ᴋᴀʏᴀ

19 ,requests OPEN !! , multifandom blog , istp

[thewanderingkaya]

愛 KAYA TOAST

INTRO INTRO !!

hii! i'm KAYA .. a 19 yr old who's obssessed with fictional characters ; even aliens..

im okay with spamming , just don't overdo it . (i do it too..)

✘ i can and will block blank blogs , and blogs that are under 18 / have no age .

✘ viewed best in dark mode .

tags

#kayas.writing (my works)

#kayas.blabbering (me talkin)

#kayas.drabbles (small thoughts)

STATUS !!

requests are OPEN . asks are OPEN

request rules

masterlist (in the works)

[the-pixel-lover-extravagant]

I might be ovulating but:

[mouse-doubleo100]

the thing that i adore the most about project hail mary is the fact that, after travelling god knows how far, saving multiple worlds, and living on an alien planet, grace ends the film not as some big hero, but as a teacher

its just so nice that the film sits there and says ‘ryland graces job as a teacher is important’, because its very common in these kinda films that the protagonist starts off as a teacher purely to give a bit of exposition before the government person shows up and goes ‘youre the best (insert science here)ist in the world, and we need your help to save the world’ or whatever, and i assumed at first that thats what this film was doing as well

but its not

grace starts the film as a teacher, he goes through the film as a teacher, and he ends the film as a teacher. he is a teacher to his students. he is a teacher to the astronauts. he is a teacher to rocky. and at the end of it all, he is a teacher to his students.

ryland grace saves both worlds not because he is some big hero, but because he is a teacher. and his reward at the end of it all is that he gets to keep teaching. and isnt that beautiful

[michaela-o]

Prowler won ya all🥹🫶🏻

[thewanderingkaya]

holy fuck

[jun-hyungs]

another set of clone requests from twitter! (plus a spoons for me)

[somedaylazysomeday]

Gar Cyare Chapter Thirty-One

You teach Alpha that it can be nice to take your time

Rating: NC-17, Lemon, etc. Minors DNI!

Word Count: 4,800

Warnings: Teasing, ripped clothing, one spank, unprotected piv sex, so much softness

Previous | Next | SFW Masterlist | NSFW Masterlist

---

Munit Emuurir (Savor)

Being in a relationship with Alpha had many advantages. 

Besides the pleasure of his gruff company and the way he was so fiercely protective of you, there were also simpler joys. One of them was the ability to see Alpha relaxing in a domestic setting.

All of this was considered and appreciated as you left your refresher and stepped into the soft warmth of your quarters as you got ready to sleep. Alpha was lying in bed already, frowning at a datapad  as he scanned through a report.

You paused for a moment to smile at the sight of him. The first few times Alpha had slept in your room, he had complained about - among other things - the number of pillows you kept on your bed. If you had thought it really bothered him, you would have done something about it, but it hadn’t escaped your notice that he always ended up with pillows cushioning his shoulders, neck, and head when he was doing anything other than sleeping. Even then, he usually ended up with two of your fluffiest pillows, a direct contrast to the single flattened pillow he slept with in his own quarters. 

 Alpha’s face was illuminated by the harsh light of the datapad’s screen, but also by the softer yellowish light of the lamp at your bedside. That lamp lit the room with a soothing glow, half-shrouding your own stack of datapads and the notes of the report you were working on. By this time of night, it was as if even your room was telling you to put work away until tomorrow.

Alpha looked good there, you reflected, a surge of satisfaction rising in you. When you had first met, the idea of him looking so comfortable snuggled into your sheets would have been laughable. Granted, he would complain if you accused him of ever doing something as gentle as snuggling… but even Alpha wouldn’t be able to deny that he was sprawled between your sheets, posture easy and lax. 

“You gonna stand there all night?” Alpha asked, eyes never lifting from the screen he was studying.

You laughed despite yourself. “Just admiring the view.”

That brought his eyes to you, then they trailed down in silent appreciation of your outfit. You didn’t sleep in anything extravagant, just some comfortable shorts and a tank top, but the appreciation on Alpha’s face made you feel like you were modeling some of Bespin’s finest lingerie for him.

“Yeah?” he asked, voice slow and ponderous, heat rolling beneath the surface like thunder in the Kaminoan clouds. “You could probably get a better look from over here.”

