howdy tombies here's an astronaut AU i thought would be funny, we taking the space part of lesbian necromancers in space and we making that the main thing

RTC Sleepover Headcanons!

They always go to either Constance or Mischa’s place for obvious reasons

Mischa carries Ricky up and down stairs you can fight me over this

The whole choir learned sign language so that they can talk to Ricky

Sometimes when they’re doing things Ricky gets really excited and just signs stuff really quickly and only Ocean and Constance can understand him because Ocean is just Like That and Constance helps Ocean whenever she’s having an anxiety attack or asthma attack and Ocean signs really quickly when she’s like that

Literally any time Ocean or Mischa needs to get away from home because of their shitty parents they just go to Constance’s house and she’ll text the group chat for an impromptu sleepover

This extends to any member of the choir actually

Onto actual sleepover activities! Whenever they’re at Mischa’s house Constance brings a duffel bag full of board games

She also has a guide for multiple things including:

Anxiety attacks

Asthma attacks

CPR

How to treat burn wounds (from the time Ocean and Noel tried to make cupcakes)

And minor injuries

Mischa has a DDR machine in his room and he’s the freaking best simply because it’s loud and pisses off his parents

At some point during the night Noel and Ocean start arguing and they settle it with a DDR battle

Ocean wins every single time because Mischa always ends up trying to encourage Noel and he always gets distracted

Ocean is definitely either aroace or a lesbian ace so somehow during the night someone’s choice in dating material always ends up getting insulted

Including Mischa

Especially Mischa

They have a fun game where Ricky will sign something as fast as he can and the others have to decipher it

Mischa’s parents hears yelling and they’re very concerned but when they look it’s just a smug looking redhead and an effeminate boy yelling over a game of Monopoly

Either that or a bunch of odd children yelling at a kid who’s signing as fast as he possibly can

Safe to say they don’t open the basement door during sleepovers

They order 5 pizzas every time because they all have vastly different pizza orders except for Ricky and Penny who somehow have the exact same very complicated pizza order

Penny is a cuddly sleeper

She once woke up somehow holding the entire choir

They all love it they don’t even try to hide it

Penny and Mischa love horror movies

The only thing that Ocean and Noel have in common is their hatred of horror movies

Penny: *gasps* That’s such a cool effect

Mischa: Oh my god there goes her head

Ocean and Noel, clutching each other: TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF

Constance and Ricky have a respect for the genre but they still cling on to each other like their lives depend on it

Ricky’s favorite horror movie is Killer Klowns From Outer Space

When they’re at Constance’s house her parents feed them the best food ever

There are always attempts to bake because some people (*cough cough* Ocean and Noel *cough cough*) can’t learn their lesson

Ricky and Penny are the taste testers

Ricky is brutally honest

Ocean: Alright Ricky, how does this taste!

Ricky: *signing* This tastes like shit

Ocean: *instantly crumbles*

Ocean and Noel are fire hazards

Ricky likes to sit on the counter

Mischa knows it wouldn’t go well if he tried to help so he just stands by with the fire extinguisher

Ricky paints everyone’s nails

Penny braids everyone’s hair

They always joke about opening up a salon

Ocean keeps some clothes at Constance’s house since she sleeps over a lot

They used to play a game where you would act out a scene from a movie until both Noel and Mischa acted out horrible death scenes in one night

Yeah Constance’s parents banned that game

Constance has a bunch of Mario games

Ricky likes the ones where you can turn into a cat

They do game nights every now and then and if Noel and Ocean get paired together you better start saying your prayers right then and there

Someone ends up crying every time they have a sleepover

Usually Ocean

Penny’s favorite new saying is “It’s not a party until Oceans full on sobbing on the floor”

Mischa is the mama bear fight me on this

He will cradle whoever’s crying like a baby

One time he ended up crying and no one knew what to do until Penny just walked over and picked him up so easily

Homegirl is surprisingly strong

Constance has a Wii and Mischa and Penny are forced to wear the wrist straps every single time

Constance has a supply of puzzles for Ricky

He just seems like a puzzle guy

Constance’s parents once came in to check in on the kids and found Ocean and Noel having a heated argument so they came in and put them in separate rooms

Both broke down crying after five minutes

Arguments happened a lot less after that

Ocean likes catfishing creeps on Tinder

So does Noel

One time Talia FaceTimed Mischa during a sleepover and everyone was so surprised

Mischa: Meet Talia!

Everyone, in unison: She’s REAL?!

Ricky managed to figure out a way where everyone can fit comfortably on the bed

Penny is in the middle always right next to Mischa

Ricky curls up at the end of the bed like a cat

Noel and Ocean talk to each other in their sleep

They also sleepwalk

Once they somehow managed to sleep-switch clothes and everyone was so confused

Everyone has a spare inhaler even though Ocean always has one on her

Except for Constance who has FIVE-

Ocean and Noel have frequent anxiety attacks so everyone else is well versed in how to deal with them

They played spin the bottle once which led to Noel and Mischa AGGRESSIVELY MAKING OUT INT THE MIDDLE OF THE CIRCLE

“You know you don’t have to-” “JUST LET ME HAVE THIS”

Ocean, who snuck downstairs to get a midnight snack:

Penny, who standing in the middle of the kitchen with a bag of popcorn:

New headcanon: Ocean has diabetes

For the first like 15 years of her life everyone just thought that Ocean fainted really easy

Constance has a stash of snacks in her room for Oceans blood sugar

She thinks her parents don’t know about it but her parents just let her have it cause they worry about Ocean

Let’s be real, everybody worried about Ocean

Girlie has diabetes, asthma, and she’s just fragile as fuck both mentally and physically

Mischa is surprisingly over protective over her

Ocean, doing her own version of “How to Catch a Predator”: There it is. Predictable

Mischa: What?

Ocean: The creep I’m catfishing sent me a dick pic

Mischa: He did WHAT-

Movie night is, of course, a regular thing

Ocean is a surprisingly big fan of romcoms

This was so much longer than I anticipated but I hope y’all like it???

I might end up making this a fic??? If I do I’ll post the link to it here

WIP Wednesday

Hannah gets a good idea while teaching science to one of Wolfwood's orphans.

Hannah checked over the bike after their first full day of travel. They had stopped earlier today to give Melanie time to cook a better meal and to let the kids run around and get tired. Most of them were chasing Vash around right now, including Chuck. But the blond boy older than Chuck and covered with a tan poncho hovered. What was his name? She had given him a ride today. All the orphans had gotten their promised thirty iles. “No more rides tonight.” She told Bete firmly. That was his name.

“No, I wanted to ask what will happen to the sandworms when you bring ice to Gunsmoke,” Bete said.

She looked up at his blue eyes. “Sandworms? Vash hasn’t told us about sandworms.”

“They are massive beasts that burrow under the sands of the open wastes.”

“Do they eat ghosts?”

Bete tilted his head. “Ghosts? No, they eat toma and people who didn’t build on solid rock.”

Hannah started packing her tools back in the box. “Sounds like saber squids only not squidy. Yes, Vash should’ve told us about them.”

“The sandworms were here first.” All kids fall in love with dinosaurs, but Gunsmoke didn’t have them so Bete went to sandworms. He continued sounding put out. “Spaceships dropped on them and now you want to drop ice and rock on them.”

This must be what Vash called population trauma. Bete was born way after the Great Fall but still was afraid of it. Hannah shook her head. “Oh no, it won’t be like the Great Fall at all. Melt the space ice with a proper reentry for one. And landing instead of crashing. Have you learned about reentry?”

Bete shook his head.

“Okay, this is how Dad explained it to me. The atmosphere covers the whole planet like a thick blanket. When you’re coming in from outer space, you have to find the right angle to slip the ship under the edge of the blanket so it can land. If you don’t, the ship will bounce off the blanket and you’re gonna waste a lot of fuel getting back into position. Or you crash instead of landing.”

“That make sense, but you said melting. You need fire to melt things and there is no fire in the air.”

“The heat is from friction. You don’t know what that is either. Rub your hands together,” Hannah said.

Bete did it with a dubious expression that turned to wide eyes. “They’re getting hot!”

“That’s friction. The speeds for space travel are so fast even air makes friction. You can shield a ship against that, but we want that friction on the space ice so it melts into water.”

“And then covers Gunsmoke in water like Earth.” Bete stopped rubbing his hands and crossed his arms with a scowl.

Hannah closed up the toolbox and secured it to the bike. “And drown the sandworms and everybody else? That’s not the plan. We won’t bring that much ice. And don’t you know Earth has deserts like the wastes despite having oceans?”

“Really?”

“The Sahara in Africa has lots of big sand dunes. And out west from where we lived has lots of mesas. I never got to go in person to them, but they are out there. Big solar farms are being built on them because of lack of rain. Oh!” Something she hadn’t even realized she hadn’t seen in all their travels yelled for attention like Dad and her uncles cheering on a sports team.

“How do you farm the suns?” Bete asked.

anastasia au / アナスタシアバージョン zukaang week 2021 day four | ba sing se season 2 au / 平行宇宙

aang woke up under the control of dai li, while zuko and iroh lived in ba sing se three years after banishment. set as canon divergent version before crossroads of destiny. more of this story below the cut!

excuse my fuzzy brain for incoming plotholes maybe hehe yeah wow i love impulsiveness. anyway yeah sozin comet ain't comin until like, 120 AG-ish

zuko and iroh stopped searching for the avatar and peacefully worked under quon's patronage at ba sing se.

fortunately, due to their successful tea business, they found better access to knowledge of the avatar, as well as various air nomad's relics and textual informations. they decided to keep everything at their secret warehouse, hiring bands of thugs to keep it safe.

unbeknownst to iroh and zuko, four years before they lived as refugees, dai li was the first one to find aang in his iceberg state near eastern air temple.

hundred years ago, aang briefly fought against fire nation army at the temple alongside pathik, gyatso, the nuns, and several young monks. he was saved by pathik from dire situation by getting thrown into the ocean.

long feng planned to raise the boy as their secret weapon so earth kingdom could rise, taking down the fire nation.

upon woken up, aang was hypnotized, and could only remember that he's an orphan named liu jun, born as earthbender.

he was told that the markings on his skin was a curse since birth by angered spirits, and to never let other people see it or they'll be facing the consequences of his misfortune.

he lived like a bird in a cage under long feng's watch and the head of dai li's tutelage. for six years long, he felt horribly stressed.

one day, aang finally found a way to get out of his residence by tricking the caretakers, sneaking and riding on earth kingdom's logistic vehicles.

once he's out of the food supply cart, he found and saved momo from being sold by black market thugs in the lower ring. there, he stumbled upon zuko and iroh's secret warehouse.

zuko was mad for the intrusion, but quickly realized something about the boy's appearance. iroh, however, noticed that this liu jun has upper class upbringing, and concluded that he's one of the rebel child who wanted the taste of outer walls.

zuko just blatantly state the obvious; "kid, you really, really look like the avatar in that painting," but aang was like, "who's avatar?" and ended up being educated about hundred years war history.

aang felt shocked by the tattoos he saw on the painting. still, he quickly dismissed the idea that he might be a living airbender, since their tattoo was supposed to be a sign of mastery, not a curse like long feng said. he didn't tell this to iroh and zuko, yet.

"aish, you must be mad for ever thinking i'm the avatar. he should be an old man by now! i'm afraid of being near fire or under the water for too long, and i dislike being in cramped spaces with damp air. how am i supposed to bend those elements?" (those are also the mental issues resulted by long feng's braingwashing, ofc)

either way, he needed to hide from long feng. aang quickly sealed the deal to iroh's offer who gave him the chance to help their tea shop in the meantime. well, anything but being under dai li's supervision works.

for a week of working together, zuko had noticed a lot of strange things in aang; like how he could easily play kangling (air nomad's bone flute), how his footsteps were so light he almost can never be heard walking, and how he never want to bathe and get dressed with other people nearby.

in the hunt for aang, long feng sent royal guards to every corner of earth kingdom territory. finally, they found aang at the warehouse. chaotic pursuit ensues. iroh and zuko managed to save him—at the price of being labeled as criminals.

with the help of june, iroh and zuko found their way to their old ship and crews. they brought aang there, and asked who he actually was since he's so important for the dai li.

from zuko and iroh's research, the only living people who could confirm the avatar's identity was bumi, who's in omashu, and the temple sages. too much risk for those, ofc, so they opted to go to the empty eastern air temple for more hints.

there, they met pathik, who went, "monkey feathers! aang, is that you?" to which aang replied, "nah, i'm liu jun." and pathik's like, "but i can sense your avatar spirit! and-and your tattoos, let me look at it!" but aang was so, so afraid of showing it.

then, by nudging his inner ki, pathik managed to trigger the avatar state out of aang, causing him to remember everything, including his airbending ability.

zuko and iroh be like, "well, shit, he's really the avatar," and their journey went rather hellish from that, with both zhao's fleet and the dai li on their tail.

after being informed by pathik that he had bonded with an air bison named appa, aang wished he could find him, since appa's the only family that might remain alive with him in this world. zuko promised that they would find appa.

under the pretense of companionship, zuko secretly plotted to give aang to ozai, while he and iroh helped the boy to master four elements by travelling around the world.

feelings were hindering him on the way, though. months of travelling together did that. "i think we could be good friends, even in another lifetime, if not a hundred years ago." oof, aang.

just like dimitri and anastasia, zukaang had deep bonding session at the boat with their dancing dragon and firebending lessons. iroh did smile knowingly at them.

betrayal slapped hard when aang found out about zuko's actual plan during their fight against zhao at north pole, who revealed with, "you befriend this dishonored prince, avatar? all he wanted to do was to send you to the fire lord as a nicely wrapped gift! this was all a ploy to earn your trust, to take you down by knowing your exact blind spots! you are merely a tool for him to regain his former identity!"

ouch. they got separated from there. aang then teamed up with the eventually formed gaang at the other side of the world, while zuko getting scolded by iroh, "you don't only lose someone that you care about, but the hope of the whole world! your hope! hadn't the past three years taught you something? hunger for power only bring despair to you!"

both once separated parties then reunited with the crossroads episode. aang ended up dead, katara swore to finish the fire siblings off, and zuko went absolutely mad, drowned in grief.

it's up to zuko now, to actually fulfill his promises; from finding appa to saving the world from his father—all without knowing that katara could revive aang. angst angst angst, final boss, zukaang banging then everyone lived happily ever after ♥

the musical scores would be:

a rumour in ba sing se

once upon an agrahāyana

caldera holds the key to your heart

learn to wield it

learn to wield it (dancing dragon reprise)

in the dark of the moonless night

feels great to finally manifest this draft of zukaang anastasia au for @zukaangweek uwu

@brothersdrxke betcha didn't know I'm SECRETLY A FANFIC WRITER anyway blame @royalhandmaidens it's all their fault. I swear it's not always like this I do have Some Skill but I'm tired™

The Fur Cloak

Din Djarin/reader

[no warnings]

(based on the original design concept art that Din should have had a fur cape)

The walk toward this supposed contact's favorite cantina was nice. This particular moon was an ocean of rolling hills of light blue grass that sprawls on for miles, only breaking around sparse groves of tall trees that reach toward one another to form canvases of drooping, viny tendrils of dark blue leaves. The distant sun is bright, the breeze is gentle and smells almost sweet.

It's a lovely change from the arid landscapes you're so accustomed to on the Outer Rim. The kid seems to be enjoying it, too. Then again, it could have more to do with the fact that you allowed him to walk on his own.

You'd spent longer than expected in the cantina. Your contact was late, he had absolutely none of the promised information that could have directed your company toward more Mandalorians, and the waitress took an eternity in delivering the kid's soup and your warm drink.

By the time you were leaving the quiet little town, the sun was vanishing behind the moon's planet.

And suddenly, you aren't so fond of this particular moon.

Din warned you about the temperature dropping after sunset. He'd crammed an extra blanket into the kid's satchel while you pulled on an extra shirt to wear beneath your jacket. You figured he was warm enough, beneath his base layer, the flight suit, the beskar armor, and the pelt around his shoulders.

Unfortunately, halfway back to the Crest, with the temperature still plunging, you realized that your spare shirt was not going to be enough to retain body heat. But, it's all you could've done while still maintaining full range of movement.

You're passing the same treeline you'd been so pleased to admire earlier in the day. The blue vines swaying in the breeze had been endearing before, but at the moment, you'd rather they stop reminding you of the icy chill that keeps billowing beneath the turned collar of your jacket. You're considering scaling every tree in sight to rip it all down when your Mandalorian turns toward you.

"Are you cold?"

You hadn't been giving him an ounce of attention. Your head whips toward him like a bantha caught in the lantern of a landspeeder. "What?"

"You're shivering." A beat of silence, and you imagine he's watching you shake again. Because he just had to go on and remind you of it. "A lot."

You chuckle, tucking your fingers under either arm. You turn back toward the dirt path stretching on before you. Of course he noticed. He always notices. If you hadn't witnessed his supervigilance firsthand, you'd think he only ever had eyes for you. "I'll be fine. Not far to the ship."

Moving your jaw seems to remind your muscles that they can, in fact, shame you further for making them freeze. Your teeth start chattering, though quietly, so you try clenching them to keep quiet.

He's the one chuckling now. He shakes his head, reaching up for the fastens on his shoulders.

Your head turns again. "What're you–?" The dark brown pelt is slinking off his shoulders before you can stop him. "Din, I'm alright, really–"

It swooshes gently against the breeze as he repositions his grip. "Just take it. Like you said, it isn't too far. I'll be fine." He tucks the metal clasps over your shoulders and hooks them together at your throat.

You shrug into it, taking a fistful of the soft interior to pull it closer and tighter around your torso. "But the kid's using it too–"

"Great," you can hear the smile in his voice as he carefully takes the bag's strap over his head and holds it out to you. "You hold him, and we'll all be warm."

You hesitate. Is he warm? The flightsuit is insulated, to fend off some of the chill of space. The beskar is damn near magical; it probably has some kind of absurd insolation properties, too. Plus his undershirt...

You take the bag, ever so skillfully sliding the strap over your head without disturbing the thick cape that's presently doing all it can to defend you from the cold.

The kid tiredly grumbles, snuggled down in the depths of the bag with his spare blanket, but falls silent again once he's situated at your hip, once again sheltered by the cape.

Din tries to be subtle about looking at you. He tries not to let on that he's admiring the way his pelt absolutely engulfs you. He tries to act like he isn't imagining you wearing it anywhere and everywhere. Like he isn't imagining you huddled under it in his pilot's seat, book open in your lap while you monitor the controls for him. Like he isn't thinking about you snuggled beneath it in his bed. Like he couldn't possibly consider what you'd look like with only his cape on–

"Hey. Din?"

When his conscience catches up with reality again, you're staring at him with an eyebrow raised and a glimmer in your eye. Like you know exactly what he's doing. Kriff.

"Hmm?"

"You okay there? You've been staring at me for three minutes." The lit of amusement in your tone, and the quirk at the edges of your lips speaks volumes.

He swallows. "Fine." His gaze is set back on the path. The long path. The three of you have walked much farther in much worse conditions, but the walk suddenly seems too long. He's quiet for a long moment, but you're still throwing him suspicious glances. Still bundled in his cloak. "It suits you."

"What?" You raise your shoulders for emphasis, "The fur?"

He nods.

You glance down at the way it bumps against the ankles of your boots. You want to gush about it.

It's so warm and the inside is soft. It smells like a perfect blend of him and the sweet fresh air. It's heavy, but not on the way that a rucksack weighs terribly on tour shoulders—more in the way that an expensive blanket presses against you. You don't even want to think about the implications that you're wearing his cloak.

And all you can think about is how ridiculously glorious this would be to have in that chilly cockpit, book open in your lap, while he's off dowing whatever has drawn him away.

Better still, how it would feel on every inch of your skin.

Your face is already warming.

"I like it," you agree, trying to pass off a casually teasing smile. "I think it looks better on me than it does on you," that's a filthy lie, "might just have to steal it."

