A young man itched the purple scruff across his jawline. Dirt all over his skin, smudged on his nose, hair greasy and eyes dark and worn. He was sitting in town, nothing much to do and too much at stake to get up to any trouble. The spring season should bring an opportunity, or at least he prayed so. Shadow had planned this for nearly a year. He had saved up and ran off. Not very far granted, but taking an entire year to save up enough money for a handful of meals and a oneway bus ticket a town over spoke volumes for his past situation. The sun beat down on his tanned skin, but this morning it was refreshing. It was still chilly in the nights for another few weeks, and sleeping in the alley had been less than pleasant. He sincerely hoped his grungy state would not deter any job offers. It was wishful thinking. The sound of a horse trotting into town slowing to walk made his ears perk up. Shadow looked from under his black stetson as a well cared for mare strode proudly onto the cobbles.
He watched a blonde man ride in like he did every day. Shadow could tell from a single glance he knew exactly how to ride that horse and had since he could toddle. He tied her up and posted a little paper on the local square's community board. He perked up as the man walked away to conduct other business in town. Shadow read his two favorite words, his prayers to the Goddesses heard: “Help Wanted.”
“I have to move to montreal to open the Canadian branch of WE,” Dick whispers one morning between soft morning kisses.
“Excuse me,” Wally starts suddenly completely awake, “but it sounded like you said you were moving to Canada.”
“Lucius just told me yesterday,” Dick tells his boyfriend with his sad but hopeful smile that gets Wally every time.
“Okay, but-” The redhead gets out of bed and begins pacing, for a moment Dick thinks Wally might take it as well as he’d thought he would, “-am I moving with you?”
“No, your career here is just as important as mine in Montreal.”
“Alright fine, but you can’t stop me from helping you move.”
That’s how Wally found himself with lugging 2 large suitcases filled with Dick’s physical life through a train station in montreal where he would say the hardest goodbye anyone who could visit anytime has ever taken part in.
Each time after that (nearly every day) the goodbye got a little bit easier, but the hellos were always just as sweet as the first
Dropping this random excerpt from my Cody fic I wrote over a year ago that’s likely never gonna be done, but I feel like sharing this anyway. Enjoy
Cody woke up to Kote roaring. His head throbbed, and he came to the conclusion that he was tired of being knocked unconscious. He opened his eyes and was met with a wall of mist. But he was lying on his back. Brow furrowed, Cody turned his head to the side just to see more of that gray mist. It was thick, flowing in slow currents and swirled against an invisible wall.
He propped his elbows and gingerly pushed up, biting back a groan. The floor was all water, ripples sprouting with every move he made. But it had not soaked through his armor, Cody’s body was directly above it, somehow afloat. The room, if he could call it that, was clear of fog. A barrier kept it at bay, allowing Cody to see everything inside, but nothing out.
A loud snarl caught his attention, and Cody looked over to another side of the room, watching as Kote pawed along the barrier, likely searching for an exit. Kote let out another noise of frustration when he came to a stop, thrusting an open palm towards the fog with a wave of the Force that ricocheted back, throwing Kote off his feet onto the watery floor, sending ripples throughout the room. The fog remained undisturbed.
Kote laid on his back, chest heaving as he loudly hissed, his vocoder crackling, “Fuck!”
Cody winced. “I’m making a wild guess that the Force is useless for escaping.”
Kote let out a sarcastic laugh, “Look who’s finally awake.” He pulled himself back on his feet and began pacing along the wall again, not bothering to throw Cody a glance. “If you have any ideas on where we are, and how to get out, I would like to hear them now.”
“Honestly?” Cody sat up, crossing his legs and removing his helmet, setting it down beside him. “Not a clue.”
“Fan-kriffing-tastic.”
“We can try a lightsaber.”
“I already tried yours,” Kote gestured toward Cody’s general direction, still pacing. “It just bounces off this damn wall.”
Cody frowned, patting at his belt for his saber and found the clip bereft. He listened for its hum and saw it swinging from Kote’s hip. Resisting a roll of his eyes, Cody sighed, “Then I guess we’re going to have to figure a different way out.”