“Did I tell you that I think there’s something wrong with my vision?” you asked, scarcely managing to bite back a grin at the look of concern that crossed Alpha’s face. Instead, you nodded solemnly. “I always have to touch things in order to feel like I really see them.”

Alpha’s face cleared of worry and the beginnings of a smile lightened it even further. “Well, I wouldn’t want to keep you blind, neverd’ika. Come look any way you want, as long as you’re ready for me to do the same.”

“Been looking forward to it all week,” you admitted easily, crossing the room in a few steps. You had scarcely sat on the edge of the bed before Alpha was towing you across the plush surface. Not that you needed much encouragement - you went willingly enough to his arms.

He dipped his head and you lifted your face and you met in the middle for a kiss tinged with desperation. It really hadn’t been long since you had seen each other, but the new ARCs took up a lot of Alpha’s time and your work kept you busy as well. Most of the time you had spent together over the last week had been in the cafeteria, and you hadn’t wanted to risk drawing the Kaminoans’ attention to your relationship. 

So you devoured him and he drank you down and you sank into each other like you never wanted to separate again. You hadn’t even noticed your own wandering hands until Alpha gave a little groan against your lips and his hand came up to cradle yours. 

When you glanced down and found that your thumb had been stroking gently over one of Alpha’s nipples - a notoriously sensitive area for him - you apologized. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even realize-”

Alpha silenced it after only a few words, nibbling on your lower lip and only pulling away to assure: “You warned me that you wanted to touch. I knew what I was getting into.”

His grin warmed your heart, but it also filled you with a bit of mischief. You kissed his lips, then his jaw, then ducked down to fix your lips around the bud and give a quick suck. Alpha was still wearing a shirt and you were sure the sensation was less pronounced than you would have liked, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell from his reaction. 

Alpha jumped so hard at the touch that the movement jarred you from where you reclined against his torso. A frantic sound tore from him, and when you looked up, his eyes were wild. “Come here.”

“I’m already- ah!” The nonsensical conclusion to your protest had come out a little closer to a squeak than you wanted to admit. But Alpha had surprised you, pushing you down against the bed’s surface a little rougher than he usually would. You didn’t have a moment to process your new location before he was leaning over you. 

“This what you wanted?” he asked, nipping at the sensitive skin below your ear. “Wanted to play and tease?” 

“You have to admit, the results were-” You broke off into an unintelligible noise, squirming beneath Alpha as he sucked a mark into the juncture where your neck met your shoulder.

By the time he lifted his head once more, you felt nearly as wild as he looked. But after a deep kiss, filled with teeth and tongue and hands, you forced yourself to ease back slightly. 

This certainly wasn’t the first time you and Alpha had been together. It wasn’t even the first time your activities in the bedroom had drifted to a higher intensity. You knew you wouldn’t break - though it had taken some effort to convince Alpha of that - and you knew you both enjoyed fast, frantic sex. 

But you had a strange moment of clarity from beneath Alpha’s bulk. Your connections tended to be fast most of the time. And, since you were in a good place for it schedule-wise, maybe it would be nice to try slowing things down. 

You just had to convince Alpha that was a good idea. 

The man in question was muttering to himself as he worked his way down your body, groaning softly when you writhed in response to his touches. It almost hurt to slow him down, especially when you were so close to getting some relief, but you forced the words out. 

“Alpha, wait.”

Alpha stopped immediately, drawing back far enough to look at your face. The muscles of his torso tautened under your hands, ready to pull away completely if that’s what you needed. “What is it, cyar’ika?”

“Do you want to… slow down?” 

His expression turned to one of caution as he started to lift his weight from you. You weren’t having it and wound your limbs around him. It took him partially lifting you from the bed before he settled back into place with a sigh. 

“I don’t understand what you mean. Do you want to stop? We don’t have to-”

“No, no,” you rushed to say. “I don’t want to stop, not at all. I just thought we could try taking things a little slower.” 

“Slower,” he repeated, the beginnings of confusion in his dark eyes. 

“Yeah,” you told him, feeling a little foolish. But you had already cut your momentum short, so there was nothing to lose by explaining. “I mean, I’m off tomorrow, and your next ARC training isn’t until tomorrow night. We’re not in a hurry, so maybe we could… you know, take our time. Just to try it.”

An unfamiliar look crossed over Alpha’s face. “I didn’t realize we were rushing before.”