He'd let you. If it meant he got to see you slink around his ship with his cloak wrapped around you, he'd pay you to take it. And, of course, you'd be warm. You'd never complain about the chill of hyperspace. He'd never have to worry about weather or not you had enough blankets when you slept alone. He'd never turn to see goosebumps blooming up your arms while you sit in the copilot's seat.

He's struck with the mental image of you, dozing off in the seat to his left, his brown cloak bunched around your shoulders, the kid curled up in your arms. His heart swells in his chest, almost painfully.

He snaps back into reality again when his foot catches on a rogue rock that some idiot left in the middle of the path.

Your arm jerks out from beneath the pelt, snagging a hold on his arm before you process that he caught himself. You laugh loosely. "Maker, if it's that big of a deal–"

"You should wear it more often," he blurts.

You still. Hand still hooked around his bicep, eyes boring through his visor, lips parted. You recover as quickly as he does. "I should–? Really?"

You're standing in the middle of the path like a pair of fools for a moment. Just staring at one another.

He's long since straightened himself, wiggling free of your grasp only to reach up, tugging the edges of his cloak snugger against you. "Yeah. You should."

The rest of the walk is quiet. There isn't so much as a goosebump on an inch of you.

You decide that maybe this moon really isn't so bad after all.

High pitched laughter echoed down the hall and was accompanied by the loud clang of running feet on the steel tiles.

“Hurry Skye! Before they see!” A mischievous voice whispered in restrained glee. Another giggle followed as two small bodies rounded the corner then hid behind the coffee machine in the lounge area. The first voice shushed the other figure who stifled laughter and hid against their shoulder. Once it was quiet there was a beat of silence before another presence rushed in, gasping for breath. “K-Kids! C’mon this isn’t funny!” An older male with ebony hair that fell over his eye exclaimed anxiously, “Your mom doesn’t want you over here!” The hidden figures didn’t dare move or make a sound. The older boy sighed and pushed his hair out of his face, before fidgeting with his arm that seemed to glint in the light. “God, Stacy is gonna kill me…” He then hurries down the rest of the hall- trying to see if he can still catch sight of them. Once the coast is clear, two small heads pop out of their hiding space. The older one, a boy with brunette hair, grins from ear to ear then whoops victoriously.. “Yes! See I told you we could lose him!” He giggled as he pulled his little sister out of their hiding spot. She pushed her bright blonde hair out of her eyes then smiled excitedly at her brother. She clapped and then spun around in glee. The boy laughed then looked around the lounge with curiosity. “I dunno why mom and Sharper were so worried about us being over here! It looks the same as the other side… same boring lounges and machines-” Then, he pauses as another sound echoes down the hall in front of them. He cocks his head then turns to his sister. “Do you hear that?” She repeats his gesture and listens, then nods enthusiastically, her eyes sparkling. The boy grins then grabs her hand and leads her down the hall, “Let’s go see what it is! It sounds like singing!” They sneak down the hall carefully- trying not to give themselves away to their purser. But, to them it felt like an epic spy mission, and they loved every second of it. As they neared the mysterious sound, they realized they had ventured towards another large clearing- a hallway made completely out of glass so they could see the ocean outside. They marveled at the sight of the ocean going out as far as the eye could see. The creatures swimming in the distance and the plant life swaying in the currents. But, what truly caught their eye was the source of the sound. A man with a long blue tail speckled with bright blue spots was circling  the open ocean by the base, his long wing like fins trailing behind him gracefully. He was twirling and singing- his voice mesmerizing and melodic. And, singing alongside him were two rabbit rays, seemingly dancing around him. The kids come to the glass to watch, entranced by the performance. They had only seen the hybrids once- and they seemed so scary! But this one… he’s just singing and swimming. He looks like he could even be nice! After a while, the merman seems to sense something and turns around only to meet the eyes of the two curious little humans. His face flushes, embarrassed now that he knows he was being watched. The rabbit rays stop their dance and bump into the mer’s side, as if trying to get him to start up again. He shushes them and pets their heads before swimming up to the glass.

  He smiles awkwardly and tries to wave, “Uh- Hi there! I… didn’t know I had an audience…” “You sing really pretty!” The boy pipes up and the merman laughs, messing with his hair. “Oh! Thank you! I guess it’s… in my dna you know? These guys are the natural singers-” He pets the rabbit rays again who have come up to his side to observe the children as well. “Oh cool! I didn’t know rabbit rays could sing!” The boy exclaims, excitedly, “Or that you could pet them! Are they nice? What’s their names? And your name!” The rabbit ray mer blinks at the rapid fire questions then laughs, “Well- their cries sound kinda like singing so i just try to sing along! Rabbit rays tend to keep to themselves… but they’re very gentle. Other fish don’t bother them because their skin is poisonous-” He then blinks again and chuckles to himself. 

“Oh and- I’m Chase!” He then points to the rabbit ray on his side, who seems to favor one side as it swims, one of its fins seeming smaller. “And this is Bunny- and this is Grayson,” He points to the other rabbit ray who spins then lets out a cry like a sung greeting. Bunny seems to shy her way behind Chase’s back but peeks back out to look at the kids.

The girl laughs and jumps up at the rabbit rays, her eyes sparkling in amazement. The boy presses more up against the glass and then exclaims, “No way! My middle name is Grayson!” Chase cocks his head in confusion, “Middle… Name? Why do you have more than one name?” The boy makes a face as he thinks of this, “.... i don’t know why- but that’s what my mom calls me! Conner Grayson Brody- that’s me!” He then puts a hand on his sister’s head and messes with her hair. “And this is my little sister, Skye London Brody!” The girl grins through her messed up bangs and waves at Chase. Chase waves back and smiles, “Well then- Nice to meet you Conner Grayson Brody and Skye London Br-” “You don’t have to say our whole names!” Conner laughs, “Just Conner and Skye is good!” “Oh- okay! Nice to meet you- Conner and Skye.” The merman smiles then swims down to be more at their level, looking at them curiously. “...you two are quite small for whitesuits… are you still growing?” The two look at each other then giggle, “I guess so!” Conner replies, “We’re just kids- so it’s gonna be a while until we’re as big as the adults!” “I see…” Chase comments and then smiles at them fondly, “...You two remind me of my brothers when they were very small… when I first met them they were all so tiny… I was always the biggest- now they’re all as big as me!” He laughs, “Maybe one day you two will be big like us too!” Conner’s eyes grow big as he gasps and presses up against the glass, “Could we get cool tails like you too??” Chase balks at this then thinks, “I dunno- Maybe! I dunno if humans can grow tails like us… seems like it could be possible though!” The kids gasp and dance at this, excited. “We never get to swim! I wanna swim all day long and see all of the ocean!” Conner exclaims, zipping around the room with his arms outstretched. Skye jumps up and claps. Then, a female robotic sounding voice pipes up from where she is saying, “Me too! Me too!” Chase chuckles as he watches them, “Why can’t you go swimming now? Isn’t that what white suits are born to do?” The two kids stop and then look at each other. Conner messes with his suit under a big poofy sweater and looks down. “Mom says we can’t stay in the water long if we ever have to go- she says it's too dangerous. Even though- she goes out all the time…” He grumbles and kicks his foot- which seems to clang metalically against the steel tile below. 

“Why does she get to and you can’t?” Chase asks. “I know it’s cuz of my stupid leg-” Conner grunts- then lifts up his suit leg a bit more so Chase can see. He didn’t know why he didn’t notice it earlier. Conner’s lower leg is all silver and made of metal. There’s a small ball joint at the end of his calf that attaches to a foot shaped metal piece. “Mom says I can’t swim well with this… and i can’t swim with only one leg either.” He sighs then points to his sister. “And Skye is too little… and Mama says her brain doesn’t work very well so that’d make it hard to swim. Or call for help if we need it- since Skye has to use her PDA.” The merman tilts his head like a confused animal, “Use her PDA? To talk?” Skye jumps up then pulls her PDA out of her jacket. She quickly pokes around on the surface then looks up at Chase with a bright smile as her PDA speaks with a robotic female voice. “Hi- I am Skye!” She giggles then types out, “I like your blue. You sing good!” Chase seems amazed and he swims to be closer to Skye, smiling from ear to ear. “T-That’s- that’s amazing! Oh Skye, you need to meet my brother Jamie! He can’t talk well either- maybe you can teach him how to do that!” The kids look at each other in wonder then back at Chase with excitement. “Really? Your brother is like my sister??” Conner breathes. “Well- he had an accident when he was little- I dunno if his… brain doesn’t work like you said- which seems weird to me! Skye seems just fine- just like my brother!” Conner scratches his head, “Mmmm mama calls it something else too- she uses lots of fancy words cuz she’s a doctor. I think… it’s called.. A...au-tis-m? But yeah Skye seems just fine to me too! She just likes things a certain way and doesn’t like loud noises and needs help to speak!” Skye nods and then spins around as if to say, ‘See I’m all good!’ Chase smiles warmly and nods along, “Yeah.. I know all my brothers need help here and there… so it doesn’t seem bad to me~.” He looks at the horizon line then back to the kids, ‘It’s still light out, if you two wanted I could take you to go see Jameson!” “Really?” Conner gasps excitedly. “Yeah! I could also teach you some cool tricks to swim better- I taught Bunny to swim even with her wing.” The rabbit ray in question seems to recognize her name and she swims in front of the kids and lifts up her damaged wing to show her swimming just fine. The kids exchange a look then grin and nod, taking off their outer clothes to get to their wet suits underneath. “Mom shouldn’t mind if we have a grown up with us who can swim!” Conner exclaims, looking super giddy. Skye straps her pda to her hip then jumps up and down. Chase giggles at their excitement then swims to where a hatch to the outside is. “Here! We can be super quick-” “HEY! STOP RIGHT THERE!” A shrill female voice suddenly rings from the hall. And before the kids can blink they’re being scooped up and/or dragged away from the door by a panting frazzled looking blonde woman. The black haired boy from earlier is hiding behind the doorway, watching with worried eyes. “W-what the hell were you two thinking?!” The lady screeches, adjusting her hold on them and looking at them sternly. “You cannot go out into the ocean alone!” “But Mama! We weren’t going alone! Mr. Chase was gonna take us!” Conner whined as he pointed outside towards the merman. The mother turned to the window and glared burning hot daggers at Chase. There’s a moment of confusion lingering in her gaze, like she might be trying to place him… like she’s seen him before. But, the anger comes back tenfold soon enough. “You-!” She spat, charging towards the window and pointing at the merman threateningly, “Just what were you trying to do?! Were you trying to drown my children?!”

“What? N-No I would never-!” Chase tried to argue. “Well then are you stupid? Are you blind?! My son has a metal leg! He can’t swim! And my daughter is only six! They were just in a ship crash!” The mother seethes, holding Skye’s head against her neck. The girl is shaking slightly and cupping her hands over her ears. “I- I…!” The rabbit ray mer tries to explain himself but the mother hears nothing of it. “You- you hybrids need to stay away from us! If i see you talking to my children again, I’ll be forced to do something drastic! Understood?” Chase backs away from the glass and shrinks in on himself. He nods timidly. The mother glares at him one last time before snorting and starting to walk away, one hand stroking and trying to comfort Skye, the other dragging a distressed Conner behind her. The boy turns to look at Chase with tearful eyes. It breaks Chase’s heart. He presses back up against the window and tries to smile at him, waving goodbye. Conner chokes on a sob but tries to smile and wave back. Skye peeks her head up and waves tiny little fingers at Chase. Then, the hall falls silent again. Chase sighs and lets himself sink into the sand below. Grayson and Bunny come up and nuzzle up against him, breathing bubbles into his hair and singing soft sad melodies. Chase looks up towards the base and tries not to cry. He has a good feeling though… those humans were nothing like the white suits he’s known before. And he has the feeling they’ll definitely meet again.

Fanfic:: Hunter and Prey

To be a Mandalorian pirate is to be both hunter and prey. This, Din understood after being taken into their care as a child.

Now he is hunting a Mandalorian artifact to deliver his charge to the aquatic sorcerers in order to teach him how to handle his magic. His quest brings him to a sandy stretch of shore, Mos Pelgo.

Link to AO3

For Day 4 of @dincobbweek aka AU day!

The prophecy as foretold; I have a hyperfixation, therefore I must write a pirate AU. And oh my god, I loved writing this fic so so much.

Huge shout out to @staranon95 for betaing and @ayantiel for providing the needed inspiration to get this thing going!

-=-=-=-

Mayfeld took in a deep breath, letting the salty air fill his lungs. There was a lot riding on today, his reputation, Ran’s reputation, but with the Empire’s finest knelt at his feet, all of their note-worthy possessions, he thought he was doing pretty well.

“No one makes any dumb decisions and you all will get to live,” he called out, voice carrying over the wind so even the poor bastards at the end would be able to hear. “We’re just here for what’s ours and then we’ll leave you be. You’ll never have seen us.”

Xi’an was getting her brother from the prisoners down below and Burg was raiding the captain’s office. Sure, the objective was to get Xi’an’s brother before he made it to the Empire’s colonies, but this was an Imperial vessel. The three of them would have to be stupid not to rob the Imps blind when they had the opportunity.  Plus, their informant assured them that not only was this a prisoner’s vessel, it was a transport vessel, moving a map that led to a whole lot of Mandalorian gold.

It was the perfect plan; do a job for Ran, undermine Ran, get filthy rich, and live the rest of their days on an island in the Outer Isles.

And everything was going great, when Burg burst through the captain’s doors, startling everyone on board. Everyone jumped, bar Mayfeld. Burg cut an intimidating figure, a mountain of a man, horns poking through holes he made in his hat so he had to crouch to get into most places. His sudden presence didn’t startle Migs. What was a surprise was the concern on his face.

“Migs! The captain is dead!”

He rolled his eyes. “And? Do you want me to pay you back for the ammo it took to do that?”

“No, he was already dead! And the map’s gone too!”

His blood ran cold. He gave up the act and ran into the room, grabbing onto his hat so it wouldn’t fly away. His eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. He couldn’t tell if there had been a scuffle or it had been Burg who had torn up the room. Drawers were half open, hanging out, papers scattered, a blood-spatter, maybe, but there was so little Migs couldn’t tell if it was recent.

And in the center of it all, the captain, dead in his chair. His body was cool, so Burg wasn’t bluffing in saying someone had shot him before. There had been a lot of commotion when they had first boarded the ship, could the thief have entered then?

“You swear he was like this when you got in?”

Burg nodded.

“And he wasn’t holding a pistol?”

Burg nodded again and the evidence confirmed it. There was only one pistol in the room, halfway across the floor. That didn’t happen when someone tried to off themself for fear of the pirates coming on board.

Migs pushed the body to the floor, getting on his knees to root through the drawers, hoping to find the map, to be able to smack Burg upside the head, but there was nothing. He ripped them out of the desk, holding them upside down and shaking them, but still nothing. Just useless documentation with Imperial seals splayed everywhere.

He slammed the top of the desk as he stood up.

“Did you check everywhere?! Every possible drawer, false drawer, any of that bullshit?”

“Yeah! But it ain’t here!”

Migs pulled off his hat, balling up the rim in fist before throwing it back on.

Ran would tell him not to get greedy. There was an unknown element at play now, so focus on getting Qin out and run. With the group back to what it was before Mando sold them out, they could rob big ships again, but who the fuck cared about that. If Ran knew about the map, he would’ve said to hell with Qin, focus on the pay-out.

Migs stormed out of the quarters and back onto the deck. It was too sunny to see, but that didn’t stop his furious walk back to the line of Imperials on the ship. He grabbed the one in the fanciest looking clothing, who he could only assume was the quartermaster or second mate, and hauled him to his feet by his collar.

The man made a choking sound and face-to-face, looked at Migs with terror.

“Where the fuck is it?”

“Wh-Wh-Wh-?”

“The fucking map! Lost Mandalorian treasure? I need it, and if you don’t, Burg here will make sure you meet those fucking dead ass Mandalorians that hid it in the first place.”

Something must’ve gotten the man brave, because he said, “I thought Mandalorians were extinct, like you pirates are going to be.”

And as if signing his death wish, he spat on the floorboards near his feet.

Well, Migs wanted a nice clean run, but he had a reputation to uphold.

He threw the man back down to the floor and before he could get his arms out from under him, Migs pulled out his flintlock pistol and aimed it at him.

He was a second away from painting the floor with this asshole, when Xi’an ran out from under the deck, her brother trailing behind.

“Captain! It’s Mando!”

That made Migs whip his head up. “Mando? Here?”

She nodded. “We saw him climbing down. Port side, now!”

The four of them raced to the railing, watching as the small craft sped away, faster than any ship could hope to move. She flew familiar colors, the flag of someone who had sold Qin out in the first place.

Migs thought today couldn’t get any worse.

Then the flare went out, bright and brilliant even in the daytime sky. An Imperial flare, that would’ve had to have come from the captain’s quarters, that they wouldn’t have been able to spot in the chaos of the room, that was absolutely going to call every Imperial ship in a hundred miles radius.

Fuck.

Fucker didn’t even have the decency to flip them off as he sailed away.

-=-

Din keeps his eyes low to the ground, brim of his hat pulled low over his head, scarf pulled round his face as he weaves in the crowd. It’s Nevarro, so he knows he blends in with the rest of the criminals that inhabit the port town, but he finds himself more cautious these days.

Especially with the small cargo at his side.

It’s only when he takes a corner into a dark alley, down a set of stairs just off the tavern, into the gloom, does he look at the bag at his side.

As they passed a torch on the wall, the Child looked up at him and beamed, his pointy teeth just coming in, ears unfurling as he lifted the flap.

“You doing ok?”

The child babbled in reply.

“Good, we’ll be there soon.”

For what was basically an underground network for a bunch of criminals, it was surprisingly clean. There were puddles of brackish water that Din stepped around to avoid, along with passing others, but it wasn’t as piss-soaked as Nevarro was up top.

Hiding a whole community under a criminal network didn’t seem like the smartest idea at first, but the thing about criminals is they can either be paid off or disappeared with little problem. As he stepped around a pair of running children, he hoped there would be one day Mandalorians wouldn’t have to hide. He had no idea how that would happen, but no one had ever died on hope.

They finally arrived at their destination, a door on the far side of the hallway. He knocked on the door and opened it when he heard the familiar voice say, “Enter.”

She was already sitting at a table, a bottle of rum in front of her, a candle burning, doing its best to light up the space. Her hat was beside her, feathers drooping so they touched the brim. He made a mental note to pick up more on his next supply run.

He took off his hat as he shut the door behind him, keeping his bandana firmly in place.

“How was your trip?” the Quartermaster asked coolly, picking up the bottle to pour him a drink. It had been years since she had manned a ship, but the title still carries in their community.

He pulled out both the kid and treasure from the bag, setting the kid down on the ground to run around the space before sitting across from her.

“Successful.”

He spread out the map in front of the Quartermaster. He heard those fools talking about Mandalorian gold, and it wasn’t entirely true. It was a map to a compass that would reveal what the holder most desired, which for some might be Mandalorian pirate gold or power or love.

Or the location of the aquatic sorcerers the child needed.

The child wasn’t fully human. He needed to spend a lot of time in water in order to spend time on land, which meant a lot of time spent swimming alongside the Razor Crest. He could also shoot water up out of the ocean, a gift Din was well acquainted with, it being one of the child’s favorite games to play.

Since he had failed to fully deliver the child to the Empire, he had had privateers and other pirates on their tail for months. This map was their last hope to make sure the child got back with his people and then…

And then Din would go back to what he did best; providing for a people now scattered by his actions.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of the Quartermaster’s chair scraping back. She stood up, only to bow over again, her back parallel to the table. She moved her scarf to the side so her lips could ghost over the map as she spoke words of power into the paper.

She stood back up fully as the ink on the map shifted and moved. Waves rolled in place, sea serpents dipped in and out of the surface, all the while the path moved like an eel, slippery and changing, until everything at last was at rest and the ink seeped back into the page.

All three bowed their heads over the map. The starting point of the path was now the tiny cluster of islands of Nevarro and the end point was…

“Tatooine?” he asked out loud. “They’re basically land locked. What would a Mandalorian be doing there?”