Kote snorted, “If you say we should meditate, I will kick you.”
“Hey, I know we’re not the best at it, but it’s probably the only option we have.”
Kote stopped pacing, head tilted back as he took a deep breath. Then he stomped over and sat in front of Cody, taking off his helmet and holding it in his lap. “We don’t have time,” he seethed. “Sidious is going to kill everyone. If he hasn’t already.”
Fear flowed between them. It made Cody tense up, and he quickly shucked it out, determined to remain level headed. Despair wasn’t going to get them out. It most definitely wasn’t going to help them to their people. He hoped everyone made it out of the Sith temple. He hoped Obi-Wan, Rex, and Boba were somewhere safe.
Cody exhaled and reached over to Kote, carefully placing his hands over the other’s, on top of the helmet. He tilted his head to make eye contact, keeping his voice soft, “Meditate with me, Vod. I’ll need your help.”
Kote’s jaw clenched, brows drawn together as he stared back. He was barely holding back his fury and fresh grief; the emotions leaking into their bond.
Cody intended on addressing those feelings as quickly as possible during the meditation, it would do no good to keep them bottled up. He gently squeezed his hands, prompting for a reply.
Commander Cody finds himself in a galaxy that is not his own.
(Okay I had to repost this because my dumb butt deleted the original 🥲. If people don’t mind reblogging this post again I would really appreciate it.)
Ficlet under the cut.
The moment he had realized this wasn’t his galaxy, his dimension, Cody knew this meeting was inevitable. He’d hoped to avoid it, but that feeling in his gut always loved to prove him otherwise.
Standing before him was his face. And no, not the face of a brother. This wasn’t just one of the millions he had grown up with.
This was him. He could feel it.
An alternate version of him, with colder eyes and harder expression. But still, he was Cody. Or rather, he was Kote.
Cody swallowed down a dry lump in his throat, not allowing his own gaze to falter under Kote’s scrutiny. “Please,” he started, hoping that his voice didn’t waver. “I’m not supposed to be here. The Jedi… Our brothers are in danger.”
“Your brothers,” Kote shot back, eyes narrowed. The way he spoke the words sent a chill down Cody’s spine, as though being a Vod was something beneath him. “Why should I care what happens to them?”
Cody’s thoughts froze for half a second, then he blinked hard and shook his head to push pass the shock. Never in a millions years would he dream of hearing a clone say anything along those words, much less from himself.
But this was a version of him. This was Kote Fett, and he was obviously raised under the guidance and views of the Prime. Cody briefly wondered if Boba existed in this dimension before forcing his thoughts back on track. He needed to convince Mand’alor Kote, somehow.
“Look,” he half whispered. “You don’t have to help me. I can find my own way back. You’ll never have to see me again.”
Kote slightly tilted his head, and with it, Cody felt a sharp spike of heat in his head. He gasped and dug his nails into his palms, strengthening his mental shields at the same time as throwing back a spike of his own, causing Kote to stagger one step back.
“Kote,” Prime chided from the side wall, unmoving. It was short and clipped, but his tone carried a low warning with it.
Cody bit back a groan, the sudden headache making him lose focus for a moment. He breathed roughly past the mental pain, instead concentrating on the feel of the cuffs holding his arms up, digging into the skin of his wrists. It was something physical. He could deal with physical.
Kote let out a grunt in acknowledgment, making a quick cut sign with his free hand, the other holding his helmet. He gazed back at Cody, a glint of intrigue now in his eyes. “Huh,” he breathed out.
Cody stared right back, blocking out whatever feelings were suddenly directed at him. “Just… just let me go.”
Kote’s brow furrowed, just enough for Cody to notice. He stepped closer, until they were less then an arm’s length away, face-to-face. His eyes rove over Cody’s face, and Cody could feel him prodding at his shields for a weak point. Cody built up another layer, shutting Kote out.
The Mand’alor blinked, a flash of surprise there and gone. His eyes suddenly grew cold. He spoke, and his voice was barely above a whisper. “Now why would I do that?”
I totally didnt realize it cut off at a limit im so sorry XD
Shadow is new to a lot of things, living, being Hylian (mostly), and the seasons. He knows what it is, but he's never seen snow before. Until now.