With a start, you recognized the expression: uncertainty. You kissed him, once, then again before pressing smaller kisses to his brow until it smoothed out for you. “That’s fine, Alpha, it really is. Everyone has a different pace they enjoy, one that comes to them naturally. But… well, people tend to be molded by the experiences they’ve had in the past. You’ve told me most of your past experiences were hookups during missions or at 79’s.”

Alpha’s gaze had drifted over your shoulder during your explanation, but it came back with an intensity that almost startled you. “Have I been hurting you?”

“No,” you refused, loud in your vehemence. He glanced away once more, but you cupped his cheek and tilted your head until your eyes met. “Alpha, look at me. You’ve never hurt me. Don’t you think I trust you enough that I would tell you if something didn’t feel good?” 

It wasn’t a rhetorical question, so when he didn’t answer, you tapped your thumb lightly against his cheekbone until he answered: “I know you trust me.”

“Exactly,” you agreed. “Alpha, I have never been anything less than satisfied when we’re together. This isn’t a complaint. I’m just bringing up the possibility of trying something different that we might also enjoy.”

“What exactly do you want to do?” he asked, gaze moving across your face as if he could put together a plan based on your expression alone.

“Well, there are different ways of finding pleasure,” you said slowly. “You can chase it down or you can lure it closer.”

“Neverd’ika,” Alpha sighed, and the fond exasperation in it eased your lingering worries. “I’ve never been any good at riddles. Just tell me what you mean.”

“What if I show you, instead?” you asked, lips curving into a smile at the way Alpha’s hands tightened reflexively around you. 

Even then, he pretended to consider it for a moment. “That would probably work.”

You hummed skeptically, but leaned up to kiss the tip of his nose. Alpha’s brow wrinkled at the move, but his face also broke into a boyish grin so full of delight that it made your chest ache. He reacted with that same smile every time, and you fell a little more in love with him whenever you saw it.

Even so, you managed to wriggle out from under him and hooked a hand under the firm muscle of his bicep. There was no chance you would be able to move him, but he humored you, letting you guide him into place lying on his back, head placed neatly on your two squashiest pillows. 

“Should I still be dressed?” 

It could have been snarky, sarcastic, but Alpha asked the question with such sincerity that it didn’t come off that way. You took a moment to study his sleeping outfit - some loose shorts and a comfortable shirt. It had taken some bartering and a steep bribe to get that outfit to Kamino for him, but it had been worth every credit. “You’re fine as you are.”

Alpha nodded, leaning back into the pillows. If you didn’t know better, you would think he was nervous. You swung a leg over his torso, supporting yourself so that the only part of your body that was making firm contact with him were your lips. 

You made that contact count, though. It was a deep kiss, but you never let it get frantic or out of control. Instead, you kept a regular, soothing rhythm as you hovered over him. It wasn’t until he relaxed into the kiss that you began to lower yourself onto him.

With the height difference between the two of you, your hips hit him far up on the torso. You couldn’t slide down much if you wanted to stay within reach. Still, you made do with what you had, leaning further and further down as your hands began exploring him once more. Alpha was doing the same, stroking your thighs or cupping the weight of a breast in one large hand.

Eventually, he pulled his lips from yours and gave a huff. “Neverd’ika, I’m gonna have a blood flow problem if I don’t get out of these pants soon. What’s the timeline, here?

“Non-specific,” you told him, sliding further down his body - though you made sure to lift yourself up a little higher when you crossed his hips. You came to a stop when you were perched on his thighs, looking up at him with a calm expression.

Alpha’s expression was decidedly not calm. He grumbled, “Non-specific. Very helpful.”

You watched him closely, waiting for the perfect moment. When he looked up at the ceiling and heaved a sigh, you made your move. Your hands slipped under the waistband of his sleep pants, shucking them down in a single smooth motion and stroking his straining length. 

He took a breath so quickly it was almost a gasp, and he choked on it. “Cyare… For someone who wants to go slow, you’re really pushing things.”

With an impish grin, you licked your palm and wrapped it around him. Alpha groaned, head tilting back once more, but you knew what you were doing. Your grip wasn’t nearly tight enough to do anything but stimulate him. 

“Didn’t-” Alpha paused as his hips thrust beneath you. “Didn’t know you had clearance to torture people."

“Torture seems a little strong,” you denied, sneaking your other hand between his legs so you could toy with his balls. 