Tatooine was a coastal stretch of land, surrounded by jagged rocks and ship-wrecks on one side and impassable mountains on the other, with desert in the valley.

She raised her head, scarf now back in place. “I suspect you’ll find out when you go there.”

He nodded and the child cooed. Din looked over at the child grabbing at the map, hands scratching at the lines like he could pick them back up.

“Come on, little one. We have a long journey ahead of us.”

-=-

Din sailed into Mos Pelgo, following the instructions Peli had given him.

“You have to arrive at low tide, that’s the only way you’ll see all the shit you have to get through. If you haven’t decided to turn tail and leave, you have to keep to the south. If you go north, you’re dead. Last I heard, there’s a pile of sticks they call a dock if you keep going south.”

The dock was a simple thing, as she’d said. Rotten wood, with just one post tall enough to hold the rope to the ship. Din was half tempted to jump straight into the water and swim to shore rather than test the strength of the wood, but resisted the urge with the Child in his bag.

He could see the town in the distance and set off on the beach, letting the Child out to stomp around on the beach.

The town was small, a couple of shacks on stilts for the stormy season. Few people were out, and those that were openly stared at the two of them. Din paid them no mind, one goal in his head.

He walked into the cantina, knowing if there ever was a way to learn about a town, it was going to their cantina first.

And not half a minute of talking with the Weequay bartender, the “Captain” walked in. The man wasn’t a Mandalorian, his face was bare, showing off white hair, sun-freckled pale skin, and a well-trimmed beard. His coat was sturdy, but patched to high heaven, with a bright red scarf around his neck. He wore the compass on his belt like he was flaunting it. It made Din’s blood boil. If Din were a younger man, he would’ve shot him right there for it.

But he tried talking. The compass should be in the hands of a Mandalorian. The Captain swore up and down he had gotten it fairly and therefore it should be his.

“I’ve given you an easy out already. Take it off,” Din said, “Or I will.”

“We gonna do this in front of the kid?”

“He’s seen worse.”

The Captain stood, fingers already itching for the flintlock on his hip, no doubt preloaded like Din’s were. They were interrupted by cries from outside. The Captain holds up a hand before smoothly exiting the cantina. Din follows, but stops in the doorframe to take it all in.

There were several broken fishing boats being led through the rocky shores, dragged onto the sands, people shouting, people carrying others. The Captain was in the middle of it all, shouting orders, trying to bring organization to the chaos.

In the distance, was the unmistakable view of a large tentacle slipping beneath the waves.

Din didn’t want to get in the way of this organized chaos, but then a twi’lek with scarred lekku was shoving bandages into his arms and gesturing over to a house across the way. Din wasn’t going to say no to that.

The house was quieter than outside, only pained whimpers and soft, hushed voices. A collection of wooden splinters already piled beside the bed as the doctor continued to take tweezers to one of the people who came in. Din placed the bandages by their side before stepping back, nearly colliding with the Captain.

He looked at the scene with a pensive expression. Immediately, Din could see that his care for his people went further than words. There was corded energy in those shoulders, anger that wanted to be released at the creature that did this to his people.

The Captain ushered him out of the room.

As they walked back to the cantina, the Captain said, “How about this; you help me with the kraken, I give you back your compass.”

“Deal.”                                                                                                          

-=-

The Captain led him past the edge of town to the cliff’s edge. On the journey he told his name was Cobb Vanth; Din held off on his own introduction.

“None of us are much for traveling,” Cobb said, “but the kraken planted itself right where we normally fish. Even when I send people to fish in a different spot, the damn thing follows after. We’ll be starved out sooner rather than later.”

They crested over the hill and the expanse of ocean fell before them. The kraken was visible from the cliffs, a dark mark under the waters, swimming languidly around the coast.

Din did a mental inventory of what he had on the Razor Crest; a handful of spears, a harpoon, some rope. Cobb had shown him the town’s stores before they left. It wasn’t going to be enough.

He stepped back from the ledge, back where Cobb is. “Is there a Tusken encampment nearby?”

Cobb raised an eyebrow. “The Tuskens? But they’re-”

“They know the coast and water better than anyone. We can’t kill it with just the two of us.”

“If they know the area then won’t they want to… I don’t know, not kill it?”

“Then, we’ll just have to ask.”

“Ask? You don’t ask a Tusken anything.”

He could, in fact, ask a Tusken for things. Din was thankful for the cloth in front of his face, masking most of his pride as he watched Cobb’s jaw drop as he asked the Tuskens for their help. It turned out, they did want help in defeating the kraken. Its sudden appearance had also affected their fishing.

They had to travel further to where the kraken had made his home. Din stayed in the back with Cobb, where he seemed more comfortable.

Cobb also apparently liked to talk when he’s nervous.

“So, you spend your days on the ocean? All the time?”

“Mhm. Do you spend all your days on land?”

“Mostly. I used to be on a ship, but not like you. I was a galley slave on an Imperial ship, but before then I had dreams of being as free as you, traveling the waters on a boat with a crew of my own.” His face fell. “Haven’t thought about that dream… for a while.”

To have something that should have meant freedom be taken away from you, Din couldn’t imagine.

“But you escaped?”

“Kriff, yes. Raised a mutiny, sunk those fuckers to the bottom of the sea. I found the compass in the captain’s drawers and it pointed us here. Few more people joined, some left, but it’s as home as we can get.”

Din could only nod. He found himself surprised with the thought that he was glad that Cobb got the compass. He had no idea what the Empire was doing with a Mandalorian artifact, but it was definitely put to better use finding people a home.

They made camp up in the dunes. Din had to waste a bullet, firing into the air to disrupt the startings of a fight between Cobb and the Tuskens. Planning was slightly easier after that.

He took off his coat, bundling it up into a nest for the child to sit in. He rolled up his sleeves to free up his arms as he continued translating. He noticed Cobb looking at the tattoos that traveled up his arms. He doesn’t comment on it.

-=-

Small boats littered the coastline the next day. The plan was for people from both the Tusken band and Mos Pelgo would distract the kraken long enough for a boat of explosives to be set up and ignited close enough to kill it but not the people.

It doesn’t go great.

There were enough boats in the water to pick up people who capsized in the wake of the monster’s waves, the thing lashing out as folks took pot shots with pistols and arrows. They managed to set the boat laden with explosives off in its direction, but when the time came to ignite, the explosion happened, but it just managed to scratch the beast.

Din reached for the harpoons he brought as backup. He and Cobb try firing at the kraken, but they skim off its skin.

The Tuskens were still firing their weapons at the creature. Mos Pelgans took turns firing guns and reloading in turn. All it did was keep the creature at bay, which wouldn’t last long at all. He needed to think of something to kill the creature or everyone here would die.

He furtively scanned around the deck for something, anything. His gaze landed on the extra explosives they had kept on hand. The monster’s skin was too thick for the explosions to take but elsewhere…

Din doesn’t think, he just moves. He grabbed as many sticks of dynamite as he could, stuffing them in the pockets of his coat. There was a coil of rope tied off to the railing, which he took and wrapped around his waist. Even after years of living on ships, his hands shook as he tried to tie it. Suddenly, Cobb was in front of him, taking the rope from his hands and tying it tight around his midsection.

He pulled it hard, once, twice, and it wasn’t going anywhere.

“What are you gonna do?” Cobb asked.

“I’m not sure,” Din said, pulling the rope tighter around his waist.

“Then what should I do?”

Din looked at him, really looked at this man who was willing to do so much for his community in light of so much hardship in his own life. He looked back at the dark shape in the water racing for their boats

He took off his hat and tossed it at Cobb. “Take care of the Child.”

And before Cobb could do anything beyond catch the hat, Din leaped off the side of the ship. He couldn’t tell if Cobb shouted anything after him as the kraken burst from the water. He forced himself to keep his eyes open as he fell straight into the kraken’s maw.

-=-

It was nothing but darkness inside the beast. Even with the scarf over his nose, the scent of salt water and death was everywhere. He dug himself in the mouth of the beast, boots scraping against bony protuberances in the things throat. He emptied his pockets as fast as he could while holding on for dear life as the monster bucked and screamed.

He hoped the kraken was out of range of the boat.

When he was left with one explosive left, he fished around in his pockets for his matchbook. He struck the match and lit the explosive before chucking it down with all the others like it.

He turned and clawed at the kraken’s beak, heart pounding in his chest. If he doesn’t get out of here before the explosion goes off-

Suddenly, a roaring filled his ears and a mass of hot air flung him out of the monster. His scarf twists around his head and he can’t see anything as he flails. He landed hard in the water and then it was silent as the dark water pulled him down.

He wasn’t sure how long he drifted. The shock of cold water and the heaviness of his coat made movement impossible.

He didn’t regret asking Cobb to take care of the child, he’d be in good hands.

Something wrapped around his waist and pulled. Din tried to resist, not sure if he was being dragged toward air or to his death, but his arms were useless, heavy and leaden. He had no strength and so he let it happen.

And then they broke through the surface of the water, a cool wind icing his skin instantly. He took a shuddering breath and nearly choked on water and his sopping wet scarf. Hands came up and pulled the scarf off his face. He coughed, chest shuddering with each intake of breath. He realized he’s being held, arms around his waist, and it isn’t until he can take a full breath did he finally bother to wipe salt water from his eyes and look at who was holding him.

It was Cobb. His hat and coat were off, red shirt darkened to maroon with all the water. He was searching his face for… something.

Din took a breath, resisting the urge to cough again. “I thought I said- you need to take care of the kid!”

“I am!” Cobb said, holding his head up to avoid a passing wave. “By making sure his daddy lives!”

Cobb maneuvers his arms so he’s gripping a floating piece of rowboat. It’s thankfully big enough that when Din leans his whole weight on it, he doesn’t sink back into the ocean.

“Everyone okay?”

Cobb gave him a look that Din thinks means he’s stupid. “Yes, thanks to you, partner.”

They only have to tread water for a couple of minutes before a rowboat headed by the twi’lek Issa-Or arrives. Cobb makes sure Din is pulled aboard before climbing in himself.

-=-

They stayed the night. Din isn’t in any position to argue with Cobb’s hospitality. He didn’t think he’d be able to turn the wheel on the Razor Crest let alone sail it out of harbor.

Cobb opened his house to them. It was a small abode, raised off the ground like the others. Its small size made it even more obvious the telescope and sextant were on display on the only table in the main room.

Din wanted to pass out then and there, but Cobb firmly set him in one of the wooden chairs before disappearing behind the one door in the house. He returned with a roll of bandages and water. He thought it was to drink, until Cobb started peeling back the wet layers of Din’s clothes to reveal burns and scratches he hadn’t even felt. Cobb dips a rag into the freshwater, rinsing out the salt and detritus from the wounds.

He worked in silence, both too exhausted from the day to say much. They could hear the sounds of the party outside, Tusken and Mos Pelgan alike celebrating the death of the beast.

A drunken group walked past and the two of them can hear the butchered shanty they sing. They glanced to the window then to each other, sharing hidden smiles.

All patched up, Cobb gave him the bed and set something up for the child. Din knew he should be aware of his host, should know where his host himself is sleeping the night, but he couldn’t bring himself to care with exhaustion tugging him into the bed.

Voices from the other room kept him up,  cracking one eye open to focus on the now familiar drawl.

“You know, in the past few days, whenever I looked at the compass for a sign of how to kill the kraken, it always pointed out to sea. I didn’t know what that meant, if I had to go sailing for a kraken expert or find a sunken treasure that would kill the kraken. I don’t know, I was getting desperate. But now… I’m thinking it might’ve been pointing to your dad.”

He heard the child’s burbles of delight and finally, finally, he slid into unconsciousness.

-=-

Din woke up to the sun shining in his eyes, light reflecting off the compass placed on the pillow that wasn’t there last night. Any lingering drowsiness left him when he realized what it is.

The Mandalorian compass.

He grabbed it and opened it up, thinking about Grogu and the teacher he needed. The arrow spun around, until stopping, hovering at a point out back toward the ocean.

A heading. He had a heading.

He fell back into the bed, just staring at the compass. It was embedded in a box made of dark wood, carvings all around the edges, Mando’a script, if he had to guess. It’s incomprehensible, chipped to the point of  being illegible.  

Something in the bed crinkled as he shifted. He turned and searched for the source and founda scrap of paper. It took a moment for him to parse, but it was just Cobb letting him know he had business to attend to and he would be back when Din left.

Right... they had to leave this town to continue their quest.

He reminded himself of that as he went out to find the child. The house sounded suspiciously quiet for all the mischief the child got into.

-=-

They got their affairs in order quicker than expected. Some people had spent the night alongside the Tuskens preparing the kraken meat to distribute to the rest of the town – and Din, apparently.

It seemed like the whole town had come out to see them off. They apparently had held off giving their thanks until they knew he was conscious. Din looked over the grateful townspeople’s heads to see Issa talking intently with Cobb. When Cobb glanced over his way, he ducked his head back down.

Normally he would sneak out of this kind of attention, but the kid was eating it up, beaming like he was the one who took down the beast, so Din went down the line, nodding respectfully at every given comment.

By the time he got to the end of the line, he was already ready to take a nap, but he raised a hand to bid them all good-bye and turned to walk out of town.

“Mando!”

Din turned around to see Cobb running after him, heel kicking up sand.

He stops in front of him. “Do you- do you need help on your quest?”

“Are you offering? Thought you had a town to look after.”

He scratched the back of his neck. “Well, the kraken was our biggest threat, and with the peace brokered with the Tuskens, there’s not much for me here.”

Din tried to tamp down his excitement, not believing what he was hearing. “You still have your sea legs?”

“Long as you don’t lock me up below deck, I should get them just fine.”

“I’d never,” he said quickly. 

Cobb smiled. “Well then, permission to come aboard?”

Din hoped Cobb could tell he was smiling behind the bandana. “Granted.”

-=-

As they sailed out of port, Din kept glancing at Cobb, who was fidgeting up a storm. He kept tapping his fingers against the railing, glancing out at the disappearing coastline.

Finally, after even the Child was tapping on his pant leg to point out Cobb’s unease for him, he hatched a plan. He affixed the wheel so it wouldn’t turn on its own. Then he went about setting the sails and ropes for the same task, keeping them on course while Din took care of Cobb.

“We can still head back if you want to,” he said as he approached the other man.

Cobb turned over his shoulder. “No, I’m not having second thoughts. I’ve… My friends know I’m not exactly made for land.”

“Oh?”

Cobb flipped his scarf up to wipe at his head. “Before we made landfall at Mos Pelgo, we took out a few Imperial ports. Small things that we only noticed because of the ships with galley slaves, but… I ain’t felt that alive in a while.”

Din fished the compass out from his pocket, flicking it open. The arrow spun lazily, pointing back to Cobb for a second before spinning around in the direction they were sailing, the same direction it had pointed when he thought about what Grogu needed.

He snapped it shut, coming up to stand beside Cobb.

“I’m sure we’ll run into something along the way. Here, I’ve got something to show you.”

Cobb raised an eyebrow. “Alright, I’ll bite. What is it?”

Din bit his lip, glad for the bandana. “Do you trust me?”

Cobb chuckled. “I would have to be an idiot to sail out to who knows where with a man I didn’t trust.”

Din nodded. “Then let it be a surprise.”

Cobb acquiesced, letting himself be led to the middle of the deck. When they were under the main mast, Din grabbed the main line in one hand, pulling Cobb close with the other. He ignored how his cheeks flushed with the sudden closeness.

“Hold on tight,” he said.

“Wha-?” That’s all Cobb got out before Din flicked the switch with his foot and the two of them went rocketing up toward the crow’s nest. Cobb’s arms circled around him like a vice, his shouts lost in the wind.

Din made sure Cobb got in the basket before he did, especially when he realized his eyes were shut.

“Cobb, open your eyes.”

Cobb cracked one eye open and then both flew open as he realized what he was seeing. Glittering blue ocean, as far as the eye could see. There were two dots in the far distance, ships of some sort.

There was no better way to experience the vastness of it all, than looking at it from above.

He glanced at Cobb and saw his eyes tearing up a bit.

He doesn’t say anything for a long moment, letting Cobb take it all in. This was what being on the ocean was supposed to mean, freedom and possibility, beauty and wonder. Din didn’t expect to do much in laying a balm over Cobb’s past, but he hoped he could communicate with this view that he wanted to help when he could.

Cobb turned to face him and Din knew he understood.

“Thank you, Mando.”

“Din, my name is Din Djarin.”

“Then thank you, Din.” And to his surprise, he leaned over and kissed him just above where the scarf covered his face.

Neither of them acknowledged it, except for an exchange of eye contact. Neither could contain the mirth in the crinkles of their eyes.

“We should start plotting a course, shouldn’t we, Captain?” Cobb asked.

“Yes, Captain.”

The Introverted Twin

Summary - Being John B’s bookish twin isn’t easy. Especially with my best friend, Pope, being weird about me getting closer with JJ.

Flashbacks in italics

Warning: Mild smut at the end 😁

Catch up here: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4

——

Chapter 5

When I get back to the Chateau, I run inside to find JJ. John B calls out for me but I ignore him. I’m on a mission and not even my brother can stop me. Once I determine JJ isn’t at my house, I jump back in the van and drive to the beach. I finally find him 30 minutes later sitting alone on a pier, lost in his own thoughts.

I give myself a pep talk and remember what Sarah told me. I walk over and sit beside him, nervously reaching out to take his hand.

“Hi JJ,” I start tentatively. “I’m sorry I ran from you earlier.”

“It’s ok, Y/N,” he mutters. It makes me anxious that he is using my real name. “It’s probably best that you left.”

“J, what’s wrong?” JJ’s eyes are red and tears are streaming down his face.

“John B and I got into it after you left. He called me out on some stuff and then told me to leave.”

“Was it about me?” I whisper, afraid that I’m the source of his pain.

He doesn’t answer but turns to look at me. I reach out to brush away his tears and he shudders at my touch. We get lost in each other’s eyes for a few minutes. His are filled with emotion but he looks so conflicted. I’m overcome with the desire to kiss him, but I can’t risk doing that until I know where he stands.

“JJ, you’ve known me for a long time,” I begin anxiously. “You know that I have a hard time expressing how I feel, especially when it’s something big. But it’s you so I’m going to take a leap of faith. Is that ok?”

“Sunshine, you can tell me anything.” JJ gently squeezes my hand to encourage me.

“I… umm, shit, ok… I… damnit, I don’t know why I can’t just say what I want to,” I exclaim, frustrated with myself.

“How about I go first? Give you some time to find the words?”

I can only nod in response, frozen in my own anxiety. He’s staring into my eyes and it’s the most intimate moment of my life. It feels like he’s boring into my soul and I’m worried he won’t like what he sees.

“I want you,” he confesses. “All of you. Your amazing brain, your beautiful heart, your gorgeous eyes. I want every part of you even though I know I shouldn’t. I know that you deserve so much more than I can give you. You are supposed to be the one to get out of here and I would be an anchor around your waist. I’ve been trying to push this down and let you go. But then you look at me like you are right now and it takes everything in me not to kiss you.”

His admission gives me the boost of confidence I need to act. Before I can think too much about it, I lean in and kiss him. His lips are salty from the ocean and his tears, but they are soft and gentle. Our lips move together slowly at first and I feel his hand reach up to cradle my cheek. His thumb brushes along my jaw while he runs his tongue along my lower lip. I open my mouth to give him access and he deepens the kiss as my hands reach up to run my fingers through his hair. When we break apart to catch our breath, I lean my forehead to his and sigh in contentment.

“JJ, I think I’m in love with you,” I whisper.

“But I’m not good enough for you, Sunshine,” he whines as he pulls back from me.

“I’m the only person who gets to decide who’s good enough for me. And you’re the person I want. You pull me out of shell and pay attention to the details of my life. You planned this amazing trip to the planetarium for us even though I haven’t talked about going in at least a year. You can tell when and why I get lost in my own head and help me come back to reality. You make me laugh more than anyone else. You have this vision of yourself as a fuck up who isn’t worthy of love. But that’s so wrong. You are so amazing.”