~~
When the heroes had described snow it hadn’t sounded so magical. Shadow stared out the window as he usually did during sunrises. This time the world was bathed in beautiful glowing sparkly white. At least a few feet of this untouched white coated everything. All the leaf empty branches were being clung to and weighed down by heavy snow piles. Shadow leaned forward, his criss crossed knees pressing against the shitty attic wall. He was admiring how snow also clung to the little cross beams in the circular window. Would this snow do the same on him? He could imagine it, piled snow on his magically curling hat. No wonder it had gotten so cold last night. He had made a burrito out of himself and Vio inside their blankets.
His breath fogged up the glass that he was too close to, where he noticed Vio reflected a ways behind him.
The moment of vulnerable softness in his expression made Shadow’s stomach do a swoop. He turned around wide eyed at being caught up here. The other four were never up this early and he had yet to be caught sun gazing. Until now.
“Good morning.” He didn’t break the sanctuary of his space, rather staying on the top of the attic ladder. He folded his arms across the top poles and leaned forward comfortably. He had bed-head like mad, he hadn’t bothered to brush it or anything before coming up to find him. The very faint hint of mint gave away he had brushed his teeth though. He put in that effort but not his daily routine? “It is rather cold up here, would you like to join me for a warm drink? Your ears and nose are turning a bit red. No heat gets up here during the winter.”
Shadow felt them with his hands, the skin feeling colder than his fingertips. Right, he had to worry about body heat now. He uncurled himself, wobbling at the fuzzy feeling of his legs having fallen asleep.
“G’morning. You’re up early.” He follows him down.
“I got cold and could not fall back asleep.” he hummed distractedly. “I figured I would start up the fire and some pancakes. It is a tradition Blue started, to have pancakes or french toast during the first snowfall and more bacon than you could ever possibly eat.” Vio grins and he just now notices the man is still in pajamas. It was very unusual for Vio to be ‘indecent’ outside of their room. “I am better at pancakes, the best in fact.” He comically puffed out his chest and put hands on his hips to make Shadow laugh. Vio pushed the attic ladder back up, letting the rope dangle for the next explorer.
“Nice sunrise this morning? I bet it looked fantastic on all that snow.”
Shadow stumbled a little. He hadn’t thought he knew. Vio huffed that cute little nose puff laugh he did when amused.
“Did you not realize I knew?” He caught and righted the poor shade. “Do not worry, you were quiet enough. I always notice when you leave our bed. I worried at first you were uncomfortable sleeping next to me, until I found out what you were up to.”
“Oh.” He felt a little dumb now. “Sorry for waking you up.” Shadow winced, he must have woken Vio up this morning and left him cold and alone. He wondered how often he’d done so, but it seemed like his partner wasn’t mad or upset about it.
“It is nothing, I am just a light sleeper.” Vio dismisses, and this time he gets caught by Shadow as he takes a step wrong in his fuzzy socks. His foot slipped out under him, sending him suddenly horizontal and twisting his stable foot in an unnatural direction.
“Woah!!!’ Vio shouts and then hisses in pain. He is suddenly staring up at Shadow who was behind him. His arms under his and Vio’s head shoved into his abdomen, looking up backwards at Shadow’s face. His reflexes were insane. He had grabbed Vio before he had processed that he was falling. Shadow blinked owlishly as his brain caught up. “Ahaha…someone must have polished the stairs...” Vio excuses, trying his best to calm the embarrassed heat flaming his face and ears. His chest thudded from the adrenaline. Footsteps pounded above them from the yell and thud waking at least one of the others.
“How the hell are we the heroes of anything if we keep falling over our own feet?” He refuses to let him up for a moment to savor the rare misstep. He was absolutely teasing him relentlessly later for this.
“I suppose we are only falling for each other.” Vio grins wickedly, knowing just how much horrible puns annoyed his partner. Shadow groans and lets him go dramatically. “Hey!” He doesn’t let him actually fall, catching and lifting him back on his feet with shadows. At the top of the stairs Green appears ready to fight a hoard of moblin with some kind of vibrantly colored wobbly stick thing in his hands. His hair is the definition of bed head, stuck up everywhere like he has rubbed it a thousand times with a balloon. His underpants are on backwards.
