jawas knew that. They were scavengers if you looked away from your belonging longer than a blink a Jawa would come and scoop it up and sell it to someone else.

“From where?” Din questions. “Tatooine is a garden of many bounties.” Peli exaggerates the sand-covered planet.

“I don’t understand.” Still, confused Din asks, “She gave them a list,” You speak up taking a drink of water that one of Peli’s droids was offering. Peli snaps her fingers at you for getting it right. “If you got a decent relation with some Jawas you can ask for things and they’ll find them for you.” You explain. For someone who stole and swindle through their pre-teens, she had gotten a good deal with some Jawas. The items she stole to give her parts that she would give to other Jawas for something better, this working for her speeder and other things she did to improve Mos Pelgo.

“A true Tatooine girl,” Peli says glad someone understood how it worked on this planet. “I don’t ask. They don’t tell. They give me what I ask for. In exchange, I let ’em pick through my dumpster.”

“Can I meet them?” Din asks and Peli nods, “Yeah, sure. R5! See if the Jawas are still out back,” You see the R5 droid zoom around the corner to go fetch the Jawas, “Dated a Jawa for a while. They’re quite furry. Very furry. Lot of issues.” You make a face when she smacks her lips together when speaking about them being furry. You hear the Jawas arriving from the back, “Oh, here they are.” She greets them.

“If I give them a list of parts, could they get them for me?” Din asks and Peli turns translating for Din before turning back to him, “They said make a wishlist and they’ll see what’s available.”

“Okay, I’m looking for mostly bolt-on aftermarket speed mods. This is all hand-built, custom. I’m guessing we need vintage hyperware if it’s gonna fit this antique.” Din says trying to think ahead about what might not be available.

“Listen to you. Don’t worry about the shape and size. Just get the parts you want with the specs you need, and I’m gonna make it work, all right? I dated a Jawa. I know what I’m doing, right?” Peli explains and one of the Jawas makes a comment about what Peli was doing but she waves them off, “Oh, that’s okay. I’m working on me right now. Just go find the parts.”

After Din gave his list to the Jawas and you added in one of your own you returned back to your ship to continue working.

“I don’t know why you’re always in such a hurry. ‘Build me a ship. Fix my blaster holes.’ You know, I never went anywhere, and look how good I got it.” Peli chats to the silent Mandalorian as he works away letting the woman ramble, “You know, I’ve never even been off-world. That’s all right. I’m a local gal. Oh. Let me see that doohickey. Oh, yeah. Oh, that’s good. Good find. What else you got in there?” Din continues working before seeing the vapor manifold is missing,

“The entire vapor manifold is missing.” He brings up but the mechanic waves him off, “Trust me, the last thing you want strangling your thrust capacitor is a vapor manifold. I fabricated you this induction intake charger that’s gonna double your output coefficient.”

“It’ll also blow the shaft out of my motivator block.” He retorts but she shakes her head, “That’s why I’m reinforcing your compression housing, and you can access it by using this Kineso-switch right here. You hit this button, you’re gonna evacuate your exhaust manifold, if you know what I mean.” She flips a cover switch before pointing to a red button. Din has no choice but to listen and hopes she nods to what she’s doing. He had some familiarity with ships him having to be the one to take care of the Crest if they weren’t by anywhere but not a deep knowledge when it comes to experimenting with equipment.

He hears a crash come from a part of the hanger and his head whips to see you laying on the sand laughing your head off as the droid now on its side shakes and beeps frantically as you help it up while still laughing and speaking to it between giggles. Hidden behind beskar a smile grows on his face seeing your own happiness. It seemed too long since you were actually happy and for once you were relaxed though doing manual labor you seemed to enjoy it. Din would glance over at you seeing you work around the X-Wing as you contorted your body to fit in small spaces with the help of your droid. The item in his satchel weighs him down as a reminder but the slight fear of you not liking it holds him back to give it to you. You already seemed so happy with this gift how would you ever like his?