“Disagree,” Alpha ground out, and you could see the muscles straining in his arms as he curled his fists into the bedsheets. “Seems like I’m the only one getting this kind of treatment.”

“Hmm…” you drew out, watching with satisfaction as Alpha’s abs quivered when you incrementally tightened your grip. “That’s true, but I never said you couldn’t touch me. Just because you haven’t so far…”

Alpha tipped his head down to look at you with a disbelieving look on his face. You took the opportunity to lower your head and lick the very tip of his shaft, disappearing again before he could fully appreciate the sensation.

Then the galaxy shifted. 

Or, you realized a moment later, your galaxy had shifted. Alpha had sat up beneath you, leaving you staring into his face from a scant breath away. You could appreciate that, but he hooked his fingers under the loose-fitting straps of your tank top. As you squirmed at the unexpected sensation of him touching a spot so close to your armpits, Alpha curled his fingers and pulled. 

A moment of pressure across your chest and back, a surprisingly loud tearing noise, and a sudden sense of coolness, then you were bare from the waist up. 

You let out a shocked little gasp, but Alpha fixed you with a stern look. “If you want to keep those shorts, you’d better move.”

When you hadn’t reacted a second later, Alpha’s hand clapped over the spot where the cheek of your ass met the top of your thigh. It didn’t hurt, but the sound was sharp in the otherwise quiet room and it spurred you into action. In a moment, you were off of the bed and dropping your shorts beside approximately one half of your tank top. Alpha took the opportunity to undress as well, tugging his shirt over his head and pulling his pants the remainder of the way down his legs. 

You were momentarily distracted as you watched that, but who could blame you? Alpha never slept in underclothes because, as he claimed, they were too ‘confining’.

He was just as beautiful as ever, and your mouth went dry. You scrambled back onto the bed and pulled him into a voracious kiss. He returned it with fervor, both of you lost in the overwhelming nature of it until Alpha broke away. 

Alpha was breathing hard, but he shook his head slightly. “You want to go slow. I can’t go slow if you do that.”

“Maybe we should save going slow for another time,” you suggested, thrilling in the way his stubble felt against your cheek. 

“No, you wanted this,” Alpha reminded you. 

You laughed, a dry sound that showcased your eagerness rather than your humor. “Are you punishing me?”

“No, unless you want to try that next,” he said, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “But you wanted to go slow. If you want something, I’m going to do what I can to make it happen.”

That would have been intensely romantic if it weren’t so incredibly frustrating. The noise you made could technically be called a whine, but you would never admit it aloud. Alpha chuckled, pressing his forehead to yours as your bodies started easing back from the fever pitch you had worked them to.

When you could take a full breath and release it without groaning, Alpha nudged your nose with his. “So? What’s next in taking it slow, neverd’ika?”

“There aren’t really rules,” you told him. “It’s not like we’re following a battle plan. We do whatever feels good, just without rushing toward an orgasm like we usually do. What do you want to do?”

He paused for a moment, and you could tell from the distance in his eyes that he was carefully considering his answer. “I don’t want you to use your mouth. I can’t- can’t control myself when you do. There’s no taking it slow.”

“That’s fine,” you agreed. “Is kissing okay?"

“Kissing is highly encouraged,” he countered, the corners of his mouth curling for you. Even as he said it, he leaned up to press one to the curve of your collarbone. 

“Good,” you said, voice already a bit shaky. “I have an idea, but I don’t know how you’re going to feel about it.”

“As long as you’re there, cyare, I’m going to feel just fine about it.”

You nodded, a plan taking shape in your mind. You brushed a kiss against Alpha’s temple as you rose up onto your knees and straddled him once more. This time, you let yourself be out of reach of his mouth, focusing on lining yourself up with him. 

Alpha’s breath shuddered out in a sigh as you settled your hips against him, pressing his length against the plushness of your sex. You were ready for him, and you could feel that he was ready for you. You positioned him at the best angle, held him in place, and sank downward. 

The stretch wasn’t painful for you, but your body hadn’t quite managed to get used to Alpha’s. He was physically so much larger than you that you weren’t sure whether you would ever be entirely used to having him inside of you. 

But that didn’t mean that it felt bad. 

Your head tipped back with the intensity of your gasp, toes curling where they were braced against the surface of the bed. Alpha didn’t seem to be breathing as he slowly pressed into you. It wasn’t until your hips settled on his that he breathed at all - making a harsh, guttural sound that left you tightening around him. 