“What’s going on!? Are you okay? Was there a break in??” He was also clad in only briefs. While they looked comfortable, the silly little geese holding knives in their beaks on them made his intimidating stature nothing but hilarious. Shadow eyed the stick warily.
“Not unless you count the showdown between Vio’s cat paw socks versus wood polish.” Shadow raised an eyebrow. “We’re good, thank you. He almost ate absolute shit on the stairs, but I -being the most bestest and handsomest hero of you all- valiantly saved him.” Shadow boasted, putting all his ego into it.
“Be still my beating heart.” Vio deadpanned, holding the railing to look back lest he fall again. His face freezes looking between the makeshift weapon and Green and then weapon again. His one eyebrow slowly raised incredulously leaving Shadow a little confused.
“I am fairly sure you grabbed the wrong kind of sword there, Green. What exactly were you planning to accomplish with that?”
Green’s freckles pop with his blush as he throws the thing back into his open bedroom door. It wiggles in the air in a comical way as it goes. A soft thump indicated it landed on his bed, or maybe a clothing pile. Shadow’s the only one of them with good enough hearing to hear the “Ow! Hey!” from Green’s room. He’s pretty sure that was Red.
“Either blunt force trauma or physiological.” He crosses his arms. “It was the closest thing to me!”
“I feel like I’m missing something here.” Shadow frowns at being kept out of the loop.
“I will explain later.” Vio whispers to him, “It is uh- a device for a sex thing.”
“Oh.” Shadow makes a face. They hadn't really explored that area of their relationship yet. Seeing whatever that thing was made him so thankful for it. He couldn't imagine what that weird wobbly thing was for. He wants to know what that has to do with Red, but it probably wasn’t his business.
“Would you like to join us for pancakes?” Vio changes the subject bluntly. It saves Shadow from making the decision to ask or not.
Green’s face lights up. “Fuck yeah! I
We’ll be right down.” He hurries into his room to grab proper pajamas and go brush his teeth and take care of other business. The nerd doesn’t notice the plural slip up in the aftermath of shame. Some hero he was, falling to his death on their home stairs. Vio takes the steps more carefully, hiding the slight limp from twisting his ankle. Why, when something happened to his legs or feet, did it always have to happen on the side Green broke during their fight!? It was like divine revenge! With how close Shadow stayed he had a feeling he wasn’t hiding shit.
He started the coffee while Vio grabbed all the pancake supplies. Shadow bent down at the fireplace, opening the flue lever and shooting some fire on the logs. Who cared if it was cheating, magic was awesome. He returned to the kitchen part, sitting on top of a counter. Vio babbled some facts about snow and ice while he whisked the batter together. Notably he rarely moved to hide the pain. Shadow used his shadows to move things closer and get stuff from the cupboard Vio reached for. His lack of complaint was proof enough of Vio’s thanks for it.
“They all form differently, if you look close enough at the flakes… oh, good morning Red.” The duo make their way into the downstairs space. He yawns big with a wave. He is not a morning person.
Green plops into a chair near the fireplace.
“I am a little surprised you did not wake up from being cold.” Green notoriously had the least tolerance for winter.
“Isn’t Red like, a personal furnace?” Shadow hummed, poking the hero on his cheek.
“What would Red have to do with that?” Vio only looked over briefly, in the middle of pouring batter. “Why did you only wake up Red and not Blue, anyway?” Shadow gives Red a knowing little smirk, but stays quiet.
“Uhhhhh.” Red grabs a mug, filling it half with coffee and half with cream. “I had a bad dream and Green was still awake. I fell asleep in his room.” His fidgeting made the lie pretty obvious, but thankfully Vio was turned away and too busy to take it as anything but face value.
“I see. That was nice of him.”
Green fell asleep leaning his chin on his hand. They hadn’t actually slept all that much last night.
“It’s probably best if the house is warm before Blue gets up anyway.” Red sips from the cute calico cat mug he had made in their Grandpa’s forge. The paint was just the tiniest bit out of the spot circles, and the handle was a tail.