“Okay R4 let’s get some power to this while we wait.” You call out to the droid as it speaks to the MPH power droid that begins working. Sitting down on the sand you take in the pretty good-looking X-Wing, just needs the thruster you hope the Jawas have, a diagnostic check, a cleaning, and maybe a paint job and it’ll be set. You sigh pushing your hair back unintentionally getting grease on your head. You’ll have to take a sonic shower to clean up. The red and white droids come by you as you pat its head and it beeps from the praise, “We’re a pretty good team huh, R4?” It beeps agreeing with your comment. The sound of Jawas entering as they pull a cart of parts.

“That was fast,” Din says astonished by the speed as he looks over the parts some of the others he assumes are for your ship he was surprised by the parts you asked for some he doesn’t know the purpose. “These critters could find a skud in a krill pond. Will that do?” Two Jawas come in holding a cryogenic density combustion booster.

“Where did they get a cryogenic density combustion booster?” You ask looking at the piece in shock, “Do you really wanna know?” Peli asks and you nod genuinely curious as Peli turns to speak to them.

“I got it. They said they crawled under a Pyke spice runner and crimped it off while they were refueling.” Peli says and Din nods, “Gutsy little fellas.”

“Let me tell you something, Pykes do not mess around. Ever since they’ve been moving spice through the system, everything’s gone to hell. Everyone’s afraid of ’em and law enforcement won’t even go near ’em.” Peli warns you both and Din nods taking in the new information, “Well, thanks.” Din says before taking a small bag of credits and tossing it to one they all race off in glee as Peli looks in shock.

“What’d you do that for? You’re gonna spoil ’em. Are you trying to make me look bad?”

Finishing up with the help of Peli’s droid you let R4 run one last diagnostic check while you clean up. You forgot how little the sonic showers did vibrate the grease and dirt off your body, you felt cleaner but you were dying for an actual shower. Maker, you missed the Razor Crest sometimes.

You come out your hair slightly frizzy still wearing your grease-stained clothes and you see the pit droids drive out the now completely silver N-1 fighter minus a stripe of yellow that reminds you of the Crest.

“Looking good.” You comment leaning against a table as Din looks over at the ship nodding “Think she’s ready?” Din asks looking to Peli who wipes her greasy hands onto her dirty jumpsuit.

“Ready as she’ll ever be. Start her up.” She agrees and Din looks at her in surprise.

“Really?” He asks and she nods, “Yeah, start her up.” You smile watching him enter the ship getting comfortable, you see him try to start it up but the engine just sputters,

“It’s not turning over.” Din's voice comes through the comm, “Give it a little bit more juice.” Trying again the engine whirs before roaring to life.

“That’s a lot of engine for a little ship.” “Yeah, well, see what she can do!” Peli says excitedly to see the ship in action.

“Shouldn’t we run a diagnostic first?” Din questions but she reassures him, “Nah! I can hear her! She’s purring! Send her up!” You watch him take the N-1 up into the air before he flies further away from the ship. Peli turns to you seeing you watching the fighter leave,

“Come up let’s get yours out and up in the air.” You look at her surprised before a grin covers your face as you race over to your ship. With the help of Peli’s pit droids, they bring the ship out it is already fueled up and R4 enters the droid port, “Ship good R4.” You ask climbing on the ladder and hopping into the pilot’s seat. R4 beeps confirming your question as the pit droids remove the ladder the helmet that usually came with the X-Wing is long gone as you close up the canopy.

“You ever flown a ship before?” Peli's voice comes through your comms as you begin flipping up switches. Screens and buttons light up as you fire up the engine and it produces a satisfying roar before turning to a hum. You hear R4 fear from your possible first time flying. “A few fun trips that Mando definitely doesn’t know of.” The few times on the Crest when Din was sleeping and you had exited hyperspeed earlier so you took control, you’ve seen him do it a thousand times. You were actually pretty good though you did almost flip the Crest. The blaring of the ship woke up Din and you quickly put the blame on the child he believed it. Though more recently you were off on some planet and Din was off after a quarry while you were back at an inn. You had received a call on your comm from him needing your help and telling you to get there by any means possible. You had booked it finding you at the spaceport and though he never found out stole a starfighter. You had quickly learned on the go avoiding the other ships flying through but also the ones chasing you. You had lied when you arrived that you had stolen a speeder which you did end up doing when you were leaving with Din. He never found out about your little escapade with the starfighter.