Even after the muscles of your core felt more comfortable around him, you stayed where you were, drawing patterns over Alpha’s stomach and chest with your fingertips. 

When he spoke, Alpha’s voice was tight. “Are you still adjusting, neverd’ika?”

You shook your head. “I’m taking my time.”

Whatever answer he had been expecting, that clearly wasn’t it. His eyes widened slightly and he gave a short, wry chuckle. With a motion of his hand, he settled back against the mattress. “Carry on.”

With a nod and a smile, you did exactly that. Your fingers danced over his skin, and your mouth started to follow - limiting yourself to kisses, as requested. Alpha started doing the same to you, though he stopped trying to lean upward and kiss you when you complained at the way he was disrupting your playtime when he did. 

He was thoroughly engrossed in the patterns he was drawing on your skin, both of you stopping to share a groan and a smile whenever he throbbed in your depths or you involuntarily tightened around him. Time stopped having any meaning at a certain point - you could have shared that experience for moments or hours. It didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that you were together.

Eventually, Alpha’s fingers began to work their way down your torso just as yours began tracing their way down the thin line of hair that trailed down his belly. Your hands met at the place where you were joined. Your fingertips teased at the base of him where you were stretched and Alpha twitched, but he landed the more decisive blow. While you were teasing him, he took the opportunity to give your clit a firm rub. 

You cried out, half in shock and half in pleasure. The feeling of him so deep inside of you had receded slightly, fading in your mind until it was just another piece of background information. But with that teasing reminder, everything came flooding back and you knew your choices were to either start moving or implode from frustration. 

Almost without conscious thought, you were rising up on your knees, trembling at the sensation of Alpha dragging slowly from the clasp of your body. His widened eyes and stuttering breath told you that he was affected just as strongly. 

You would have liked to say that the reason you didn’t allow the mercy of a full thrust was because you were dedicated to the idea of teasing, of drawing out the pleasure until it was all-encompassing. But the truth was that you could only bear to let him halfway out of you before you needed him back and came rushing back down. 

With the last vestiges of your self-control, you managed to keep that pace - slow withdrawal and an equally slow return - but you were starting to feel a little desperate. 

Alpha clearly felt the same way, shifting uncomfortably beneath you and looking as if he couldn’t figure out exactly what to do with his hands. In the end, he used them to break you entirely: one teasing your clit at the bottom of every stroke and the other cupping your breast, thumb feathering across your nipple.

It was his voice that ripped the last of your control away, though. “Mesh’la. My cyare. So beautiful for me. So soft. So perfect.”

You stared down at him for a moment, feeling like he was impossibly far away. It was as if the inside of your head were steaming with the heat you were producing together, fogging over like the inside of a transparisteel pane. Alpha’s eyes met yours, and your sight suddenly sharpened almost unbearably. You could see every scar on his face, the dusting of stubble forming over his jaw and chin, and - most importantly - the soft emotion that filled every bit of him. 

“I- I can’t-” you choked out, watching Alpha’s expression shift toward concern, but he was as overwhelmed as you were when you slammed yourself down on him. You made matching noises of pleasure and you began to ride him in earnest. Any further plans for a slow and luxurious journey to orgasm were tossed aside as your hips found the rhythm your body was demanding. 

Alpha didn’t leave you to do all of the work, either. No, he had planted his feet on the mattress, his knees rising behind you at a steep slope. His hands gripped your waist firmly and you were glad - his hold on you was the only thing keeping you in place as his hips began to thrust in counterpoint to your rhythm, pushing up into you so deeply that you almost stopped.

Almost. 

Somehow, your weak knees and trembling thighs didn’t keep you from moving. If anything, your body was holding itself upright through sheer force of will alone. There was no way you were going to stop. You could collapse after you came. 

Alpha’s thrusts were still in counterpoint to yours, and the shared rhythm was threatening to pull you under too fast. “Are you cl- close?” 

“Close,” Alpha agreed through gritted teeth, a look of intense concentration on his face. “Not quite…”

Your hands were already planted on his chest to help support some of your weight. It didn’t take much to move to his nipple and pinch it. Alpha didn’t especially care for pain in the bedroom - he said he experienced too much of it from the galaxy at large, and that made sense to you - but he had also said that he was willing to experiment, especially when he was so close to orgasm that pain was pleasure and pleasure was pain…

Your experiment paid off, the results immediate and spectacular: Alpha’s face tensed, a hoarse shout escaping him. His hips thrust upward so hard and deep that your knees left the bed. It felt like you stayed there, balanced on his hips for an eternity, but it was impossible to tell time when your body and the universe were simultaneously exploding.