“He’s grumpy enough.” Shadow agrees.
The delicious smell of bacon filled the house. Vio was softly humming something as he flipped pancakes.
“I think he needs an apron.” Shadow mused to fill the time. Red nods sagely. “Like yours, but purple. Maybe swirls for the ties, like magic beams.” He was aware not everyone could see tendrils of magic like he could, but it was fun anyway.
“You do have an eye for those kinds of things. Red looks pointedly at Green. “Unlike some of us.”
“Hahaa- But the geese undies are just so charming!” Green was awake enough to flip him off. He leaned a little closer to Red. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell. None-a my business anyway.” Red sputters and hides behind a drink. Shadow gives a conspiratorial wink.
Vio throws and lands a pancake on Shadow’s face. “Don’t tease Red, it is not nice.”
“Hey! Rude! This one’s mine now.” Shadow snatches it off his face by making his mouth and fangs as big as his head, chomping it one go.
“Fuckin’ animal.” Blue chastises with humor from the bottom of the steps. Shadow blows an oversized raspberry at him that pitches up as his mouth shrinks back to normal. Vio has turned away, covering his mouth. His shoulders were shaking though, Shadow couldn't be fooled. “Y’all started without me?”
“Oh, hell no.” Vio glares at him. “It is bad enough Shadow has no respect for the Hylian language, do not you dare start using ‘y’all’ too!”
“Ha!” Shadow cheers his victory. “It’s contagious!" Blue rolled his eyes and sat next to the giggling Red. Green had fallen asleep again, his cheek earning a little red imprint of his hand. They fell into warm familial bickering and talking. Shadow took the opportunity to gaze longingly out the window at the snow. Vio said it was cold, tiny ice crystals. He wanted to shove his hands in it, but he also didn’t want to ruin the sleek look. There was something about untouched snow that was oddly beautiful. The hibernating trees hanging under the weight, the cold stillness that soothed his soul. It was the quiet in the early morning he now likes best. He never liked calm and quiet before Vio, but indulging him in it only grew his fondness.
“Someone wants to play outside.” His ears flick back to attention as Green casually leans on him. His arms over his shoulders like a sleepy sloth. Green was a touchy feely dude when drunk or tired. It weirded him out at first, but now he kind of liked the platonic affection.
“I’ve never seen it before.”
“Never seen what?”
“Snow.”
All hell broke loose as everyone but Vio started talking at once.
“You knew this!” Shadow holds his hands palm out. “I told y’all I didn’t know anything about seasons, or holidays, or none of that. It doesn’t exactly snow on death mountain.”
“We have to go outside and have snow fights, oh oh! Let’s build a giant snow fort!” Red bounced.
“We do not have any winter outer wear for Shadow.” Vio sighs, “I should have thought of that before, I knew it was getting cold. It is a little early for snow though. A lot fell last night. I might have an extra set of warm hat or gloves.” He sets down two heaping plates of perfectly browned pancakes and bacon. He fooled everyone with his slow walk by balancing both plates at once.
“I made a sweater. Shadow hasn’t decided what day this official birthday is yet, so I’ve been holding onto it.” Blue stirs the sugar into his coffee cup and then points the spoon at him. “But it counts as your present, don’t expect another from me on whatever day you choose.”
“You knit me a sweater?” What was the warm fuzzy feeling in his chest? Shadow still isn’t used to being loved like this.
“Don’t look into it! I was bored.”
“After we eat.” Vio shoos Shadow’s ass off the counter to sit properly in a chair. “Come on, off the counters you heathen. Act like a well mannered being for once in your life.”
They showed him how to put on all the gear. He slid the cotton glove on his hand, only for his claws to pierce the tips. Vio smacks his forehead in exasperated hindsight.
“Whoops.” He blinks at them, looking up at Vio to make sure he wasn’t in trouble.
“Well, they do cover your hands mostly at least.” He flips one of them over and around. “It will have to do for now. But if you get too cold let us know.” He holds his hand between his like a little hand sandwich. “I mean it, pay attention. You can get frostbite.”