JJ stares at me in awe. I can see that he’s trying to process everything I just said so I give him a minute. Without warning, he stands up and drags me up with him. He continues holding my hand as he walks down the pier back to the beach. We walk in silence for a while and I begin to get anxious. Suddenly, he stops walking and moves to stand in front of me.

“Sunshine, John B basically banned me from dating you,” JJ tells me as he looks down to the sand.

“Wait, what?! That chauvinistic ass! He does not get to dictate my life.” John B has always tried to protect me but this is way out of bounds.

“Let me explain a little better... After you left the Chateau, I went inside to find out where you were going. John B said he wanted to talk to me.”

“Dude, what’s the deal with you and my sister?” John B can’t unsee the confused expression on Y/N’s face when he asked if something was going on between them.

“I like her, JB, a lot,” JJ admits. “But nothing has happened between us. Sometimes I think she likes me too but then she pulls back. I don’t know, man.”

“JJ, you can’t fuck around with Y/N,” John B knows JJ wouldn’t intentionally hurt his sister, but he also knows that JJ has never committed more than one night to a girl. “You know her, and you know how you are with girls. You can’t just mack on her and then disappear. That would kill her.”

“Bro, that is not what I want.” JJ run his hand through his hair, trying to contain his temper. He can’t believe his best friend thinks that he would do that. “She isn’t the type of girl that you just mack on.”

“What happens when it falls apart? You’re my best friend but it doesn’t mean I won’t beat your ass when you hurt her.”

“Why do you think I’m going to hurt her? I’m not stupid. I know how special she is.”

“Right, she has a chance to get out of here,” John B responds quickly. He has always known that his sister’s destiny is outside the Outer Banks. “She’s crazy smart but once she commits to something, she doesn’t let it go. I don’t want her to get stuck here.”

“I don’t want to hold her back! I want more for her than this bullshit, scrimping and scraping all the time to make ends meet.”

“But she’ll stay” John B explains. “For you, she’ll stay, and she’ll never do all the shit she wants to.”

“I could go with her,” JJ pleads, unsure if he’s trying to convince his best friend or himself. “I could be part of that life.”

“JJ come on. You and I, we’re lifers here. You can’t drag her down to our level. Go think about it before you do anything stupid. I need to try to find my sister.”

I am shocked at my brother’s behavior. Shocked that he would say such hurtful things to his best friend. He knows the verbal abuse that JJ gets from his father. Why the hell would he add fuel to that fire?

“JJ, listen to me,” I tell him as I gently grab his cheeks. “Do you want to be with me? And I don’t want you to think about the reasons why you think you shouldn’t. Just a yes or no.”

“Yes, of course I do,” JJ replies earnestly. “But –”

“No buts, JJ. If you want to be with me and I want to be with you, that’s enough. The rest of the shit will get figured out.”

“What about JB and Pope?”

“I’ll deal with them. John B was right about one thing, though. Once I’m in, I’m all in. Before I fully commit, I need to know that you aren’t going to bail. Are you in this for real?”

JJ pulls me in for a passionate kiss. He’s holding my face gently with both hands and claiming me as his own. He tilts my face slightly to gain deeper access as he slowly slides one hand down to my neck and the other down to my lower back to pull me closer. With my whole body pressed against his and his tongue exploring my mouth, every part of me feels like it’s on fire. I place my hands against his chest and roam over his rippling muscles, trying to memorize every dip and curve. He slowly pulls back and returns both of his hands to my face.

“I am in, 100%. Let’s go back to my place to figure all of this out. My dad is out on a fishing trip so we don’t need to worry about him.”

“JJ, we can go to the Chateau,” I tell him, thinking he’s anxious about seeing my brother again. “I told you I’ll deal with John B.”

“Sunshine, can we just have some time together before we bring our whole world into this?” The idea of alone time with JJ sends a shiver through my body. It feels like we are in our own delicate bubble and I realize that I’m not ready for that bubble to pop yet either.

I nod at him and he pulls me along to the van. I don’t want to leave John B stranded at home, so he follows behind me on his bike back to the Chateau. I hastily write a note telling my brother that I’m ok and I’ll be back in the morning. I leave the keys and note on the driver’s seat and run over to JJ. I’m a little nervous about riding on his bike but don’t hesitate to climb on behind him and wrap my arms around his torso.

When we get to his house, JJ leads me by the hand to his room. Even though he knows his father isn’t home, he locks his bedroom door as a precaution. I haven’t been in JJ’s room since we were kids and I take a moment to explore the one space in the world that is completely his own.

I’m surprised to find so much of his personality in the room since he spends so much time at my house. He has a wall completely dedicated to the Pogues, covered in pictures and mementos of all of our adventures. I stop exploring when I see a piece of art that I don’t recognize. It’s a pencil drawing of me hunched over studying. I’m in profile, so he must have been sitting on the couch while I was studying at the table. My hair is thrown up into a messy bun, held in place by two pens. I’m wearing one of my dad’s old sweatshirts and have a pencil resting on my temple while I chew on my bottom lip.

“I didn’t know that you draw,” I say quietly as I continue to take in all the details of the picture.

“Only when I’m inspired. You were studying for the SATs the first time you took them. I think you sat in that position for 6 hours. I’m pretty sure you didn’t even know I was there. You were so focused and intent, I couldn’t help watching you and sketching. That was when I realized I have feelings for you.”

I turn to JJ and study his face. He looks vulnerable, something I’m not used to with him. I walk over and pull him into another kiss. This kiss feels different than the others we’ve shared today. JJ slowly walks me backwards until my legs bump into his bed. He guides me down to the pillow and settles next to me with one arm tucked under my neck. I turn so I can look at him and our noses are inches apart.

“You are so damn beautiful,” he whispers as his hand slowly glides down my cheek to feel along my neck. He traces his fingers along the exposed skin on my chest and I rest my hand on his waist, feeling his muscles contract as he breath shallowly. I move my hand slightly to get under his shirt and touch his soft skin. I smile when I feel goosebumps form. He follows my lead and trails his hand down my side, and I can’t help the small gasp that escapes as he brushes along the side of my breast. His hand continues down to the hem of my shirt and I sigh when his warm fingers touch my bare skin.

I lean towards his face and press delicate kisses along his cheek bones and down his jawline. I’ve never kissed someone like this, so I rely on instinct and JJ’s reactions as a guide. My mouth travels down to his neck and I slowly work my way up behind his ear. I lick along his ear lobe and he hums in response. I nibble gently along his ear and feel his hand tighten on my waist. I give him deep kisses down the side of his neck and then leave feather light kisses as I move back up to meet his mouth.

When our mouths connect, it’s like an explosion. His tongue slowly runs along my lower lip and then he catches it with his teeth. I moan as he tugs my lip slightly and I move my hand up his back. He swipes his tongue into my mouth and kisses me hungrily. I dig my fingers into his back, and he smiles against my mouth. He kisses along my cheek and then moves to the spot behind my ear. I shiver at the contact and scrape my nails down his back. He pulls me closer to him as his hand roams up my side, under my shirt. He hesitates before touching my breasts until I nod in consent. He then firmly cups my breast in his large hands and trails his finger under the top of my bra to brush against my nipple.

I throw my leg over his hip and use the momentum to flip him on his back with me straddling his lap. His hands automatically rest on my waist and his eyes are filled with lust. I grab the bottom hem of my shirt and pull it off in one smooth motion. I watch JJ take in my lace bra as his hands roam up to touch me. I lean forward and meet his mouth again as his hands explore my body. I feel his erection under my core, and I rock slightly against him, eliciting a moan.

He rolls us over and trails kisses down my neck and makes his way to my breast. He sucks my skin on the top of breast while his fingers tease my other nipple through the lace. I groan and arch my back to give him more access. He roughly pulls down the lace to swirl his tongue around my nipple while he continues to the tease the other. I drag my fingernails up the bare skin on his sides and feel him shiver. I move my hand along his waist band and hook my fingers into the top of his shorts to pull him closer.

“Wait, wait, wait,” he says as he pulls away.

“Did I do something wrong?” I ask timidly.

“Fuck no, Sunshine... we just need to call timeout.” I’ve never heard JJ sound so unsteady.

“You don’t want to keep going?” I can’t hide the insecurity in my voice.

“No, I definitely do.” He rubs my cheek tenderly with his thumb. “But I don’t want to rush into this. I want this to be different. I want your first time, our first time, to be special.”

“JJ, everything I do with you is already special,” I insist as I cup his face. “It’s not the circumstances that make something special, it’s the person that you do it with.”

“I know, I just want to do this right, is that ok?” I can tell from his voice and the way he’s looking at me that he’s as new to this as I am. He may not be a virgin, but this is still a totally novel situation for him.

“Of course, J” I cuddle into him and enjoy the feeling of his strong arms around me.

“Can I take you on a date tomorrow, Sunshine?” He traces his fingers over my still exposed skin while he awaits my answer.

“I would love that, J. I just need to go home first for a bit.”

“You going to talk to John B?”

“Yes, my brother and I will be having a firm conversation about his role in my life.”

“I don’t want to get between - ” I stop JJ with a kiss.

“Stop, don’t worry about me and John B,” I insist. “We’ll be fine. And you two will be fine.”

“What about Pope?”

“I’m not sure... The last thing I want to do is hurt him even more. He’s my best friend but I can’t make myself feel something that isn’t there.”

“He’s one of my best friends, too.” I hear the guilt in his voice. “But Pope is a good guy, he would want us to be happy, right?”

“I hope so. I’ll try to talk to him tomorrow too.”

We spend the rest of the evening talking and cuddling. I feel safe in JJ’s arms and fall asleep listening to his steady heartbeat as he combs through my hair with his nimble fingers.

Ch 6

Taglist: @agirlwholovescoffee @obxlife @meaganjm @kaelyn-lobrutto24 @velyssaraptor @lunaposey @http-cherries @prejudic3 @love-youu-softly @rudyismymanperiod @justcallmesams @celestialmaybank @yasminesameh @chaoticbisous @liloddcora

Harry Hook x Reader - soulmate au! lost things

=

A soulmate. Something everyone had, whether they be on the Isle or in Auradon. You had watched your mom and dad hand things the other had lost back to each other, either be a pen or a full stack of papers.

Oh, did I forget to mention? Soulmates found whatever the other lost. So say one lost their phone? The other would find it moments later.

Sometimes appearing mid-air and dropping into your hands. Your mom had once lost her wedding ring when she was cooking, your dad decided to be all dorky and “propose” all over again.

It was one of your fondest memories of them, it always filled you with the hope that one day, maybe you and your soulmate would be that way.

Speaking of your soulmate.

A pair of headphones appeared out of the corner of your eye. You smiled and picked them up, examining them.

They were a dark red with black leather for the ear cushions, little silver and gold bits and bobs decorated the headband and outer shell of the speakers, a small cross bone skull painted on the left ear.

You knew for a while that your soulmate was and isle kid, from the state of the items he lost. Always run down or used, broken, worn down, and sometimes, things you had “lost” before that he had lost again.

Like this pair of headphones, it was a pair of headphones you had bought last month and “lost” them, and now soulmate had lost them again.

You tossed them onto your bed and continued to work, knowing you would soon forget about them and they would return to your soulmate.

=

Harry growled in frustration as he tore through his room for his headphones. “goddamnit!” he yelled, tossing up his pillows, hearing them thud on the ground behind him a moment later.

“where the hell are meh headphones!?!” Harriet rolled her eyes behind him, messing with the threads of her new shirt (mostly new, her soulmate had lost it recently)

“yeh dolt it's with yer soulmate, yeh will get it back soon jus’ wait” she muttered, sneering as Harry turned to her and stuck his tongue out.

“shut up Hettie” he jeered back, grabbing his discarded pillows and tossing them back on his bed.

Somehow throughout the years, his soulmate had lost a lot of of….comfortable things, like soft fluffy pillows, blankets, hoodies, and even a full bag of food!

Sometimes he thought his soulmate purposely lost things to give him stuff. It was one of the reasons he wasn’t starving to death or sleeping on a lump of stone for a mattress so he wouldn’t complain.

“harry” he looked at his sister, pressing his lips together and shrugging.

“what” he stressed, eyes drifting to where she was pointing.

There on his dresser was his headphones, though they weren’t there a moment ago “told ya”

Harry glared at her and snatched them off his dresser, tossing them around his neck and stomping out of his room.

=

“(y/n) I swear I can't find my new shirt! I just got it last week!” Audrey whined about her shirt, it was a non-expensive one but it was comfortable and breathable. You sighed through the phone.

“Audrey, if you can't find it, your soulmate has it, so just chill okay?”

She sighed “I know I know but that was a good shirt!”

“just buy another one?” you suggested, knowing she could easily do that.

“but that was-what the-oh” you heard something in the background and you sat up.

“new thing?”

“uh…yeah? It’s a ….bracelet?”

“whats it looks like?” you trapped your phone between your cheek and neck, continuing to work on your essay.

“silver, bunch of….piraty things on it? Is the best way to describe it I guess, and some red gems on it too”

“sounds cool” you laughed, setting your phone down and turning on speakerphone. “so hows you “vacation” going?”

“pretty good, I got my hair done”

“I saw, it looks dope” you complimented. Audrey hummed back.,

“I like it too, so anything new for you?”

“yeah, headphones, and a ring” you glanced at the red ruby ring on your desk, the teeth of the skull clamping around the jewel” “so you’re sure its an isle kid?”

“has to be, everything they lose is used, the only thing that was relatively new was stuff I lost”

“hmmm, well you know I really don’t like isle kids”

“correction, you don’t like Mal” you interrupted quickly, knowing she liked Evie to an extent and Carlos and Jay weren’t really on her radar.

“yeah yeah, but if they are an isle kid I won't be mean, if it's your soulmate it's your soulmate!”

“same for you Aud” you teased, her lost things were also very…isle like, but she constantly denied it.

“oh shut up”

You glanced at your clock and sighed “I gotta go, I have a thing to do”

“im guessing cotillion?” Audrey muttered.

“yeah, sorry Aud”

“its fine, its not your fault Ben was spelled”

“I know, but still” you murmured, saving your essay and closing your laptop “alright I really gotta go!”

“bye! Talk to you later kisses!” she made a kiss sound and hung up, leaving you to get to jane to help plan cotillion.

=

You jumped as Lonnie burst into your room, speaking quickly “bens on the isle kidnapped by pirates and I need your help to convince Jay and Carlos to let us help!”

You stayed silent as you processed her words before leaping out of bed and quickly getting dressed.

“let's go!” you grabbed your sword and ran out with Lonnie,  running around to the front.

“we’re coming with you guys” Lonnie stated, surprising  Jay and Carlos, the two boys laughed nervously.

“what? We don’t need swords at the…..waffle hut?” Carlos's smile dropped and he slowly turned his head to look at jay.

“really?”

“look its either you take us or….we’re gonna have to tell fairy godmother” jay and claros glanced at each other and sighed.

“alright, but (y/n) do you eve-“

You snorted and lifted up your arm, revealing the P tattoo you had gotten a couple of years back In honor of your uncle jack.

“There are some things I haven't told you guys” you laughed, pushing past them and heading to the limo.

=

Harry raised his brow as beasty boy kept glancing at his wrist “what are yeh lookin’ at beasty” he huffed, pointing his hook at him.

“…that bracelet looks very familiar for some reason” Ben muttered, squinting at the red and (f/c) beaded bracelet.

“so wha’ its meh soulmates” Harry rolled his eyes, turning around and strutting around the mainmast.

Bens eyes widened, that’s where he recognized it, it was (y/n)s! maybe-

“Finally!!!” ben was ripped from the mast, and pushed to the plank. “so lets get this started shall we!!” Ben looked to the group had arrived, relieved to see you among them.

No matter how pirate someone was, it was hard to beat the daughter of the king of pirates after all.

(y/n) turner.

=

You glanced around, some of these guys were hardly holding their swords correctly. You kept your sword behind your back since Mal had said to keep them hidden so Uma didn’t know anything was up.

Soon, mal passed the wand to uma, ben being handed back to her. As the pirates yelled in victory, you locked eyes with the tall red-coated boy, his bright ocean blue eyes sending a shock down your spine.

‘the hell’ you thought to your self, shaking your head, about to run back to the tunnel when uma screamed and broke the “wand”

“NO!” your eyes widened, watching as Uma drew her sword “YOU DO NOT GET TO WIN EVERY TIME!” Carlos dug out the smoke bombs and launched them at the pirates.

You sighed, drawing your sword and flipping it in your hand, cringing as mal fumbled to grip ber sword correctly.

“mal space your fingers and move your thumb to the right!”

You leaped down the deck, landing in a crouch next to mal. “you focus on ben, ill handle any that come” mal looked startled but obeyed, running up the deck to get to ben.

Uma locked eyes with you, pointing her sword at you “get her!”

You smirked, twisting around and dodging several pirates blades, heh, your baby cousin could fight better than these goons.

Uam huffed, deciding to deal with you herself. You smirked as she ran at you, easily blocking and parrying her attacks.

She was quite good, possibly taught by one of the OG pirates that lived on the isle, but still.

She couldn’t best you. You disarmed her and tripped her, wincing slightly as she hit the deck with a loud smack.

“who the hell-“ her eyes widened as she caught sight of your wrist. You smirked.

“honor among thieves young captain” you purred, embedding her cutlass beside her head. As you ran to head back to the tunnel, something appeared mid-air.

A silver hook.

…

…

…

Oddest fucking timing you got ain't cha soulmate??? You ignored it, strapping the hook to your belt loops and running, not seeing umas jaw drop as that entire event happened.

“holy shit” she muttered, jumping as Harry popped up behind her and growled.

“I lost meh hook!”

=

Later in the limo, Evie finally caught sight of the hook, her eyes widening “h-how did you get Harrys hook? You never fought with him??”

“Harry who?” you muttered confused, grabbing the hook from your waist and holding it up “wait was this Harry apart of the battle?”

“yes! He was uma first mate! The one with the red coat!” Evie stressed.

You were silent for a moment before facepalming “this popped out of the air just as we were leaving.”

“oh shit” the car sounded back, Harry Hook was your soulmate.

=

A year later, the hook still sat on your dresser, delicately placed in a display case, and polished every week.

You had been unable to forget about it, unable to send it back to harry. So you kept it, not being able to go to the isle and give it back personally.

Until one day.

You dove underwater, glaring back up at the surface as you saw Audrey disappear.

You were really glad you followed your gut and took the hook with you to Janes birthday party.

Breaching the surface you took heavy breathes, swimming to the edge and lifting yourself up onto the grotto.

“come on, we gotta warn the others!” you lifted jane out of the pool.

“you go do that, I have to get my stuff!” you took your bike back to the dorms, changing out of your wet party clothes and into your gear.

You slid your loose leather jacket up to just below your elbow, putting on your gloves and ring.

Black pants with reinforced knees, calf-length steel toe boots, and your sword, hook once more on your belt loop.

As you stepped out of the dorms, you locked eyes with the vks.

“hey” you yelled out, smirking as they all jumped. “where the hell have you all been??”

“uh, getting hades ember???” mal looked you up and down, raising her brows “why are you dressed like that?”

“because I can” you snorted, locking eyes with harry “hey, I think this is yours” unhooking the hook, tossing it to harry.

He fumbled to catch it, jaw-dropping as he realized what it was “how-when did yeh get me…..oh…OH!” his cheeks turned pink, looking away from you and into his shoulder.

“yep, how’d you lose it in the first place?” you asked, watching as Harry glared at jay. “ah, gotcha” you snorted, following the group out as they had decided to go to the castle.

=

You smiled as the bridge began to build, your parents just behind you, hands on your shoulders. “you ready (y/n)” your mom asked, brushing a piece of cake off your cheek,

“yeah, and I think you guys will like him” you snickered. Your parents looked at each other, smiles on their faces.

“and why is that?”

“hes a pirate” you laughed, watching as Harry stepped over the bridge/Auradon border and locked eyes with you, a bright smile on his lips. He started to walk over to you.

“like mother like daughter” your dad laughed, grinning widely as you ran forward into Harry's arms.