Taking the joystick you depart from the hangar looking around at Mos Eisley, “Peli where did Mando head off to?” You ask and she quickly responds, “Told him to head to Beggar’s Canyon I’m sure you can catch up to him.” She says as you flip a switch watching the small screen load, guess you were testing the engine now.

“Yeah I got it, R4 buckle up.” You say as it beeps nervously, “Come on excited beeps…excited beeps.” Your body vibrated with excitement but also nerves as the progress screen just completed, “Alright punch it R4!” The overdrive thruster roars and you’re flying forward speeding toward Beggar’s Canyon. You hear the squeal from the droid as your laughter fills the cockpit. People on the streets feel the gust of air as the X-Wing zooms past them as you make your way after Din.

“Maker kid!” You hear Peli yell out seeing your departure, “What did you do to that ship?!” You grin at the civilization far behind you as the canyon grows closer, your hands grip the joystick adrenaline running through your veins.

“Let’s go R4!” You shout as the canyons appear quickly weaving through the twists and turns, “R4 get in contact with Din,” You say making your wave through the canyon and you hear the transmission go through.

“Din! Where are you at?” You call out reaching the ends of Beggar’s Canyon but finding no starfighter, silence comes through and you call out to him again, “Din…? Din can you hear me? R4 we’re clear, right? Get me Din’s coordinates” You ask and the droid beeps, so you were going through. A beep appears on your navigation system a set of coordinates.

The line cuts and you are frozen in fear..what happened? Did he get caught by someone…did the empire find him? Flipping switches to get the navigation connected to the coordinates sent, “R4 get that thruster ready again.” You say pulling the joystick straight towards you as you fly straight up out of the atmosphere heading towards him.

Din in the N-1 keeps his gaze forward as the two New Republic officers speak to him in their X-Wings. He had gone too fast on a commercial flight but he was more worried that they would recognize him. “Sorry, officer, I got a little carried away there. Transmitting now.” He transmits his beacon as the younger pilot comments, “Hmm. Your engine model doesn’t match your power drive.”

“We just built her. I was taking her up for a test flight. Haven’t been able to update the registration just yet.” Din explains,

“We’re gonna need to see your title tabs. Send us a ping.” The pilot requests and Din curses slightly under his breath, “Yeah, sorry, officer, but my transmitter isn’t hooked up yet. I’ll head right back to Mos Eisley and get it sorted out.” Silence fills the space and the man speaks up,

“Relinquish your flight controls for remote-control access.” “Hold on a second there, Lieutenant. I think we can let him off with a warning this time.” The other pilot speaks up and Din sighs in relief.

“Thank you, officer. I’ll have that taken care of.” He thanks him preparing to leave, “One thing before you go.” He freezes definitely recognizing the voice of the other pilot.

“Yes?” “Your voice is mighty familiar. Did you used to fly a Razor Crest?” He asks. Kriff he was screwed but he just had to keep his head clear. He should have taught the kid how to fly, you were probably with Peli waiting for him to return.

“I think you have the wrong guy, officer.”

“That ship showed up on a transponder log back in Nevarro in an incident involving Imperial remnants. I’m just connecting some dots here. You mind answering a few questions?” The man says and Din slowly turns his head to look at the pilot to his left. Yeah, he knew him and that guy knew him.

“Hey officers, I would like to report a crime.” A new voice enters the transmission and suddenly both ships are spinning out of control Din takes the opportunity to travel sublight straight toward Tatooine. Both ships stabilize as the officers look seeing the same model ship before them. Reed and Teva see a girl wave at them before the ship jolts forward deep into space before they could go after and realize the Mandalorian is gone too.

“How did it jump? She didn’t even power up her hyperdrives.” Reed asks Teva as the older pilot thinks back remembering the young girl's voice on that Razor Crest the same one coming from the X-Wing.