“Frostbite sounds like a cool ice wolfos attack.” Shadow grins. “We should make ice wolfos statues to guard the fort!”
“Sure.” Vio let him free. Red was just placing the risen bread loaf in the cast iron above the fireplace. Cinnamon bread is his favorite, soft pull apart swirling bread with cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter. Red would coat the top with a glaze when he served it. Melted powdered sugar and milk. Shadow was grinning at him.
“Yes!” Red runs over to the door. “Fort, fort, fort!” He bursts through and into the snow. Vio tucks Shadow into a knit beanie cap and pats his head.
“All set.”
“I feel like you’re treating me like a little kid, but I also don’t hate it.” He narrows his eyes.
“Only a bit.” Vio shoves him towards the door. “Go have fun!”
“Only if you rest your ankle. If you don’t I’ll tell Blue.” Shadow cocks his hip and puts his hand on it.
“I will.” He waves his book. Satisfied he turns and takes his first steps into the icy tundra.
The snow crunches under his boots and he sinks into the two foot fluff. It sparkles everywhere the light hits it. He digs a hand down into it. It was heavy and wet and excellent for packing. Red was already starting up on a wall, compacting it tightly. Shadow ran over to help.
“Oh! Yes! Float up to the top, I’ll hand you buckets and you get the top of the walls!” Red beams, nose already a little cherry. Green and Blue came shortly after. They mostly threw snow at each other instead of helping.
An impressive snow fort stood after a few hours when Vio opened the front door again.
“Hey! Oh damn that’s pretty big! Good structure.” He whistles. “You guys should take a break inside! It’s cold.”
“No!” Shadow pokes his head out from the fort’s upper window. “I am the king of the snow castle!” He declares.
Vio snorts. “The king of the snow castle is going to lose his toes. I can see your drippy noses from here.” Shadow pouts at him. “You can come back out, but you should have some warm water and be inside for a little while.” Blue and Green were already shuffling back. Both coated in snow. They shake off like wet dogs before coming inside.
“Yes mom.” Green laughs and his sour reaction. “Vio’s right, though.”
“Finneeeeeeeeeee.” He slides down the ice slide and he and Red come inside too. They hang the wet clothes near the fireplace. Shadow is shaking, fangs clattering.
“I told you,” Vio huffs a little nose laugh. “Come here,” He gives Shadow a pair of his fuzzy socks, dyed to look like black cat paws. Shadow’s cheeks were flushed and he sniffled. He holds his icy cheeks with warm palms.
“Mmmmm. Keep doing that.” Shadow shuts his eyes in bliss. “So warm.” Vio sits him on the couch. He wraps a fluffy blanket around his shoulders.
“I will be right back.” He takes a large pot off the stove that was steaming. He whisked it and then poured some sweet smelling brown liquid into mugs.
“Cocoa!” Red cheers and runs to the mugs. “Yes!” Everyone joins in the living room, close to the fireplace. Vio hands a mug to Shadow, who looks at him curiously.
“Hot chocolate. It’s warm and sweet.” He lifts up one side of the thick blanket and slides in next to him, wrapping them both up. Red glows faintly, surrounded by Blue and Green. His magic flaring warm for them.
Shadow sniffs it and then takes a slow sip. It’s thick and warm. A dark chocolate, Vio’s favorite kind. It was more chocolate than milk. Shadow melted into Vio’s side, literally. He was half corporeal in comfort and bliss. Warmth from all sides and a satisfying tiredness from exercise making him sleepy and loose. Red starts a commentary on how the building went that turned into background noise for them.
He didn’t know when he had fallen asleep. He hated falling asleep anywhere but the confines of their safe room. He always jolted awake in a panic unaware of his surroundings. Vio pulled him back down to the couch.
“Easy there,” He settles Shadow back into his side calmly, “You fell asleep in the living room.” The thick blanket still around them must have done it. Being so warm, worn out, and close to his partner tricked his brain into saying: safe nap time! Shadow’s eyes are blurry with half-awake awareness. He buries his face into Vio’s chest, grumbling. He wanted to go back to sleep, but knew he couldn’t now that he was painfully aware of their public location.