“found yeh” Harry laughed, nuzzling his cheek into your hair, holding you tightly to his chest.

“I think our daughters in good hands” your mom hummed, intertwining hands with Will and walking over to greet harry.

you turned, smirking as you saw a black haired pirate girl hang Audrey recently lost necklace in front of her, Audrey cheeks Turing dark and she buried her face in her hands.

“wait Hetties soulmate is Audrey?....whoa” harry laughed, watching as his sister kissed the princesses forehead.

“i knew it” you chuckled, taking Harry arm and dragging him to meet your parents half way. “i never told you who my parents were right?”

“no?”

“yeah my moms Elizabeth Swan and my dads Will Turner.”

“WHAT?!”

---the end---

-this isn’t my best but I just had to get this idea out of my head, inspired by tik tok POVs with this au, might do a more in depth version of this--

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hey do you ever love a fic so much you want to draw fanart for it? but you are not very good at drawing so you decide to try out collage for the first time in your life? well, let’s just say that i quite liked the last published chapter of  @gerrydelano​​‘s fic 

[ID: the image is a collage. the background paper is pastel blue, and towards the top right corner there is a group of birds, drawn in white. they are eating and the lines of the drawing are smudged, so that the white drags out from them in vague shades. on the top left corner, there is a single window frame; the frame is green and the glass is black. there are a series of eyes taken from various paintings glued on top of the glass. from behind the frame, comes a single butterfly’s wing, which is red yellow and white. on the bottom right corner, there is a tiny, white drawing of a person helping another on a small boat. the drawing is framed into the corner by an arch. the colors of the arch are graded from dark green to dark red. a red and yellow leaf is glued on top of the arch, and there is a tiny piece of paper glued onto the leaf. the paper says: “-G”. right in the middle of the drawing, we first can see (looking at it from the bottom to the top) a picture of some kind of body of water, upon which two boats are sailing. upon that first picture, acting as shore for the water, there is a picture of outer space. it is red, green, violet and white, and it is a bit shiny. there is an old stairway glued right in the middle of outer space. at the bottom of a stairway we can see a yellow figure (maybe a kid, with long hair and a backpack) and the top of the stairs connects to a door. the door belongs to a blue room. there is a big clock glued upon the door, and there is a drawing of a man, looking tired and facing the other way, right in the middle of the room. the top and bottom right corners of the room are framed by two colored vortex, which are incidentally two of the stars from Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. from behind the left side of the room, comes out another butterfly wing, which perfectly mirrors the one that comes out of the window. on the right side of the paper, we can see the sentence “I’d say you have at least somewhat of a chance” spelled out in different letters. at the bottom of the paper, a white piece of paper says “two ships passing”. /end ID]

under the cut I have written an explanation of the meaning behind the,, symbols? I am not going to pretend I had super strict idea to begin with, but as I started to find things I liked on random high-school books I (un)consciously  assigned them a meaning. feel free to indulge my pretentiousness and read my ramble I guess + (also under the cut) close-up pictures

okay so let me just run down a list: — the window okay, so. that’s meant to represent the background world, the things Gerry and Jon are going to have to live with whenever they step outside of their refuge. the glass is dark, because they try to protect themselves for as long as possible, but there are still various Eyes peeking in, mostly looking aggressive or extremely focused (fun fact: all of these come from paintings; i perhaps should have written down which belongs to what but i forgot) — the birds this is a reference to the ongoing “birds in jon’s stomach” metaphor. they are eating because that’s what they were drawn doing on the paper i miraculously found dsgfghk but if you want to push it you could say that they are all going “finally, some good fucking food” at Jon’s joy in meeting Gerry?? + they lines are smudged because,,,,,,, (god i am so sappy) because it gives an impression of movement? like, they are at ease but part of them is free to fly — the butterfly’s wings so, take “one dropped stone can change the way the whole ocean moves” but make it boring, and suddenly it’s the butterfly’s effect. the wings connect both to the outside world, to the window and the Eyes /and/ to the room (which I will get to later) because their meeting changes everything. it changes how they interact with the world and (at least partially) it saves them from it + it changes them as people, and gives them a space to be happy, to be with each other — the sea + outer space the sea with the two boats is quite an obvious one so i am not going to say anything about it. outer space is,,,,,,,,,, Miriam? I know she is more ocean vast that she is space vast, but I guess the contrast is nicer this way. she has been the shore to their sea, the vast, contextless freedom through which Jon and Gerry have connected, and Gerry has healed — the yellow figure in my head, that’s Gerry. i don’t know about the yellow, it came with that so i didn’t choose it and i don’t really have a meaning for it (unless you want to be really emo and decide that “Gerard just looks at him like he’s seeing the sun for the first time, and then looks away like he’s surprised by how much it hurts” is suddenly reversed in this last chapter, and Gerry is, in a way, Jon’s sudden source of light). the figure is that of a kid (I think, at least?) with a backpack. it’s Gerry as a kid, meeting Jon in that chance Miriam has made possible and relatively durable — the stairs those are a reference to the stairs in Portia’s house, but they also mark the passage of time (that’s sort of represented by the big clock on top of the door). by the time Gerry gets to the top, Miriam has left and suddenly he is in another room — the blue room + the man the blue room is where Jon is stuck now. he is facing the other way, he is adrift. the man doesn’t look like Jon but we’ll forgive that because in the original full drawing he is sitting onto a rock which is connected with some ropes to a boat. the blue room is framed by those vortexes (which are actually two starts from Van Gogh’s Starry Night) because i had made a mess with glue and i needed to cover up the corners sfgsdfg but if we want to think well and hard about this, perhaps they are the lights Jon still has but cannot, won’t see. he is not looking at either of them. wow now im sad — the door Gerry and Jon don’t meet in the universe, nor in the blue room. they meet beyond the door, in their sacred, private space. they both need to get in in order for this to work — the bottom right corner okay, in my head that’s sort of a page number. something that marks our position in the story. there’s this drawing of a man helping another on a boat (which comes from the same drawing I found the man in the blue room in!) cause, you know. it’s reunion time. the arch was originally part of a circle which was rainbow-coloured. it reminded me of that idea which I think is in the Official™ gtcmu™ lore- that thing about Jon having no specific colour, but colouring everyone else, sort of being the rainbow. it’s not obvious cause the arch isn’t a full rainbow, but I was indeed thinking about it. i guess i also wanted to somehow convey that it’s not just Gerry that is giving something to Jon. they are both sharing something meaningful with each other. Jon is still making him bright. then, there is the leaf, because this happens in Autumn, and the small “-G” which is a reference to the note Gerry leaves to Tim — “I’d say you have at least somewhat of a chance” the quote is obviously very cute and the moments in which both Gerry and Jon say it (though this is Gerry’s phrasing) are CUTE. but i chose this one because it’s superficially warm + as a standalone could mean something more. it’s simple and it’s complex. it’s “yeah im totally bi” “yeah i would indeed like to kiss you” and it’s “sometimes it feels like the entire world is against you and your life has been so so hard, but I’d say you have at least somewhat of a chance”. and this is their chance. so they take it

OKAY i made myself emotional thank you for get quite as far as you are reading this!

pictures next:

What Have I Done?

Hello my beautiful OBX friends, I had such a good response on my first OBX piece I decided to do another one.

This is part sequel, part an alternate view of my first story “Rome” so I would read that first for some context. A lot of lines double up and it’s because this whole story is from JJ’s point of view.

I’ll give you a second to go read “Rome” first. Here you go.

Good, now that’s done feel free to listen to the song that’s featured in this fic. Since this is just an alternate view to “Rome” I decided to use another Dermot Kennedy song so it all made sense.

You can listen to that Irish beauty here.

We good? Let’s do this.

Oh wait, If you guys like the one too let me know and I’ll turn this into a whole series. I want to do a playlist series with JJ and this version of y/n, each themed to a different song I listen to. Let me know if you want more!

CHARACTERS: JJ Maybank x Reader

WARNINGS: lots of angst, but also lots of fluff. curse words. using the Lord’s name in vain. that kind of stuff.

LENGTH: 2.3k words

What Have I Done?

Woke up this morning, light poured in, you're with me

I thought I'd be better off alone

Now, my soul has been torn and reborn, started breathing

I can’t believe I’ve been sitting here talking to this girl for hours. There were hot tourons in skimpy clothes left and right but here I am, sitting on the beach with Kie’s friend. Y/N. God that’s a gorgeous name. Everything about her is perfect.

“And that’s when I smashed so hard into the reef it literally snapped my board in half,” Oh shit, she was telling a story. And oh my god is that the sun coming up? Have we really been sitting here all night?

“You broke a surfboard in half? I didn’t even know that was possible.” I say back with a laugh.

“Oh yeah, I’ve snapped two boards. My dad has snapped easily a dozen. We keep them in the garage as mementos. He said he wants to build a table or something out of them.”

Where the hell did this girl come from?

“I could probably help him with that, ya know?” Did I just offer to build this girl a fucking table with her dad? “I’m pretty good with my hands.”

“Oh I don’t doubt it,” she winks at me before reaching over to play with my fingers.

“Did you just hit on me?” I gasp in a southern belle accent, “Little ole me?”

“I would never!” She gasps back, still playing with my fingers. Her hands are so soft, and warm.

“Oh really?” I ask leaning forward, my breath fans over her face. Wow, she’s beautiful. Even just looking at her makes me feel whole.

“No, not really” And then she closes the gap, putting her lips on mine.

Good God her lips are amazing.

What have I done?

What have I done?

I don’t think I’ve ever stood up so quickly. Oh my fucking God, did I just kiss Kie’s friend? And why did it feel different than all the other girls I’ve kissed. Fuck, fuck, I’ve gotta get out of here. Before I can make it more than 2 steps away I hear her voice from behind me.

“Are you leaving to go pick up a book on kissing because that was awful,” she says, getting me to whip around.

“Are you kidding?” I say, looking at her with that shit eating grin on her face. She’s seriously so cute I want to fucking die.

“I mean it could definitely use some work,” she says as she inches closer to me.

If this is a challenge, I’m not falling for it. Oh fuck yes I am.

“I can teach you a few things,” she says grabbing me by my necklace and pulling me back in.

This girl is going to be the fucking death of me I swear. But what a sweet, sweet way to go.

So, don't you fall back asleep for this moment

Just be, I wanna get it right for once

Oh, I've been knocked out and beat but this feeling is fleeting

I can hear people screaming but it’s all just ocean waves in my brain, I can’t stop swinging. My fists are getting bloody and I’m pretty sure I’ve lost a tooth but no piece of shit is going to go around touching girls without permission, especially my girl.

Just as I’m about to drown this piece of shit in the ocean I feel a small, soft hand grab the back of my shirt. I’d recognize that warmth anywhere.

“Jay, he’s had enough. Come on,” Y/N says rather softly. Somehow she’s not the only one screaming at me. But my grip on his shoulders doesn’t loosen. All I can see in my brain is him grabbing her and then it’s all red. Like fire. I want to burn it all down.

“Baby,” she says again, this time wrapping her arms all the way around my waist. “Baby, let’s go. Please? I want to go. Just take me home Jay.”

I finally let go of him, dropping him into the ocean. Not before spitting on him and getting one last word in, “I better not see you on the Cut again scum”.

As we walk away and back to the Chateau, I keep my distance. I don’t know if she wants me to touch her, I wouldn’t want to after witnessing that. As we make our way into the house I prop myself on the counter, letting her go to the back of the house by herself. She probably doesn’t want to look at me right now. I don’t want to look at me either.

But nonetheless, my girl is back in mere seconds with a first aid kit in her hands and a clean shirt from my bag.

“Move,” she says sternly, tapping my thighs so that I spread them so she can stand between them.

Next thing I know she’s pulling out supplies left and right like a nurse on a mission. I’m too busy trying to read her face that I don’t even notice she’s pressed an alcohol soaked cotton pad to the spot on my forehead.

“Ahh son of a fucking bitch, fucking shit.”

“Hey, watch your language there mister,” she says before giggling and doing it again. Her laugh is enough to distract me from the pain that comes with cleaning the wound.

“Wait, you’re not mad anymore?” I hope my voice doesn’t sound as desperate as it does in my head.

“Mad? Jay I was never mad, except when he touched me but I was never mad at you,” she says while applying a bandage to the spot on my head.

“Why aren’t you mad? I just wailed on this random kid 5 feet in front of your face.”

“He wasn’t a random kid Jay,” she says softly while cleaning up the mess on the counter and then looking up at me from her spot standing between my legs. “He touched me without my consent. I wasn’t even talking to him and he came up and put his hand down the back of my pants. That’s not okay, and a guy who’s so comfortable doing that has definitely done it before. I’m sure if you gave him a punch for every girl he’s touched like that we’d still be on the beach.”

Well, this is strange. Most girls I’ve hooked up with get mad when I fight, hell even Kie yells at me every time and I’ve known her for years. Wrapping my legs around her I pull her even closer, putting my hands on each side of her face.

“You promise you’re not mad? You can tell me if you are,” I say stroking her soft skin with my thumbs.

“I’m going to be mad if you ask me one more time if I’m mad,” she says before leaning forward to give me a kiss.

I didn’t ask again.

Ever since the other night, I've been

Thinking 'bout the way you smile golden

Wanna move inside of your light

I can’t get the thoughts to leave my head. Trash, scum, garbage, not good enough. He’s right, everything he said is true. I’m not good enough, especially for her.

“JJ, you better hope for your sake that you’re here right now,” I hear coming from outside. Looking up from the horror movie John B and I are watching I realize I’m so fucking screwed.

“Oh you’re in trouuubblllleeee,” John B says in a sing-songy voice.

“Shut the fuck up man,” I sneer at him getting up from the couch to meet her in the doorway.

“Hey, what’s up?” I say standing in the door to the front porch.

“‘What’s up?’ Are you serious? You’ve been ignoring my calls for 3 days and all you have to say to me is ‘what’s up?’ Really?” she says with a tone I’ve never heard before.

“Bro you haven’t called your girl in 3 days?” John B says from behind me. “That’s fucked man”.

“I swear to God dude if you don’t shut the fuck up right now,” I say grabbing y/n by the wrist to pull her outside and away from his dumbass commentary.

“Look I’m sorry, I just needed some space,” I tell her as we make it to the front yard. That’s the dumbest excuse I could think of but it’s all I’ve got. How do I tell her the truth? That she’s too good for me. That I don’t understand how she hasn’t realized that I’m just Outer Banks trash who can’t stand up to his own father.

She’s too pure to be tainted by me. Her light is too bright, I’m just twisted fucking darkness.

“Don’t pull that with me, that’s the oldest excuse in the book,” she says, still fuming.

“It’s not an excuse, it’s true. You’re smothering me,” I yell at her. Lies, such a lie, but I don’t know what else I can say to get her to leave.

“That’s bull and we both know it,” she says yelling back at me. “Why won’t you just tell me what’s going?”

I can’t tell her, I can never tell her.

“What the fuck do you want from me y/n?” Why am I shouting at her? I never shout at her. And did I just swear at her? She hates that shit. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What have I done?

“Number one, I want you to stop cursing at me right now, you know I don’t like that. Number two, I want you to talk to me!” I’ve never heard her shout this loud before, I didn’t even know her voice could carry this much. How far have I pushed her?

“Fine, you want to talk? Let’s talk about how I want you to fucking leave me the fuck alone, let’s talk about that”.

Why did I just say that? It’s not true. None of it’s true. This is just what I do though. I push people out when they get close - and she’s way too close. She’s all encompassing, she’s everywhere.

“Is this it? Are you too broken to let me in?” She said it so softly I almost didn’t hear her, I was too distracted by the tears slowly starting to run down her face.

Oh god no, I’ve done it. I’ve pushed her too far.

What have I done?

Oh no, what have I done?

You be brave for me, now

“I will never, ever, give up on you,” she said, wrapping her hands around mine. “You keep trying to get me to run, but I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. As long as you want me, I’m right here”.

I don’t think I’ve ever breathed so deeply or smiled so big in my entire fucking life. Leaning forward to kiss her felt like the first time all over again.

As we pull away in the van light I see tears running down her face still.

“Baby, why are you crying? I thought we were good?” I say wiping the tears off her beautiful face but they just keep coming. Was I wrong?

“No baby we’re okay, but I’m not okay,” she says staring me down with those gorgeous eyes. “Why does he treat you like this? You don’t deserve it. You’re so kind and caring and generous. You deserve so much better than that.”

“I don’t know honey, I don’t know if we’ll ever know. We just can’t think about it okay?” I tell her, wiping the last of the tears from her face.

“You good?” I ask as the van light finally turns off. We’ve been sitting here with the door open that long.

“I’m good Jay, I’m a brave girl remember?” She says laughing.

“So brave,” I say leaning forward to steal a kiss. “You brave enough to sneak a dirty pogue into your bedroom window so he can stay the night?”

“Oh yeah, but I don’t know if John B would want to come over this late?” She says with a giggle before closing her door and sprinting out the van.

“Oh you get back here you little monster”

I never thought I needed saving, I was right where I should be

Good God, I know it's dangerous, but it's you that I need

I'm in love this time, I'm in love this time

“Was our first kiss really that awful?” I ask as we lay in her bed, lights off, TV off, just holding her from behind like I never want to let her go.

“Jay I’m so tired it’s been such a long day,” she groans.

“Just answer the question y/n” I grunt back, squeezing her tighter against me.

“No, it was perfect. I was just trying to trick you into kissing me again,” she says with a giggle. “Now shut up and go to bed”.

“Yes ma’m,” I say before shoving my head into her neck. God she smells amazing. She is the best part of my whole world - I was trying to push her away but it turned out I needed her right here with me all along.

Oh god, what am I about to do?

“What would you say if I told you ‘I love you’ right now?” I say whispering it into the night, part of me hoping she doesn’t hear me or is already asleep.

I’ve never said those 3 words to a girl before. I was on some dangerous ground, but I knew if I held it in for one more second it would swallow me whole.

“I’d tell you ‘I love you too’ Jay,” she says, kissing my hands that are wrapped around her from behind . “But if you don’t shut up right now and let me sleep, I’ll take it back”.

“Okay fine, I love you baby”.

“I love you too Jay, good night”,

Good fucking night indeed.

Childhood Friends... Pope Heyward

Summary • You have been in love with Pope Heyward since you first met him when you were younger. But there’s one or two problems. Or so you think. He doesn’t like you. Does he?

Warnings • Swearing. Underage drinking.

Word Count • 3.3k (Imagine)

Masterlist

(GIF isn’t mine, let me know if it’s yours)

    AT EIGHT YEARS old you first met Pope Heyward. The concept of Outer Banks at such a young age seemed like a dream for you. Never ending beaches. Hot weather practically all the time. Surfing and swimming at your beck and call. It was a stark change from living in Minnesota.

The house you moved into was a small two story house next to one almost identical. And the day you had moved in a boy came knocking at the door. He seemed around your age and held a pie dish in his hands seemingly quite nervous. Your parents were upstairs unpacking so you opened the door hoping maybe you could make a friend.

"My mum made me bring this pie for you since we’re neighbours, here you go." He kept his eyes trained on the ground then handing you the pie and scurrying back home before you could even take a breath. Your face dropped as he ran off but you felt determined to make him a friend, after all you were neighbours so how hard could it be since you'd see him almost all the time.

A few days later your mum wanted to buy some groceries rather than living off of takeaway food for any longer and opted for going to Heywards shop. Which ended up being your neighbours store.

You wandered through the store while your mum chatted with Heyward and eventually stumbled upon the boy who ran away sitting on the floor and reading a comic.

"Spider-Man's really cool." You had said sitting down next to him as his head snapping to the side suddenly looking from his marvel comic to you. It was a surprise he didn't get whiplash.

"Really? I think so too." The boy gushed about the hero while you sat listening. Then your mum called you from the front of the store and you pouted, sad you could hang out with your new friend any longer.

Then the next thing you knew the eight year old boy was dragging you both to your feet and taking you to the candy area. He handed you a chocolate bar with a cheeky grin. "Don't tell my dad."