“Didn’t jump, kid. Modified engine, I’ve never seen anything like it.” Teva responds and Reed sighs looking at his transmission, “There’s no trace of him or the girl on our sensors. We reporting this?”

“You want to go back to base, fill out reports all day?” Teva asks with a chuckle and Reed thinks about it before responding, “No, sir.”

Din arrives back at the hangar landing the canopy sliding open as Peli comes over, “Whoo! Well? How was it?”

“Wizard.” He responds climbing out and Peli chuckles right as another ship arrives maneuvering to land beside his ship. The canopy flips open and not even waiting for the ladder you’re bounding off landing on the sand as the astromech droid removes itself from its port.

“Yeah, I can die happy with this thing.” You say running your hand along the nose of the ship a grin on your face. Din was surprised to see you flying the ship, especially your arrival with the New Republic.

“When did you learn to fly like that?” Din asks and you freeze slightly, “Umm I’m naturally gifted..” You lie on the spot and he knows you’re clearly lying, “Okay I may have flown the Crest a few times…and also stolen a starship during your weeklong bounty.” You rapidly spill out the ending and he barely catches it.

He was less mad about the Crest at least he was there but you stealing a ship. “Kid.” He gets ready to scold you but Peli quickly jumps in.

“Mando you gotta admire it, you should’ve seen her fly. Whatever you did to that ship…Maker, you got a gift.” She compliments and you smile before giving a look at Din. See someone appreciates me fixing ships, “Those J-type pulse engines really tighten the old evacuation port, don’t they? Oh, by the way, an old friend of yours dropped by, said she was looking for you.” She says remembering what she was meant to tell you both. You look at Din confused he didn’t really have friends, especially women.

“A friend of mine?” He says and Peli waves him in reassurance, “Don’t worry. I told her I didn’t know where you were. Then I locked her out and engaged the hangar security system.”

“She tell you her name?” Din asks trying to think of who it might be.

“Fennec Shand.” A shriek comes from Peli as Fennec’s voice comes through the intercom. There resting on a high platform the former assassin as she begins scaling down.

“I thought you said that the hangar security system was on,” She looks over at her droids that start running from her scolding, “Don’t get away from me. You come right back here. This is the third mistake this week. Someone’s getting deprogrammed.”

“By any chance, are you looking for work?” Fennec comes to stand before you two, “I could be.”

“The pay is good.” Fennec brings up a bag of credits tossing it to Din as he weighs it, “What’s the bounty?” He asks and she shakes her head.

“No bounty. We need muscle.” She explains, “For Boba Fett.” You say and she nods looking over at you quickly taking in this older version of yourself. You did meet when you were covered in blood and trying to kill…well him.

Fennec nods, “He sure would appreciate it.” She says and Din returns the bag, “Tell him it’s on the house. But first, I got to pay a visit to a little friend.” Hearing his response you had a feeling you knew who it was you were visiting.

#star wars #star wars fanfiction #the mandalorian #the book of boba fett #clan of three series #din djarin #din djarin fanfiction #din x reader #din djarin x reader #din djarin x jedi!reader #din djarin x teen!reader #mando x reader

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redgoldsparks · 7 months

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September Reading and Reviews by Maia Kobabe

I post my reviews throughout the month on Storygraph and Goodreads, and do roundups here and on patreon. Reviews below the cut.

The Princess and the Grilled Cheese by Deya Muniz

Lady Camembert is the only child of Count Camembert, but as a daughter she cannot inherit unless she marries. She refuses, and after her father's death takes up a different life in the capital city, far from her hometown: she pretends to be the male heir to her father's title. This feels like the perfect solution, except then she meets Princess Brie, and as feelings begin to develop between them, Cam despairs that her secret identity means she can never be anything more than friends with the Princess. This is a beautifully drawn book, sweet and silly, full of cheese puns and historical anachronisms.