Soft purring rumbles while Vio scratches his nails across his scalp and untangles his messy hair. They were alone for now. Vio had accidentally wobbled on his bad foot earlier and got a lecture and walk ban from Blue. It was nice to just relax, but he felt a little bad. He was supposed to be helping and here he was indulging in some comfort time with his partner. Vio’s body melted into the sofa under Shadow’s weight. At this rate he would fall asleep again and be awake all damn night. He pinches his cheek.
“Shadow,”
“Mm.”
“Shaaaaadddooowwwww,” He wiggles his cheek and snickers when his hand gets slapped away.
“Im awake.” Shadow whines and sits upright. Some of his joints snap in a satisfying way as he reaches his arms way above his head and stretches. “What’d I miss?”
“Apoarently Red and Green have a thing going on and Blue already knows about it. He knows because he and Red also have a thing so now he and Green are slightly involved but that's still new.”
“Oh. Huh. I was kinda wondering what Red had to do with that wiggly thing this morning.”
“I’m sorry, the what?” Blue is leaning on the door frame, arms crossed. He doesn’t sound mad, more amused than anything.
“We made some noise when Vio almost died on the stairs.”
“Hey! I did not-”
“And Green’s sleeping brain thought we were being robbed so he ran out holding this thing that wobbled and when Vio pointed out it was not his weapon he threw it into his room. It hit Red.”
It takes him a few seconds to realize what Shadow was saying. He started laughing so hard he bent over.
“He tried to stop a robber with a- with a- Ahahahaha!”
“With a what?”
“It’s called a sex toy,” Vio supplies in his ear. “It’s for sexual intimacy with yourself or others. It’s meant to uh- replicate genitalia."
“Oh.” Now he gets it. He’s pretty sure that must be what Hylian’s look like. Shadow doesn’t even blink at Blue’s expression.
“You didn’t know?”
He shrugs unfazed. “Y’all look different. I might be more Hylian adjacent now but that stuff didn’t change.”
Snippet of the Multiverse AU that takes place not long after this scene. I wrote it nearly a year ago but I felt like sharing it now. Please enjoy ☺️
Cody suppressed a flinch when a container of rehydrated food clattered on the small table in front of him. Then another was set down on the opposite side as Kote sat across from him.
Kote had removed his vambraces sometime between shoving Cody on his current seat and bringing the meal over. But Cody knew better than to think that granted any sort of evening out the playing field, so to speak. For one, he was still cuffed. Secondly, Kote remained armed with blasters at his hips and blades tucked away who-knows-where.
So… yeah, no, Cody’s chances of incapacitating him were slim to none. It wouldn’t be worth the effort.
Yet.
Kote pointed his spork at Cody, somehow brandishing it like a weapon. “Eat.”
Cody gave him a flat look while holding up his cuffed hands, spreading his fingers and wiggling them with fake enthusiasm.
Kote returned the stare, raising one brow. “I don’t see the problem.”
Resisting the urge to huff, Cody let his hands drop back on his lap. “I would like to not be treated like a prisoner.”
“You are a prisoner.”
“Because you refuse to let me go.”
“That’s kind of the point. Now,” Kote reached over and nudged Cody’s tray with his spork. “Eat.”
Cody looked down at the food, his nose scrunching up and lips pressing together in a small frown. It looked marginally more appetizing than the usual GAR issued slop, but that could be his stomach talking. Cody isn’t sure when exactly was the last time he ate. Definitely before dimension jumping, when he had first meal in the mess with Ghost. But that had been hours before he got flung into a portal, and then he was knocked unconscious shortly after for an unclear amount of time.
A waft of the food’s scent found its way into his nostrils, and he clenched his fists when his stomach gurgled out loud in the quiet room. Little traitor.
“By the Ka’ra,” Kote muttered, rubbing his nose bridge. He leaned back against his seat, left arm resting across the top. “We do have a carbon freezer on this ship if you would prefer the full experience.”
Didn’t that sound promising.
“I literally have no value to you,” Cody said, keeping his voice low and steady. “Not here. Not in this universe.”
Kote tilted his head, eyes roving somewhere above Cody. “If that’s what you think.”