You nodded and giggled before rushing off to your mum and looking back at your new friend happily. Your parents invited the Heywards around for weekly dinners and alternated between houses becoming good family friends which only strengthened you and Popes friendship.

After that began it was an almost daily thing for you to hang out. You and Pope were attached by the hip. You went on your bikes together. Even took kids surfing lessons together. Though Pope practically already knew how to surf since he was raised on the water.

As you grew older you would do your homework together with the Heyward boy often helping you with the subjects you struggled in while you helped him with the things he struggled with.

Eventually you offered to help with the shop to pass time and hang out with your friend and at this point the Heywards were like family to you.

When you were both ten years old Pope had the idea to make a tree house. And though not the best considering it ended up just a rickety platform balancing on branches with ladders either side of it, it still worked. The tree overhung both houses back gardens with its trunk positioned just on the edge of your garden.

You met two more goofs that year. JJ and John B. The two Js was what you called them at first. You became fast friends with their long hanging bond similar to yours with pope. You fit like a lock and a key together. However you never showed the Pogues the treehouse, it was just you and Popes little space.

You spent a lot of time up there just staring up at the stars of reading. Pope liked to talk about all his hopes and dreams while you were there and you listened.

"Y/N, do you think I’ll be able to get into a good college. Like for forensic pathology." He asked as you laid on the 'treehouse' could you even call it that.

"Pope you are the smartest person I know. So it's unlikely that you won't get into anywhere you want."

"I know it's just—I don't think my dad can afford it so I'll need to get a scholarship. There'll be be hundreds of people competing for it. I'm just a drop in the ocean to them." He ranted and you could hear the stress in his voice. This wasn't something someone as smart and determined as Pope should have to stress about was all you thought. He deserved so much while people who deserved so much less got fed with a silver spoon up in figure eight.

"They'd be dumb not to let you in. I don’t see how you wouldn’t. I have faith in you but I will also do whatever it takes to get you in. I'll pay for your tuition myself if I have to. Or I'll find some dirt on the dean and—"

"I'd rather not have my acceptance be a product of your blackmailing ways Y/N but thankyou and I'm not letting you pay for my tuition." He laughed. It was the melodic sound that rung in your ears that made you smile and turn your head away from the stars and towards him. The small lights you had hanging from the tree branches were bouncing off of his beautiful chestnut skin. His eyes were a shade of dark honey brown that simmered in the light. He was amazing in every single way.

Your fourteen year old self was starting to realise what you had been oblivious to the whole time. You would do anything for Pope. He was your ride or die. And you hoped you were his.

However when Kiara came in was when things went weird between you and Pope. She waltzed in in all her kook glory looking like a goddess. So of course you couldn't blame the boys when suddenly all their attention was on her and her beautiful brown wavy hair or golden cocoa skin that glimmered in the sunlight. You couldn't figure out whether she was just born lucky with amazing genetics or whether she was a vampire like from Twilight. Either way, Pope Heyward fell and he fell hard that year. At work he always spoke about her and it was slowly killing you inside. Every time he mentioned it you swore you heard your heart break and crack into more pieces.

You wished you could tell him. But you would be putting your friendship on the line. It would be selfish to tell him when he clearly wasn’t interested.

Instead of moping over an unattainable crush you attempted to move on. And to everyone’s surprise started flirting back with JJ. He was always shooting his shot like he did with Kie and tourons at keggers but normally you never flirted back. You thought somehow within your skewed logic it would work and you would be over Pope. Like the saying fake it till you make it. But it just bought your thoughts back to how it wasn’t Pope.

The Heyward boy started to pay more attention to it. He got a weird feeling in his stomach everytime he saw you laughing at JJs jokes and not his or just talking to each other. He stared every time you flipped your long glossy hair over your shoulder and looked flawless or would saunter off back into the chateau for a drink.

His interest turned from anyone to you within a second of a word coming from you pink lips. But you had convinced yourself he wasn't interested and you were oblivious to his newfound feelings. And so he stayed blind as he had been before to yours.

    "HEY WHAT’RE YOU doing over here, lil red." JJs nickname had originated from the fact that red was your favourite colour. You had even dressed up as little red riding hood one year for Halloween which sparked the full nickname. It was sweet but in no way anything more than a friendly nickname. Although Pope begged to differ. You sat leaning against the wooden poll on the wooden floor of the dock. Your arms wrapped around your legs pulling them close to your chest giving you a sense of comfort as you stared at the sunset across the marsh.

You turned to the blond sending him a small smile before turning back to the sinking blends of fluorescent pink and oranges blurring into one beautiful mess in the sky. "Watching the sunset."

"Mind if I watch too?" He asked settling down beside you and resting his arms on his knees. You nodded. It turned away from the sky.

You heard the laugh of Pope from behind you and turned this time you turned away to look seeing Pope laughing with Kie that just sparked jealousy in your stomach. He looked so happy with her.

"So what's the deal with that?" JJ asked from beside you and you turned to him confusion splattering on your features which were orange from the light hitting of the setting sun.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the long glances, more like stares really and when you tell a joke you always look to Pope first. You look at him like he's the best thing in the world. Not to mention you randomly starting to flirt with me. I'm a professional ladies man. I notice these things. You’re not interested in me, it’s Pope." He blurted out and you sat rubbing a hand over your face with a sigh.

"I don’t do any of that." JJ have you a look which you shrugged at. “Look I—I did, but I don’t anymore.”

“You sure about that?” JJ kept his stare on you as you shuffled uncomfortably before sighing.

“I just wish he could just like me back, but he never will he’ll always like Kie and I don’t wanna be jealous of them cause then I’ll be a terrible friend but... I can’t help it.”

“Lil red, I know you might not believe me but I think Pope does like you. A lot. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. It’s not just some friendly look.” He places his hand on your shoulder rubbing it softly and you send him a tight lipped smile.

“Maybe he does, I doubt it though. And people say girls are complicated. You boys are just as complicated.” You teased bumping his shoulder as he let go of yours. “But anyway we’re forgetting about the most important rule ever. No pogue on pogue macking.”

JJ snorted shaking his head. “Don’t bring up that bullshit rule. I know that if anyone of you showed interest in me it would be out of the window.”

“I’m not particularly a rule breaker unlike you.”

“Rules are made to broken but you’re just boring Lil Red.” You gasped and turned to your friend.

“No I am not. Take it back.” You glared at him jokingly.

“What’re you gonna do?”

You raised your eyebrows and then pushed the boy off the dock thinking you’d suceeded for a slip second until he grabbed your shoulders and pulled you in too.

Pope watched the two of you laughing and talking for a while without you realising and then he saw you both fall in the water together laughing and looking like you belonged together. He shook his head slightly as he looked back to Kie who stared with worried eyes.

“You okay Pope?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine just thinking.” Kie nodded going back to talking to John B until a shout erupts and they both turned to see JJ and you in the water. Pope was already looking.

“Lil red what the fuck?” He laughed shaking off his hair while you rung your own out still looking amazing to Pope.

“You said I was boring.” You shrugged chuckling and then screeching as you were pushed back under the water.

“I’m honestly surprised they’re not together yet.” Kie laughed looking at the two other boys beside her.

“You think they like each other?” Pope asked worry pinched in his eyebrows. It was one thing for him to think it but for Kie to confirm his thoughts made his stomach churn.

“Well yeah, I mean look at them.”

Pope was looking at them. And he saw it clear as day. You and him were never going to happen.

You breathed heavily as you and JJ walked up the steps to the docks. “Hey I know what we can do to help get your mind off of Pope for a night.”

“What?”

“A kegger.”

    THE PARTY HAD started two hours ago and was roaring with teens, kooks and Pogues alike hung together for one night filled with truce, beer and weed.

He had left you a few minutes before to pursue a girl of course while you sat around a bonfire staring at the embers that floated into the midnight sky. But you were still thinking about him. He was stuck in your thoughts like superglue. You'd hoped that maybe alcohol would help loosen you up and get you out of your head but being alone and drunk made it worse.

Pope stood by Kie as you sat at the fire by yourself. Now was his chance to tell you and maybe you would like him back but if you didn't then maybe it would be less embarrassing since you were drunk. However he was not drunk since he abstained from the beer despite the multitudes of parties they had. He was the designated driver type.

"I'm gonna go over to Y/N." Kiara nodded before she continued talking to a random boy that sat next to her.

He walked across the sand catching your attention as you snapped your head up to see him heading your way.

"Hey Pope."

You were surprised he left Kie.

"You looked a little lonely so I'm giving you company."

"Oh Thankyou. My saviour." You said jokingly. Taking a swig of beer you examined the boys face. It twitched with nerves as he sat next to you and fiddled with his fingers.

He looked up at you with a small smile. “Y/N, I—”

“God, girls around here really have a good left hook.” JJ groaned holding his face sitting down next to you on the log interrupting Pope who he hadn’t noticed.

Then JJ looked up to see Pope sitting there awkwardly and you almost laughing at the fact that he got punched by a girl which never happened before. “Oh shit sorry I didn’t realise...”

“Realise what?” You asked shaking your head cluelessly before you dragged yourself up. “I need another drink.”

JJ tried to stop you but before he knew it you were at the keg with him following after.

“Uh, Lil red, I think Pope might’ve been about to tell you he liked you.”

“Wait, what? Really?” You almost dropped your beer as your hands went slack in shock but you quickly gripped it tight swallowing some. Pope stared into as you had walked away from him with JJ following. Of course he was going after you because like Kie said, they liked each other. He wanted to see if he could forget, so he did something he would probably regret.

“I’m pretty sure I mean he looked like he was going to. I really need to talk to him...” The blond trailed off as he stared at something behind him.

“What is it?” You were about to turn around until JJ held your shoulders in place until your shoved them off and saw what you never wanted to see.

Pope was kissing a girl. Not Kie though. It was just a random girl who he was kissing. Your eyes burned with tears as you turned to JJ scoffing.

“Yeah he definitely likes me doesn’t he.” You choked back a sob shoving the beer into JJs hand and running off into the trees.

Pope has pulled away just in time to see it and instant regret filled his stomach.

“Pope, buddy, what did you do?” JJ asked softly as Pope looked at his walking away from the random girl who looked taken aback.

“I’m so sorry.” He apologised and she rolled her eyes walking off. “I don’t know what was going through my head, one second I was at the fire the next I was kissing a random girl.”

“Look, bro, just go find her and explain everything.”

“Yeah, I’ll—I’ll do that.”

You had walked the farthest you could from the party, still bare foot since your shoes were in the van and John B had the keys. You were leaning against a tree trunk when you decided to go to the one place that would comfort you most despite reminding you of him.

You went straight home taking 20 minutes to walk down the cold desolate roads that were dark by this time. The first thing you did was get ice cream from the freezer before making your way to the tree house and wrapping yourself in the blankets befor leaning against one of the many pillows stored there. You listened to the gentle breeze above rustling the leaves of the blooming trees and the crickets in the distance and felt the gentle swaying of the platform beneath you.

This was your comfort place. It was the only place you felt like this since it was where you created all your favourite memories with Pope Heyward. The unattainable boy who had always been by your side.

By the time Pope made it home it was completely dark but he knew exactly where you would be. He made his way to his backyard and saw your small figure and made his way up. You sat up quickly and almost burst into more tears after seeing him.

"Y/N..."

"Pope what are you doing here?" You asked as he climbed up the ladder.

"I came to check up on you..." He sighs and sits down next to you. "And I came to say that that kiss was a big mistake."

"Why—what?" You looked at the boy in confusion.

"I like you. I know we've been best friends forever and I hope this doesn't make it weird but that's the truth. I kissed the girl to see if I could forget about you which in hindsight was really stupid. And you probably hate me."

You looked at him with glossy eyes and smiled.

"Yeah that was stupid if you thought you could get over me.” You laughed which died down when you turned to him looking more serious. “But I don’t hate you. It’s not like we were dating.”

“I was thinking...we could change that.” Pope tells you and you raise your eyebrows, a growing smile on your face.

“Hmm okay. Date. This friday. On the beach. You and me?" You asked and his eyes lit up feeling slightly surprised at the forwardness.

"Isn't it supposed to be me asking you out?" He asked teasingly.

"It's the twenty first century pope get with it."

"Of course. And I would love to go on a date with you.”

“Good.” He then jumped on top of you in all your blankets and you let out a shriek. “Oh my god, Pope are you trying to simultaneously give me a heart attack and break this thing?”

“Not really, but if it happens then oh well.” He feigned nonchalance for a second breaking into a grin as you slapped his arm.

“Watch it mister. Or I’ll reconsider that date.”

“Okay, I’m sorry Y/N.”

You sighed contently as he wrapped you up in his arms, both of you under the blankets and the stars. You could definitely get used to this.

Note • In honor of simping for Pope and jd day, year, decade and century i’ve written this cause he’s a cutie and I love him. This was kinda anticlimatic but 🤷‍♀️

Adore You

Pairing: Topper x Reader

Summary: Reader moved to the OBX a year ago, and reader doesn’t really fit in with anyone.  Reader is fine with this, and continues being their amazing self until one night.

Word Count: 2.5k+

Warnings: Mentions of drugs and alcohol. Mild cursing. I think thats it? Please inform me if there is more

Additional: Okay so this was definitely inspired by @goddsquad​ wanting an Euphoria x Obx fic, but because I haven’t fully watched Euphoria I gave the reader Euphoria vibes. There will definitely be another part so the title makes sense but enjoy! Also this just about the characters the events of the show don’t happen, except Sarah is dating John B that is all

Requests are open!

It was no secret you weren't like the typical Kook. You had moved from busy Manhattan, to the quiet Outer Banks. It was a very different setting. You had gone from a total city girl, nightclubs every weekend, sneaking into college parties with your besties, walking the dark streets with your friends, sneaking out at night to go to raves, and so much more. You were such a party girl it wasn’t funny, but the Outer Banks had a very different dynamic. You lived in what you learned was the rich side of the island. You didn’t really care, money was never something that you boasted. But here apparently money was a big thing. The whole Kooks vs Pogues thing confused you. It really sounded stupid, the fact that the only thing that was separating everyone was money and attitude. Maybe that’s why you felt like you stuck out like a sore thumb, but you knew that wasn’t the only thing making you a black sheep. You looked different. Your hair was different, your makeup was different, you dressed different, you talked different, you were different there was nothing hiding it. Every girl on the island seemed to dress between a Brandy Melville catalog, or a VSCO girl. Granted they looked pretty, but it just wasn’t your thing. Dressing down just bored you. You loved and craved the glitz and glam. Your clothing had always been tiny, since the moment you discovered short shorts and cropped shirts. You were lucky your parents didn’t care, they just wanted you to be happy with the way you looked. You noticed the same thing with the way all the girls did their makeup. It was very natural, again it seemed to suit them but it wasn’t for you. You were a big false lashes, and were guilty of adding little gemstones to your face ever since you watched Euphoria. Eyeshadow was always a must, especially metallic ones. Highlighter was always on your face, along with blush. And you knew you didn’t fit in, and sometimes it bothered you, but you managed to just ignore it. You knew the neighbors whispered and stared the summer you moved in, and you couldn’t care. You weren’t going to change the way you were for some nobody island. So a couple weeks after you moved in you promised yourself you were going to leave, and move back to the city.

You ignored the whispers and the stares walking by with your head held high. You spent your days in your room talking to your friends, or lounging on your boat your father had impulsively bought pretty much the moment your family had stepped onto the island, or going to school when it was in session. It was lonely, especially as you watched both your younger and older brothers manage to fit in. But you managed on your own, until that fateful night. It was around 8pm at night when your brother's friends had come to pick him up to go to one of the famous Kook parties. Your brother, Chase  has changed a lot since moving. He was more outgoing, and confident so it was a good change for him. You were happy, glad he had been able to change so much in the past year, even if you didn’t show it. You still managed to stick out, and hadn’t really made any friends but you were okay with that. Your friends came up plenty of times, and you went to New York practically every weekend. But tonight, as your brother called out to your mother telling her he was going out your mom told him to stop. You heard her start to whisper to him, before she shuffled back to her work space in the kitchen. You heard your brother walking towards your spot in the living room. You looked up as he stood at the doorway. He carefully looked at you, before opening his mouth to speak.

“Y/N, Mom wanted me to ask if you wanted to go to the party with me?”

You could tell he wasn’t too particularly happy asking you, which made you want to go even more. A couple days ago, he had messed up by eating your leftovers from the fridge and you had been looking to get him back ever since.

“Tell your friends to give me ten minutes.”

You said standing up and throwing the blanket off of yourself. You quickly made your way to your bedroom, shutting the door behind you. Lucky for you, a couple hours you decided to do your makeup for no particular reason, so that was already done for you. All you needed to do was change, you carefully sorted through your clothes trying to piece together an outfit. You picked out your powder pink pleated skirt. You found it easier to pick out one piece and then to work around it. And once you picked out the skirt, you had a whole outfit together. You matched the skirt with a white cropped cami, and a small cover up sweater just for some extra coverage. As much as you knew your mother wouldn’t care you were always extra cautious. Your hair was already straightened so you were good to go. You slipped on your sandals, grabbed a small purse, a pack of gum, your phone, and some extra cash and made your way down the stairs. You took longer than ten minutes, and you could see your brother was very annoyed as you made your way down the stars.

“Took you long enough…”

He paused and you knew why. He had looked your outfit up and down his face full of annoyance and disappointment.

“Where do you think you’re going dressed like a baby stripper.”

“A party asshat.”

You said flipping him off as you walked through the front door.

“Well you look like a stripper.”

“And you look like someone named Chad.”

You watched him shaking his head, a small smile of triumph spreading across your face. You opened your little purse, grabbing a piece of gum when you heard someone call out.

“Took you long enough!”

You looked up to see one of your brother's friends, Rafe Cameron. You knew his younger sister Sarah Cameron. She was in a couple of your classes that's about all you knew. You eyed the car, a Jeep Wrangle which was typical around here. From your stance it looked at max capacity, which meant you were either going to sit on the ground, or someone was going to move. You looked towards your brother but he had seemed to forget that you were there.

“Sorry Y/N had to get ready.”

Your brother said hopping into the passenger seat, which seemed to be the one real seat open. You watched him shut the door before looking at you. He turned back saying something to guys in the back, and you watched as they all seemed to shuffle down.

“Just squeeze in the back, I’m sure there’s room for you.”

You carefully eyed your brother, before opening up the door. There was enough room, if you had half an ass cheek. You slid inside, shutting the door behind you.

“Guys this is my sister, Y/N. She doesn’t bite, even if she looks like a small stripper.”

Normally you’d smack your brother upside the head, especially with the snickers filling the car. But lucky for your brother, you couldn’t move without losing your seat. So you gave everyone a small wave, flashing a toothy smile before looking out the window. Conversations soon began to fill the car, and you once again felt out of place. You ignored it, no matter how much it hurt you knew that was the best thing to do. You looked across the car, glancing briefly at everyone. You easily recognized Topper and Kelce. You knew them from school. Topper was in your homeroom, and a couple other classes. He didn’t live that far from your house, like maybe three houses down your weren’t exactly sure but you always saw him hanging around your street. Kelce had gym the same time you did, and you had lunch in the same cafeteria. You were fairly certain last year his locker wasn’t far from yours. They seemed to be deep in some conversation, about golf. You hated golf. You were about to go back to your phone when Kelce looked at you.

“What about you, little Y/LN. Do you golf?”

You could feel Topper try and shift to face you, but there wasn’t exactly room for shifting. You shook your head towards the boy.

“No, I don’t. And I’m not exactly little Y/LN, you do know I’m in the same grade as you guys.”

You knew you looked younger than everyone, it wasn’t your fault you were short. Sometimes you wondered if that’s what you wore such provocative clothing, or bold makeup so people would know you weren’t so young.

“Oh yeah, it’s just because you’re so…”

He paused, the moment you gave him the look.

“You know what never mind. So you don’t golf, what do you do?”

“Crack…”

You could see the shocked expression on his face, and Toppers through the reflection of the window.

“Kidding. I don’t know, I run.”