The Yakuza’s Bias vol 1 by Teki Yatsuda

Yakuza member Ken Kanashiro's life is changed when the daughter of the clan leader he works for takes him along to a kpop concert. Ken is moved by the kpop idol group's commitment, hard work, passion, and loyalty to each other and their fans. His introduction to fandom, and new social media friends, bring a breath of fresh air into his violent and dangerous life... and like most fervent fans, he starts trying to convince the people around him to stan the group to greater or lesser success. This manga series is very much in the same tone as Way of the House Husband but I appreciated the slightly longer chapters and the growing ensemble cast. It's a silly concept but with moments of genuine feeling as it shows how loving something can connect you to a whole new community.

Of Thunder and Lightning by Kimberly Wang

This is a beautiful, meta deconstruction of battle-robot manga; it plays with POV, with format, and theme. Two corporate nations struggle for dominance in a ruined world. Each spreads propaganda about the other; each has developed a pop-star like AI robot avatar, which battle each other in televised combat with custom costumes and snappy catch phrases. These robots, Magni and Dimo, exist only to destroy each other, but also find in each other their only equal. They both savor their violent encounters, but both are pushed by their creators and handlers to destroy the other. The story is half devastating elegance, half tongue-in-cheek satire. This title is most easily available through the publisher's website and I highly recommend it.

Blackward by Lawrence Lindell

Four friends, Lika, Amor, Lala, and Tony, bonded in a bookclub over being Black, queer, weird and punk. They clearly see the need for a community space for folks like themselves, but struggle with how and where to build that space. After their first attempt is ruined by trolls, they ask for guidance from a local bookstore owner and zine fest organizer. So the idea for the Blackward Zine Fest is born, an event to showcase creativity, make new connections, and maybe even find dates. This book doesn't shy away from the negative sides of existing and creating as a minority in public, but it is also a celebration of friendship and community and the power of comics!

Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb read by Paul Boehmer

What an exciting, explosive end to this trilogy! Fitz starts this book as low as a man can be, having returned from near death, with nearly every person who has ever known him believing him dead. He has to learn how to be human again, and learn how to care, and figure out his plans now that he has hypothetical total freedom. But the Red Ships are still pounding the Six Duchies shores, and Regal has withdrawn the strength and wealth of the Duchies inland. Verity is still missing on his endless quest. The beginning drags a little, but after the mid point of this book it is CONSTANT action and adventure, with so many twists and turns, and such a payoff at the end. If you like high fantasy, I highly recommend this series, and I'm so glad I chose to revisit it this summer.

I Thought You Loved Me by Mari Naomi

This is a long, thoughtful look at a friendship breakup, told through prose, letters, diary excerpts, collage, and comics. Mari met Jodie in high school where they bonded as rebellious teens seeking freedom from parental and academic rules. They loved the same music, both dropped out of school, and moved in the same circle of Bay Area folks for years. They were best friends- until Jodie cut Mari out of her life suddenly and unexpectedly. Years later, Mari was still trying to piece together what had happened, from lies, misunderstandings, secrets, affairs, communications lost in transit or responded to by the wrong recipient. Friendship breakups can be equally as devastating as romantic breakups- sometimes even more, as there's no societal norms on how to mourn them, and because we often expect friends to remain in our lives forever. This memoir was honest about how memory fades, how easy it can be to remember only the good or only the bad of a person colored through a specific lens, but also hopeful about the possibility of reconnection. No memoir is over while it's characters still live, and this one took more twists and turns than I was expecting! Beautiful and thought provoking.

Enemies by Svetlana Chmakova

This fourth installment in the Berrybrook series is just as charming and warmhearted as the previous volumes. This one focuses on Felicity, an artist who struggles with time management and deadlines, and with comparisons to her hyper-organized, science-fair winning younger sister. Wanting to prove herself, Felicity joins a competition for kid entrepreneurs. But coming up with a winning idea proves more difficult than she expected, especially when her partner keeps suggesting completely impossible ideas. Also, one of her best friends from elementary school stopped talking to her and now glares daggers at Felicity and she has no idea why. It's hard to keep your head up in middle school with all of the swirling emotions, homework, personal projects, and still maintain high scores in the most popular new online multi-player combat game. But Felicity has the love and support of her family- all she has to do is be willing to ask for help.

Skip by Molly Mendoza

The art in this book is absolutely gorgeous, and the page layouts are stunning. The story opens with a child, Bloom, and a nonbinary adult, Bee, surviving in a post apocalyptic world. But Bee goes off to help a stranger and then Bloom falls through an Alice-in-Wonderland like rabbit hole into multiple different trippy, strange settings were they are generally much tinier than all the other inhabitants. There's a nice through line about friendship and trusting yourself, but ultimately I found the story too ungrounded and loose to have a deep emotional impact.

Alexander, The Servant and The Water of Life book 1 by Reimena Yee

I am so impressed by the scope, artistic skill, and inventiveness of this work! The author weaves together multiple, at times conflicting, tales of Alexander the Great. It's drawn in rich colors and a wide variety of styles, many of which reference specific historical manuscript traditions from medieval European to Islamic to East Asian. I love the way the flashbacks are worked into the frame narrative, I love the shifting art styles, I am awed by the size of this project. And you can read most of this first volume online for free here on the author's website.

Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell read by Raphael Corkhill

This is a creative and gripping follow up to Winter's Orbit. Set in the same larger universe but focusing on a new set of main characters in a new sector of space, this extremely slow burn romance is satisfyingly dense with military and political intrigue. Tennal is the nephew of the Legislator of Orshun; he's also a Reader, or someone who can telepathically read the emotions and surface thoughts of the people around him; he's also the black sheep of his family, a party boy and general fuck up. His aunt forces him into an army position with the intention of having him permanently mind-linked to an Architect, a soldier with the flip side of Tennal's skill- the ability to control people's minds. Tennal is horrified and begins to think of every possible way he can avoid this fate. But much larger forces are at play around him, from the mystery of a semi-destroyed scientific lab relocated in the middle of chaotic space, lies about the creation of Readers and Architects, and a coup in the making. This book is heavier on the sci-fi elements than the relationship progression, but that suited me just fine and I look forward to hopefully reading more installments in this series!

Sunshine by Jarrett J Krosoczka

When author Jarrett Krosoczka was in high school he had the opportunity to volunteer for a week at a camp for kids with cancer, their siblings, and parents. Jarrett had no idea what to expect, but he packed his sketchbook and an open mind. The experience changed his outlook forever. He had his own problems back home: a family affected by addiction and absent parents which lead to him being raised by his grandparents. But in the company of children facing life-threatening illnesses his own concerns fell away. He built relationships with some families that lasted for decades after his time at the camp. Painted in soft gray with hints of yellow and orange, this book offers an honest look at families facing the very worst circumstances and still heading out into woods to find community, friendship, and a breath of peace at a nature camp.

The Out Side: Trans and Nonbinary Comics edited by The Kao

A really charming collection of nonbinary and trans stories! Most focus on coming out, but a few talk about a later in the process piece of trans life, such as getting top surgery. I enjoyed seeing which pieces of the stories echoed each other, appearing universal, and which stood out as unique to an individual's experience.

Hard Reboot by Django Wexler read by Morgan Hallett

Set far in the future, this sci-fi novella follows a researcher from an extra-terrestrial human settlement on a scientific tourist trip back to "Old Earth". A misunderstanding leads to her accepting a very large bet on the outcome of a mecha battled, and when she losses and can't pay, she has to team up with a mecha fighter to try and win the next round to get her money back. I was able to predict the majority of the twists of this story within the first quarter of the book, but it was still fairly entertaining as a short audiobook listen.

Best. Ceremony. Ever: How to Make the Serious Wedding Stuff Unique by Christopher Shelley

I just officiated a wedding for the first time in my life, and this book (while cheesy) did actually help me get started writing the ceremony speech. It gave me the general outline of the beats I needed to hit, and some smart ideas of little touches or moments to include. The book is very inclusive of same-sex couples, which I really appreciated. Its also padded out with a completely unnecessary 50 page glossary of terms, so I only really read/skimmed the first three quarters of it, but I'd still recommend it if you are either planning or officiating a wedding.

#reading #book reviews #comics #reading reviews #maia kobabe

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