You didn’t do much anymore. In New York, you were a part of your school's cheer team. You did competitive dance, and you were also a part of the track team. Since you moved here you learned they didn’t really have a cheer team, and the track team didn’t look promising. You still ran, around your neighborhood, the beach, the island. Honestly you could run for miles, it was just so freeing. You also tried teaching yourself how to surf. It hadn’t really worked well, but you still didn’t mind spending time in the ocean.

“Run? That’s cool. What else? What makes Y/N, Y/N.”

“I don’t know, I used to cheer back in New York.”

“Cheer? That seems...fitting.”

Fitting? You were getting ready to question him, when the car came to a halt. You had arrived, to your first party in a very long time. From being such a party girl, you stopped going to the parties on the island fast. They just sucked to be lonely at, but tonight you were willing to try something new. All of you shuffled out of the car, and walked into the huge house…

At some point you had too much to drink, and now you were very very wasted. You had stumbled around the house, looking for a bathroom to pee or throw up in, either or. But you kept getting lost, and then turning back around. You had made it to the basement, although you weren’t exactly sure how. The basement was obnoxious, they had a movie theatre and whole bar, which most of the liquor was gone from. You carefully made your way to the door, you weren’t sure if the voices were coming from inside or outside and quite frankly you couldn't care you just really needed to piss. You pushed open the door, tripping over yourself. Once that door was open, you wish you could take it back. Right there was your brother, snorting a line of coke.

“Sorry”

You mumbled, shutting the door and stumbling back towards the staircase. You could hear someone calling after you, but you really couldn’t care. You managed to make it up the stairs, and continued stumbling around. You needed to leave, you couldn’t take the head pounding, the loud music, the yelling, the image of your brother snorting the line of coke replying over and over in your head. You leaned against the wall, practically zoning out.

“Y/N?”

You looked up to see one Topper Thornton, standing a couple feet away from you.

“Yes?”

You slurred, walking towards him.

“You’re wasted, do I have to get you to your brother?”

You shook your head, putting your hands on his shoulders to prop yourself up.

“No no, he’s busy… do you think we can get me home? Actually not home, my mom can’t see me like this. She'll kill my brother, and me.”

You could hear him say something, but at this moment you were at the point where you couldn’t pay attention. You felt him wrap his arms around your side, and you remember walking out of the house away from all the noise.

Your head pounded. That’s the first thing you noticed. It hurt really bad. Flashes of last night were playing around in your head, the party, your brother, the coke, the drinking, Topper, and then it was blank. You blinked your eyes open, looking around. You were in an unfamiliar room, and when you checked the covers you were in unfamiliar clothing. You slowly sat up looking around. You were in a boys room, it was quite obvious. You slid off the bed, looking around the room for some identification of whose bed you were in.

“You’re up.”

You whipped your head back, your eyes met once again with one Topper Thornton.

“Yeah, um do you remember last night?”

“Yeah, you were pretty wasted, and you wanted to get home but then you said you couldn’t go home so I took you to my place… I hope that was okay.”

“No, it was but did we umm. Did we… did we hook up last night?”

“Oh god no, I mean you kissed me but you were very very drunk.”

Slowly bits and pieces came to you. You remember sneaking in, getting into the bedroom. Him handing you a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. You sitting on the bed together, and you kissing him. You weren’t sure how you felt about kissing him. Topper certainly wasn’t unattractive, and you hadn’t thought about it before but maybe you did have a small little crush on him. But it didn’t matter clearly he wasn’t into you.

“That’s embarrassing, I’m so sorry. Jeez I really did a number on my non-existent reputation.”

“Don’t sweat it, uh your clothes are on my chair and I can drive you home if you want.”

“Okay thank you.”

He looked at you before walking out the door, shutting the door behind him. You switched your clothing, slipping on your sandals and grabbing your purse once again. The car ride was silent, for once in your life you could confidently say you were embarrassed.

“Hey about last night.”

“We don’t have to talk about it, I was way too drunk to even know what I was doing.”

“Oh well, I was going to say I didn’t mind it. You know I’ve seen you around school and shit, and I think you’re cool. You know you and you’re I don’t give a fuck attitude is pretty chill.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

At this point you had pulled up to your house. You looked towards your house, before looking back at him. He was looking at you too and you could help the butterflies you felt growing in your stomach. You slowly leaned in, and he seemed to follow your lead. And just as you were about to kiss, you moved your head to whisper in his ear.

“Call me.”

You smiled at him before pulling away. You stepped out of the car, and walked up your driveway a smile growing on your lips. For the first time in a year you had found someone who didn’t judge you.

Humans are weird: Rules of war vary between species

Shortly after humanity obtaining faster than light travel technology the species began a massive colonization drive to the far reaches of the universe.  Their own system was quickly filled to the brim as every habitable planet was settled with dozens of new outposts, cities, and ever growing metropolises; but this was not enough to quench the ever present drive for more within each human.  Once jump points had been established on the outer edges of the Sol system, numerous colonization ships funded by the various nations of the human home world began setting out in every direction in search of new planets to claim.  Lacking more technologically advanced terraforming machines did not inhibit the colonization effort as much as the rest of the wider species had first assumed as the average humans level of endurance was staggeringly high to the point that they could carve out a living on nearly any planet. Planets strewn with volcanoes and rivers of lava were converted into metal refineries, ocean worlds with no landmass saw floating cities coasting the waves and bio-domes nestled deep beneath the waves, even on worlds were the temperature was dangerously low humans established colonies and would often go outside for recreational activities.  Within five years what had once been a backwards species had turned into a intergalactic spanning network of established colonies bringing a new age of prosperity. But this age of exploration did not last long as humanities sudden outburst onto the galactic stage had upset several species who had already obtained galactic power. One of which, was the Havara.  The Havara were a caste based species resembling humans with body type with a few exceptions. Havara head appeared as a large fin turned upwards and arching backwards which had but a single eye placed right where the bridge of a human nose meets between the eyes. Their mouth was another oddity as instead of being on the front of the face it was situated on the neck that connected the head to the body.  The caste system had divided the Havara into soldiers, workers, scientists, leaders, and into another of other classifications that from an outside perspective see little to no difference at all. This system was strictly enforced and ran smoothly enough to the point the Havara had grown a substantial ego that their way of life was how all life should be ordered.  The appearance of humanity, with all its chaotic nature and tendencies came as an unintentional insult to the Havara. Human’s able to choose their own path at will was caused such outrage that upon the first human colony reaching Havara territory they declared war right there and then with the intention to drive back the madness that was humanity. Much like Havara’s culture, the Havara military fought under equally restricted and regulated rules of war. Such rules included fighting only during daylight hours, fighting face to face with the enemy in regimental formations that resembled ranked formations fought between humans with early age firearms,  and announcing intentions for war some thirty bogals before actually attacking. (Bogals the Havara measurement of time that translates roughly to 1 bogal = 1 human day.) The announcement was proclaimed and the Havaran military gathered for a full assault on the closest human colony. While they despised human customs they had no desire for genocide and hoped that by taking this colony it would scare away future human attempts to settle near Havara territory.   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (30 Days later) The Havaran fleet took orbit above the human colony world New Horizon. They had experienced little to no resistance upon entering the system and the planet itself lacked any orbital defenses or space docks, a side effect of being the farthest human colony, they lack the resources to build let alone maintain such installations. The colony itself was perched on top a mountain range overlooking several grass plains, city streets and blocks already taking shape with more buildings under construction with a total population of roughly 1,000 humans now looking skyward at a fleet of 270,000 Havarans.   From the flagship the Havaran military  leaders opened a communication to the colony below.  “Humans of New Horizon, your thirty bogal has come to an end. Surrender now, or witness as we descend upon you and wipe the stain of your chaotic culture from the face of this world.”  No response came back. An deafening silence filled the war room as the leaders patiently waited when the communications system detected a signal. The translators began working feverishly to decipher if and quickly played it for the commanders to hear.  “Come and get us. We’re not going anywhere.”  With that a thousand drop ships launched and began burning their descent to the lush world below. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “I don’t think they liked that sir.” Hogan shrugged. “You know diplomacy has never been my strong suit.”  Lucas looked at his radar display. “We’ve got inbound contacts, hundreds of them all making a b-line straight for us sir.” “I can see that with my own eyes son, I don’t need any radar to tell me that.” Hogan was looking out the command centers window. The bright sunny day would have been perfect were it not for the burning streaks of fire from the Havaran ships descending through atmo. The spectical was something to behold that would have made any man’s blood run cold; but Hogan was a seasoned commander and were others saw doom all he saw were visible targets.  Soon after the declaration of war the government of New Horizon sent communications back to the homeworlds asking for assistance. The governments of humanity accepted that war with the Havara was unavoidable now, some even smiling as they had long desired it, and began mobilizing forces. They would not be able to reach the planet in time before the thirty day limit expired but a small detachment was sent ahead to secure the planet and hold it until reinforcements arrived. This detachment, lead by the nearly retired commander Hogan, made all haste to New Horizon scavenging any military hardware they could from planets they passed. He scratched his chin before turning back to Lucas. “Rather bold move to send in their bombers un-escorted like that.” Lucas shook his head. “From the information we received those do not appear to be bombers sir.” “Large fighters then?” No sir, not fighters either. They are listed as troop transports.”  Hogan just looked at Lucas dumbfounded. “They sent troop transports in the first wave without even softening us up or even basic air protection?” Lucas checked the radar again to confirm. “It appears that way sir. We’re not reading any smaller craft escorting the troop transports and the larger ships do not appear to have weapons that can effectively perform orbital bombardments.”  Hogan shook his head in disbelief and pulled out a cigar, lighting it with a snap of his prosthetic fingers. “They pulled me out of retirement to this backwater world saying it was to be the fight of our life, and now that I get here I find out I could’ve gone to a turkey shoot back in Texas and had the same experience.” He dabbed the cigar into a nearby tray before returning it to his mouth before slouching into a chair. “I feel rightly jipped son. I came out here for a heroic death, like you see in the movies. Now what the hell am I going to do?” Lucas shrugged. “I’m told the local planet life can be brewed into the strongest alcohol known to man.” Hogan perked up at that. “Really now?” His positive demeanor returning. “Well let’s rap this up then and go get a drink.”  Hogan flicked open a com to his forces. “All units deploy, repeat, all units deploy. Enemy is attempting a landing with no fighter screen or protection. Concentrate fire around the ones nearest to the colony and then begin working on any that are close to landing.”  “Roger.” A chorus of acknowledgements came back as the anti aircraft brigades that had been laying in wait in hidden dugouts slowly rolled out, their tracks churning up the streets and grass plains as they deployed. Crews hurried to attach cooling tubes and double check the ammunition feeds to the gatling guns as their turrets already started tracking targets.  “Happy hunting kids.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The first signs that the Havarn pilots had that something was wrong was the sudden explosion of one of the leading dropships. At first they assumed that it must have been a technical malfunction until the second leading drop ship exploded, then the third, then the fourth, then the fifth.  Soon there were dropships exploding left and right across the sky sending thousands of Havarn soldiers waiting in the bays falling to their demise.  A wall of anti aircraft fire rose up from the surface to meet the Havarn who had yet to finish passing through the atmosphere. The descent was carefully laid out so the ships would not burn up on reentry but that meant that they could not out maneuver the incoming fire. A few of the pilots panicked and attempted to only for their heat shields to fail and instantly flash burn the ships and all those on board while others lost control and span directly into other dropships setting off a chain explosion.  Watching from their flagship, the Havaran leaders looked on with surprise an anger at the human actions. Attacking their warriors when they couldn’t even fight back was most disgraceful!  Within minutes 3/4 of the landing force had been decimated midair and those that had landed on the surface were quickly surrounded by human forces.      The Havaran demanded a communication link be established with the human commander.  “You humans shame yourselves!” They spat into their communicator. “How dare you attack our soldiers when they are defenseless!”  A long pause came before the reply followed by another pause for translation.  “Your soldiers were defenseless because you left them that way. Do not blame us for exploiting your own incompetence.”  One of the Havaran commanders threw a chair into the wall of the war room at the translation being read aloud.  “You have broken the rules of war! All combatants must touch the surface before the fighting can commence!”  This time the response came sooner as the translators were adapting.  “No such rule exists for our rules of war. Our rules protect individual soldiers from being attacked should they perform an airdrop with a parachute or jetpack, but they do not protect aircraft that are carrying them which are fair game.” “We are not using your rules human! We are using ours!” The translator retreated at the outburst from the Havaran commanders. “Our culture is the pinnacle of existence! Why would you not use our rules!?” “Pinnacle? Now that’s a laugh.”  “You declared war on us for no other reason besides our way of life and then act surprised that when we didn’t lay down and die for you. So listen here you little shit bags. Come at us all you want, you’ll either end up dead or captured like your friends here; doesn’t matter either way to me.” The Havaran commanders stopped their outrage at the last sentence. They had assumed that their soldiers that had landed had all been killed, but if they had been taken alive they could be used again.  “You captured our soldiers?”  “The ones that were still breathing at least.” “We demand that they be returned to us.” “In exchange for what?”  The Havaran paused, they did not understand what the human was saying.  “In exchange for nothing, you must return them to us.” “To be used against us again? How stupid do you think we are? If you’re not giving us anything then these fine strapping doom looking fuckers are going to be kept as our prisoners until this war ends.”  “Have you no honor!?!?”  The link went quiet for a moment before the human continued.  “You attacked a colony of what you expected to be defenseless civilians. Do not speak to me of honor. This discussion is over.” Before the Havaran could reply the link went dead. The battle of New Horizon had just begun, but the war machine of humanity was now turning to full motion and their retribution was forth coming.  

You totally don’t have to do this if you don’t want to since you’ve already done a soulmate thingy for Richie but I was thinking about a HC where the two of you dream about each other every night since you were kids and become best friends. You both fantasize/talk about meeting each other in real life one day and you finally see each other when you’re teens and feel immediately at home with each other

yessss

when you’re a kid, like eight or nine or so

you meet one night in a dream

and the first time you brush it off

bc it’s just another random weird guy in your dream

you don’t even really interact with him

and then the next night

there he is again!

and you’re like

“you again? I've never seen you before how are you even here”

and you nearly have a heart attack bc he’s like

“I've never seen you before either and here you fucking are, in my dreams”

and you’re like

“no, you’re in my dream”

you ended up waking yourself up freaking out so badly, because that dream was weird

and then the next night, 

you see this kid again!

“okay weird chick, who are you and why do you keep popping up here? are you a spy? are you a ghost? are you-”

“I'm (y/n)” you tell him while he’s losing his mind

you decide to get to the bottom of things, but even then it wasn’t quite clear what was going on

“so... you’re real?”

“realest fucking thing here” 

it takes a while to get used to seeing this Richie kid-

not to mention listening to him cuss.  you’ve never heard such a trashmouth before

but every night without fail, he’s there

and as weeks turn to months turn to years,

he really becomes a friend, and you get excited to see him

you do all sorts of weird shit, it is your dreams after all

one night, you’re sixteen, and you’re swimming in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean- your idea, not Richie’s

and you just look at him and think I really wish it could be like this all the time

and so you tell him

he kinda surprises you when he says he agrees, and that he wishes you could meet in real life

you just kinda smile at him,

and then you swim closer, almost bumping into him,

you catch his eyes wander to your lips, before snapping back up to your own

you’d spent the last eight years together, every night, without a doubt, you were both here,

going on vacations, into outer space, putting yourselves into video games, all sorts of things, everything you could think of really

tbh you were kinda surprised he hasn’t kissed you yet

just as your eyes close, and you lean in a little closer-

he disappears

motherfucker woke himself up out of nervousness

you don’t mention it the next night.

or the night after that.

or the next five months.

but there is a lingering tension,

you remain friends and do everything you’d normally do,

but neither of you can deny it.

there’s a chemistry.

ok SO

your dad decides to uproot your whole life from wherever the hell you live-

to move to Maine

you’re kinda pissed bc you’re in your senior year of high school and moving now really fucks a lot of shit up

but you still see Richie in your dreams, so, how bad can life be

even if he still hasn’t mentioned the almost-kiss

halfway into your first day at your new school, you already wish you could go home and go to bed,

it sucks

you’ve already been picked on by a kid who was too old to still be going to high school, and his greasy looking friends

and the girls you tried to make friends with were... well bitches

you’re contemplating ditching the rest of the day

(maybe even the rest of the year)

when you hear a very familiar:

“what the fuck!” 

you know that line

more importantly that voice

you spin around, and there he is,

Richie Tozier,

he’s standing around with a group of boys across the hall, his back turned to you

but you recognized him,

all curly haired and long legged and freckle faced-

“seriously that shit’s disgusting, you need to fucking move out before your mom sucks you right back up into her vagina” 

that’s him alright

your feet move before you think about it

“Richie?”

he almost pukes

his eyes land on you and you think he might pass out,

he goes even paler, and he’s just silent for a minute

(his friend are confused as fuck)

“holy shit, am I dreaming? Is this a dream? am I asleep?”

you’re giggling, and without even thinking about it, you jump into his arms

he catches you right away, swinging you back and forth

“I can’t believe it’s you!” you say at the same time

Richie sets you down, and you can’t describe the feeling you have,

the contentment,

the warmth,

like your heart is full.

he must be thinking the same thing,

because he just kinda cradles your head in his hands, fingers tangled in your hair and he’s just smiling at you,

you think he might cry

“holy fucking shit, I love you”

and finally you get that kiss

it’s so passionate and perfect and time stops for a minute

the poor Losers are just kinda lost,

bc who the hell is this girl?

but you’ll explain everything later

for now you’re just gonna skip fifth period and make out for a while

Man and Wife Pt.01

The Perv

Pairing: Bucky x Reader          Word Count: 4,841

Warnings: smut, unprotected sex, small injuries, language, stranger sex

A/N: This fic is written for Kari’s Sebastian Stan Challenge. This might continue past this initial piece. I’m not sure yet. It works well on it’s own but I’m kinda eager to explore this. If you like it, leave me a comment! Or not. Either way is cool. If you happen to reblog, thanks so much for helping me spread my work!

What is the most awkward way that you can meet someone?

Somewhere on that very long list must be the way you met James Buchanan Barnes.

You’d been eager to get out of the house. This summer had been one of the hottest summers in the last hundred years. With heat indexes reaching about a hundred and ten degrees.

New York isn’t the hottest state and hadn’t seen a record-breaking heat since the 30s. That had been in the city.

Here upstate, it was even less likely. What the hell is happening?

Seeking a reprieve from the intense heat that made your skin glisten and sticky with salty sweat, you and four friends had jumped into your baby blue 1964 Volkswagen van and headed for the newly opened Ocean Dome—a three story water park sealed within a large climate-controlled bubble.

“Damn, Y/N, when are you going to fix the stupid AC?” A short girl with short wavy blonde hair asks with irritation.

She’s got her right foot resting on your dash and she kicks it hard with that foot in frustration.

“Hey!” You yell. “Leave my baby alone! She’s trying.”

You reach out and gently caress the faded and cracked faux wood dashboard.

“I’m sorry, baby, I’ll stick jelly beans up her nose when she’s sleeping.” You promise.

The blonde scoffs, laughing at your protectiveness with your unrestored vintage. She turns her gaze towards the back, the other three girls, all with varying styles and lengths of dark hair, are laughing loudly as they gossip.

“Did we need to bring all of them?” The blonde asks you.

“Case, we need to start at least trying to get to know our neighbors.”

“Why?” Casey settles into the passenger’s seat, relaxing more. “They’re sorority brats living off daddy’s money.”

“They’re not in a sorority.” You say with a laugh though a house full of fifteen girls is weird outside of that context.

“There’s like a football team of them in that house.” Casey argues with a laugh in her voice.

You glance into the rearview mirror as the girl sitting in the row furthest back stands up and pulls her shorts down pressing her ass to the back window to flash the car behind you.

You almost want to tell her to stop but you don’t want to seem like a square. They’re not paying any attention to you or Casey and don’t hear you talking about them.

“Look at them.” Casey complains. “They’re like wild animals.”

She shifts in her seat to turn to look at them better, tugging at her seatbelt.

“Hey! Are you going to wipe your butt oils off that window? Get your nasty ass off the glass.”

The girls just laugh harder as the third pulls her shorts back up and settles back down into her seat looking rightfully chastised.

“Sorry, Y/N.” The girl says.

“It’s okay…” You try to remember her name but she’s already talking to her friends and paying you no mind.

“I hope they drown.” Casey gripes.

“Case!” You laugh, the seriousness on Casey’s face drawing the amusement out of you like no one else can.

The water park is packed. Really packed.

“Maybe we should have come on a week day?” You wonder and are suddenly shoved forward as the three brunettes you’d brought hurry past you and disappear into the crowd.

“Ugh, good riddance.” Casey grumbles. “This place is new. And it’s summer. I doubt it’s going to get any less packed for a while. Besides, now’s the time to come while everything is still working.

“Yeah.” You agree and let your eyes rove over the first floor.

It’s the largest out of the three levels with a pair of large wave pools at the center. One actually creates large waves where people can surf and seems rather dangerous. You’re definitely avoiding that one. The second with the much smaller waves, is full of families with kids and young teens in neon yellow, pink, purple, and green tubes. They float casually, lazily as they enjoy the cooler temperatures of the water.

To the right are four long lines that flow up towards the third floor where two large yellow and orange slides weave down back towards the bottom floor into a smaller but deeper pool than the wave pools. There are also green and blue slides that flow onto the second floor into what you can see is another pool on the other side of a tall modern steel and plexiglass banister.

You can see people in bright bathing suits weaving around the second-floor pool towards small stalls where one can buy drinks and snacks.

Here on the first floor, the back wall is taken up by a large tropical themed restaurant, tube and board rental stations, the largest set of bathrooms in the park, and the lockers.

To the left of the two wave pools is a large expanse of space at the center of which is a large splash bad with a huge red and white beach ball, hollowed out with small kiddie slides flowing down from several sides.

Two fake palm trees spew water up into the air where it falls on toddlers and small kids as they giggle and splash. All around this kiddie section are hundreds of lounge chairs and umbrellas with small tables attached. As you scan the area, you can see that there’s hardly an empty seat.

Finally, around the outer walls of the first floor and going through the center space between the wave pools, is a winding Lazy River with bumper to bumper tubes and people milling about in the easy flowing turquoise water.

This one ride’s water is different in color from the sterile and chlorinated water of the other attractions. The large sign of its entrance advertises with large brightly colored words sticking out of the top right corner, ‘True Caribbean Waters’. Which really just means it’s a saltwater river.

You’re not unaware of how almost everyone in the Lazy River is paired off. This is where couples go to lounge and be together, guys pushing their girls on tubes. There are a few families sprinkled throughout, fathers pushing kids or mothers with babies, but the majority are cuddling couples.

“Where are all the other rides?” Casey wonders, exploring the space with her green eyes, just like you.

“Second floor?” You offer.

“What do you wanna do?” She asks.

“Let’s go find a locker.” You adjust the bag on your shoulder. Towels and extra clothes packed in.

You find the lockers by the bathrooms close to the large splash pad and countless lounge chairs. You and Casey manage to get two of them close to each other and after slipping your belongings into the small square space, you make sure to slip your waterproof wrist band on which is loaded with all of your spending money specifically set aside for today.

“So, what now? You want to-? Case?” You look around, searching over the heads you can look over and tiptoeing to get a glance around the taller people. “Casey? Casey?”

However, Casey is nowhere in sight. “Well, shit.”

“Wow chit!” A blonde toddler exclaims as he passes you with his mother.

The mother scowls at you.

“Sorry.” You offer, clenching your teeth. Oops.

Maybe Casey went to one of the wave pools?

Feeling self-conscious of the one-piece suit you’re in—a cute powder pink suit that is much sexier than you’ve ever considered wearing that leaves your back exposed, held together with thick straps that tie at a bow between your shoulder blades—you wander over to the center of the two large pools and quickly scan the bodies drifting up and down with the push of the waves.

No Casey.

A quick walk by the lines by the waterslides tell you that Casey is not a thrill seeker.

You check the bathrooms, the restaurant, the snack stands, and then wander along the splash pad, weaving through the countless chairs.

“Casey?” You call out every now and then, but she never responds.

Yes, coming here had been your idea. Yes, you are enjoying the cooler temperature and the smell of the chlorine. Yes, the water looks inviting, but you hadn’t wanted to be here alone.

You find yourself standing in front of the large arched sign of the Lazy River and sigh. Well, you’re here to cool off, right? Might as well cool off.

You toss your hair over your right shoulder and carefully descend the steps into the surprisingly cold water. You’re very aware of your nipples straining hard against your suit. You release the bar of the stairs and cross your arms across your chest but continue to walk into the water with a gasp.

The cool water takes your breath away, but you keep walking, following the flow of the river. Because it’s the weekend, the park is open late. You and Casey had carefully planned when you’d come to the park to try and avoid the crowds that would surely gather. It had already been late afternoon when you arrived. Now, after an hour of searching, you can see the sun beginning its descent through the large dome of the park, inching closer and closer to the horizon.

It paints the sky burning orange and rose petal pink, the tippy top of the sky fading into a dark plum with the first sparkles of the night’s stars peeking out.

Because it’s getting later, the Lazy River is less crowded now with families and older couples leaving, making space so that you can walk through the water slowly and without bumping into people.

A girl with bright red hair sits in a tube, her bottom disappearing through the center with her long legs gently scratching your arm as she and her boyfriend? Husband? As they pass, without paying you any mind, she leans her head back and the guy she’s with kisses her lips upside down.

You look away, aching with jealousy. You haven’t been kissed in so long!

You reach up and massage your lips as you walk along the artificial floor, the easy flow of the river pushing you gently forward so that you have to fight your progress. It makes your feet slip and slide along the floor.

After about twenty minutes, it starts to hurt. You should have grabbed a tube. By now the dome is lit by artificial light but here in the river, there are dim lights to give the area a soft glow with most of the bright lights reserved for the splash pad and the wave pools. The slides are closed which begin to drive away the more frenzied teens.

The sun is set and the last of the orange sunset fades into darkness.

“Woah, woah! Hey! WOAH!”

Two loud splashes sound around you and you begin to scream but you’re pulled underwater by the weight of a body and another splash.

You gurgle, fighting against the rush of choking water rushing into your throat. You can feel strong hands on your hips, and you’re suddenly pulled upwards out of the brine.

As your head breaks the surface, you gasp in a lungful of air and then begin to cough, wiping at your face to clear it of water.

Those strong hands, one oddly cooler than the other through your suit, are still on your hips.

You force your eyes open, straining against the blur of the water and the curtain of your wet hair as you try and see who it is that’s still holding you.

“Hey, I’m so, so sorry. My friends are assholes. Are you alright?” There’s a slight slur to his words, almost as if he’s drunk maybe? Or tipsy at the very least. His voice is deep though. Sexy if you weren’t so annoyed with having almost been murdered.

The cool hand pushes your hair back and you see a flash of silver as he does it. You’re almost able to process what it is you’re looking at but before you can there’s an outraged gasp.

“We’re what?!”

You feel the body in front of you move towards you forcefully as if he was roughly pushed and he slips. You don’t.

As he tumbles towards you, his face slides down and nestles itself directly into your chest, his angular chin pulling down on the V-cut neckline of your suit exposing more inner side-boob than you like.

Your body rages with an embarrassed fever. You can feel the heat start at your tummy and spread up into your chest, your neck, and your ears. Your heart beings to pound and this guy, whoever the hell he is, has his lips and nose pressed into the soft flesh of your breasts that he must be able to feel your heartbeat.

“Oh my God!” You gasp, reaching down to shove his shoulders away from you.

As he straightens up, you can see the blur of inebriation in his eyes. You have no time to see anything else. “Wow. Breasts are awesome.”

Your hand shoots out of its own accord and you slap him hard across the face then move around him and scurry away.

“Ow.” He says from somewhere behind you while his buddies, whoever they are laugh loudly. “Hey wait!”

You leave them behind quickly, your arms wrapped around your chest as you push yourself faster against the floor. It takes you a few minutes to find an exit and you hurry up the stairs. Dripping wet, you search for the set of stairs that lead up to the second floor and hurry up still searching the less dense crowd for Casey.

Once you reach the second level landing you pass the Bumper Boats and the Flow Rider and the pool where the less intense slides empty into. There are a few picnic tables with a people eating from the snack stalls or simply lounging around enjoying the atmosphere.

By the time you find the third-floor stairs, your right foot is hurting badly. You look down and see a small red stain on the step you just placed your foot.

“Damn it.” You keep going but avoid walking on the ball of your foot, which makes you limp as you try not to put too much pressure on it.

On the third level you find a pool bar. This must be where the adults hangout. Even now there are more people lounging here than there are on the second level. Every submerged stool by the light blue tiled bar is taken. The straw, tropical styled roof that in the daytime must provide much needed shade from the burning midday sun, doesn’t seem as popular to the other people who look up at the sky through the thick glass dome.

It’s littered with stars. The inky black is beautiful, but your foot hurts and you don’t see Casey.

You limp towards a distant corner, away from the people in the pool bar, past the faux stone archway that leads into what looks like a dimly lit cave with multicolored lights from which drifts music.

You head towards the area where the dome connects into the floor, several lounge seats angled towards the glass. They’re empty so you sit down, turning your back on the hustle and bustle of the park.

You pull your leg up, staring at the peeled skin on the ball of your foot. It’s not bad, just hurts because you’ve been ignoring it. Maybe you should have stopped by the first aid office and asked for some band-aids? And maybe bought some sandals in the gift shop?

“Hey.” You know that voice!

You turn and jump to your feet, wincing as you step on your scrape.

“Woah. Hey, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” It’s the guy from earlier. And enough time has passed that it doesn’t seem like he’s tipsy anymore.

Now that you’re not speeding away from him, you let yourself see him clearly. He’s big. Bigger than he felt in the Lazy River. He’s at least six feet tall, or close to it. His shoulders are wide, his chest is bare sculpted perfection, and his stomach is cut in deep rivers of glistening muscle. He’s wearing dark gray swim trunks with a large red stripe running down along the sides that sit low on his hips exposing the top of the V of his pelvis.

He sees where your eyes roam and he pulls his shorts up higher and quickly undoes the string holding them up and ties them on more tightly.

Your neck burns again, this time because you’d been caught admiring his physique. It’s kind of hard not to. Of course, this admiration quickly adjusts to curiosity as you eye his left metallic arm. Now that you see it more clearly, it’s dark, not silver like you’d thought. It’s almost black with small flecks of gold throughout.

Once again, he follows your gaze and quickly pulls his arm behind his back.

“Is this what it felt like for you with my head shoved between your boobs?” The man asks, feeling exposed.

“Yes.” You admit. Serves him right.

Finally, you look up at his face and your heart nearly shatters. He’s…he’s just so-His eyes are so blue, and his brow furrowed but they sparkle with amusement and embarrassment?

His chin is covered in scruff. He’s older. How much older? His dark hair is pulled back into a low bun. A recent decision as you distinctly remember the tickle of hair between your breasts when he’d found himself there.

“Sorry.” He says and takes a step towards you.

You take a step back and wince as you step on your right.

“Hey, really, I’m-I’m not going to hurt you. I just wanted to apologize for what happened before. I meant it when I said that my friends are assholes. People think Steve is some goody two-shoes but he’s really, really not.

“Steve?” You look at his arm again and you feel your like you’ve missed a step as you connect the dots.

“You’re Bucky Barnes?” You ask, curious but surprised.

“You know who I am?” He asks, smiling beautifully.

You can’t find your voice, so you nod.

You know this man from history, from the news. This man is famous in a not so good way but also a very good way. He’s a hero although most people see the Winter Soldier. You see both.

He blushes scarlet and reaches to pull his hair loose. He scratches the back of his head and blows a rush of air out through a nervous pucker of his lips.

“Look, I’m sorry about what I said before. I’m not-I don’t-It’s not like I’m some type of-”

“Pervert?” You offer, relaxing and quirking a brow.

He chuckles nervous and glances back towards the pool bar. No one is paying attention to the two of you.

“Yeah.” He admits. “I’m not that.”

Shame. For a moment—maybe you’ve been single too long? You kind of wish he’d throw himself at you but why would he? He’s hot and gorgeous. You’re…you.

Limping back to your seat you sit down and listen as Bucky moves to stand beside you.

“Are you hurt?”

“It’s nothing. I just scraped up my foot walking in that stupid Lazy River. I should have brought swim shoes.” You lament.

Bucky’s cool metal hand suddenly lands on your shoulder and you look up at him.

“Can I see?” You chew your lip and after a second of consideration, you nod.

Bucky moves around to squat down before you, pulling a large waterproof strip of gauze of the like you’ve never seen from his pocket. He also pulls a soft square of gauze and an alcohol wipe.

Okay, how long had he been watching you because there is no way that he just goes around carrying medical supplies in his pockets.

His right hand very slowly takes hold of your ankle, his hot fingers tickling your skin as he pulls your heel up to rest on his right knee.

Your breath hitches as his skin makes contact with yours and you feel a sudden churn of heat in your belly. It sends flutters through you.

Yeah, you’ve definitely been single too long.

“This is gonna hurt.” He warns you but you still hiss at the sudden sting of the alcohol.

He looks up at you apologetically, scrunching up his eyebrows with your reaction.

“Sorry.”

You lose yourself in him as you watch him care for your scrape. Why does it feel so good to be taken care of?

“You’re staring at me.” He says with a smile.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. Why are you staring at me?” He wonders, his eyes flitting up towards you then back to your foot.

“You’re really hot.” You admit, so lost in him that you can’t help but just give it to him straight.

His cheeks burn red again, and his ears flush adorably too, but he laughs as he finishes wrapping up your foot. His eyes twinkling.

“I think this is the first time someone has told me I’m hot, just like that.”

“You asked.” You argue.

“I did.” He says, carefully putting your foot down as he meets your eyes. The subtle curve of his lips and the way he still hasn’t released your ankle sends a shiver down your spine. “You’re not angry at me anymore?”

“Angry?” You ask, slightly dazed.

“You slapped me.” He explains.

Oh, shit! You had indeed slapped him.

“You said breasts were awesome after having your face shoved between mine.” He raises his eyebrows, indicating he’s still waiting for an answer. “No. I’m not angry anymore.”

“Good.” He smiles. “Come with me.”

He pulls you to your feet and slowly leads you towards the arched entrance of that fake stone cave. The water is at about four feet here too then slowly gets deeper the further he leads you through it.

The cave suddenly opens into a small lagoon.

“Wow, this is pretty.” You sigh as you look at the too blue water and the carefully crafted ambience, soft ferns and vines decorating fake stones and hanging from the ceiling. You can’t really touch the floor anymore and Bucky is moving forward through the water still holding your hand as you cross into the pink, yellow, and purple lit cove.

On the other side of the cove is a textured vinyl flooring, painted beige to look like the shore of a sandy beach. You can hear deep bass bumping and techno music drifting in from another open archway that winds into a hallway.

“What’s that way?” You wonder as your feet find the sloping curve of the floor.

“A club. The water park people wanted to get their money’s worth, so they opened a club for us adults to drink and party. I should actually be in there. That party’s being thrown by a friend of mine.”

“Really? What friend? Steve Rogers?”

“No. Tony Stark.”

Woah! Tony fucking Stark!

“Is that where we’re going?” You wonder just as Bucky pulls you completely out of the water, but he suddenly twirls you around so that you face him. His hands find your hips and he backs you up quickly until you’re pressed into a small depression in the wall where you’re both hidden from view.

With your mouth slightly open and your eyes searching, you let your heart rage in its beat, rivaling the base of the distant music.

You can feel his fingers adjusting their grip on your hips, sending tantalizing tickles down your legs.

“I’m gonna kiss you, now. Is that okay?” Bucky asks, whispering warmly as he leans towards you.

You nod.

“You gotta tell me it’s okay, baby-doll. I’m not gonna kiss you and then have you slap me again.”

“I want you to kiss me, Bucky. Kiss me.” You beg, mint and pineapple on his breath. Maybe he ate one of those snow cones earlier?

His lips twitch into a smile before he rushes down to kiss you. His lips move softly, warm and tender, massaging your lips into submission.

As his tongue passes through the small opening you left for him, you groan and wrap your left arm around him. You place it on the center of his bare back, stroking the hard muscles eagerly.

Bucky’s metal hand wraps around the back of your head, holding you in place as he explores your depths while his right hand grazes the top of your bottom as he wraps it around you and pulls you up against his chest.

He kisses you until you have to pull away to breathe. It almost hurts your lungs as the oxygen rushes in.

“Oh, God.” You gasp, your body humming as Bucky merely shifts to press wet kisses to your neck.

He suckles on the skin against the hammering beat of your pulse.

Suddenly he wraps his hand down beneath your bottom and lifts you up. Your legs wrap around his waist, moving with instinct as he pushes you harder against the wall.

“Bucky…” You plead, and he rushes back up to meet your lips. “Mmmmm.”

You never do this. Meeting some guy and kissing him? Though, it’s not like you don’t know Bucky. You know of him. You’ve seen him save people. You’ve studied his past in school. You know where he comes from and you know where he’s been.

Bucky breaks the kiss again and pulls back enough to look into your eyes. He thrusts towards you, your quivering gasp ripping through you both.

“Tell me you want me.” Bucky begs, almost as if he needs to hear it.

“Bucky…”

“Tell me, baby-doll. Tell me you want me.”

“I want you, Bucky, please. I want you inside me.” You’re almost shocked to hear yourself say it because this is definitely not something you would do.

You’ve never slept with anyone you’ve just met, ever!

His cheeks burn and his eyes explode into darkness as he lunges forward, thrusting up into you again through his shorts. Just two small strips of clothing, that’s all that’s keeping you two apart.

“Tell me you want me again.” He orders.

“Bucky please…I want you.” You whimper, bucking against his hips and the hard rod barely contained behind his trunks.

Bucky is gasping for breath as he pulls his shorts down a bit at the front, just enough to spring him forward. He hooks his finger into the small fabric of your suit and pulls it aside before he deftly thrusts into you.

It’s quick and intense. It has to be with where you are. Out here where anyone might see you.

You shut your eyes, leaning down to bite hard into the skin of his shoulder. He grunts into your ear and you can feel his hard pelvis smack against you as he shoves himself into you in frantic and needy. It’s rough and volcanic with small but powerful and very quick thrusts.

You bounce against the wall, against his chest, your chest squished against his. When his groans come with every thrust, you know that he’s close. The sound of him making such lewd noises sends you over the edge.

You moan against his shoulder as the coil in your body snaps and you’re sent into ecstasy, biting harder and harder with every wave of euphoria until you taste the warm copper flavor of blood.

With one final thrust he freezes and explodes within you in thick flooding warmth.

Your body falls into numbness and you loosen your jaw, turning your head to rest your left cheek there on his shoulder.

Bucky’s left hand comes back behind your head and he strokes your hair slowly, caressing you with fondness.

“What’s your name?” He asks, and you’re shocked to realize you just slept with a man without first telling him your name.

You have all the power here. You could walk away, and he’d never know who you were.

But after today…after what just happened? How could you not see him again?

“Y/N…” You whisper, stroking the center of his back slowly as he continues to support your weight with your legs wrapped around him, still fully buried within you. “Y/N y/l/n.”

He nods.

“Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you marry me?” He mumbles, kissing your neck softly.

You chuckle and let your breathing slow, but you know he’s not serious.

“I mean it.” He assures you. “Will you marry me?”

“What?” You pull back slowly, searching his eyes for the joke but all you see is warm sincerity.

“I want you. And I know it’s weird because we just barely met but I wanna keep you.”

“Bucky you don’t even know me.” You shake your head, confused.

“Marry me, baby-doll.”

“Bucky…”

“Marry me?”

“Buck-”

“Be my wife.” He whispers, leaning in to rub his lips against your own softly, a feather tease of skin on skin.

God, you can still taste that pineapple!

“Yes.” You relent and he smiles then kisses you hard.

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