With the limited amount of sight you still possessed, you watched Alpha gasp through his orgasm, body shuddering under and against and inside of yours. He was beautiful - well, he always was - but especially so when he was overwhelmed with pleasure. Alpha’s face was taut with it, but you knew that expression would slacken as he came down from his peak, growing peaceful in a way he didn’t manage even in sleep. 

In the meantime, you lost yourself in the flood of sensation, relishing every spasm and squeeze of your body around his. Sometimes, this seemed like the only real clarity you had. The rest of the universe could fall to pieces, but the only things that would matter were the way Alpha made you feel and whether you could make him feel the same. 

You weren’t entirely aware of when you had slumped forward, sprawling across Alpha’s chest with him still buried inside of you. All you knew was that you were warm and sleepy and safe, his arms wrapped around you as you listened to the steadily slowing beat of his heart under your ear. 

“I think you were right, neverd’ika,” Alpha said eventually. 

The sound of his voice brought you closer to full awareness again, though your eyes were starting to ache. “About what?” 

“Taking our time,” he told you. As you glanced up, he hooked an arm behind his head, supporting it so he could comfortably look down at you. “I don’t know that I want that every time, but I enjoyed it. I definitely want to do that again. Soon.”

“I can confidently agree to that,” you answered, smiling. Looking up at him made you shift, which pulled his softening length from you. The sequence of events left you wincing at the sensation of fluids slipping out of you. “Right now, I think I need to get cleaned up.”

“Let me help,” Alpha requested. 

You squinted at him. “I guess you can? How exactly-? Ah!”

In a moment, he had grabbed you around the shoulders and under the knees, swung his lower half out of the bed, and stood. It was nearly too fast for you to follow, especially considering how tired you were after all of the exertion. From your perspective, you were suddenly much further up in the air and moving rapidly toward the refresher. 

“You good?” Alpha asked, quirking a brow as he glanced down at you. 

You nodded, but started to laugh when you peeked down past the edge of his shoulder. “I forgot you tore my shirt. I liked that one!”

“You know what you did,” he reminded you, turning on the lights with his elbow rather than setting you down. “I feel like it was a fair trade.”

“Of course you do; it wasn’t your shirt!” It might have been a legitimate complaint, but you were still laughing. From Alpha’s unimpressed look, he didn’t believe for a moment that you were being serious. You continued anyway. “What am I supposed to sleep in now?”

Alpha gave you a long look, one that swept over all of you… though it lingered in a few specific places. “Dunno if you should wear anything. Seems like it might be freeing to stay like this tonight.”

“I guess it would make things easier tomorrow morning, too,” you mused.

With a surprised glance at you, Alpha finally lowered you to stand on your own feet. As he turned to wet a washcloth, he muttered loud enough for you to overhear, “Who says you can’t teach civvies to think critically?”

---

Author's Note - Smut? On Christmas? If I were to guess, that's probably one of the oldest internet traditions. Here's hoping this time of year has been good for you! If it hasn't been good, I hope it hasn't been actively bad, at least.

As a note for all the super nerds like me, the title of this chapter is not a real Mando'a phrase. It literally means, "Long Enjoy" since there is no official term for savor or any close synonyms. The Mandalorian culture doesn't seem to be big on slowing down, so it was challenge to build something that made up the vibe I wanted.

Thank you for reading, happy holidays, and I'll see you soon!

[doubly-magic]

PSA

EVERYONE BE CAREFUL. ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN PHISHING SITE (first link)

(the link is purple bc i clicked on it to get the link w/o special characters to report to various phising page report places).

the page leads to what appears to be the normal archive page, w/ the popup about the privacy policy & everything, with the url https://xn--iao3-lw4b.ws/media DO NOT LOG IN. THEY ARE HERE TO STEAL YOUR LOGIN CREDENTIALS. LOOK AT URLS BEFORE ENTERING ANY PERSONAL INFO.

STAY SAFE ON THE INTERNET GUYS!!

please reblog to spread this warning!!

[orangez3st]

And Suddenly We're Parents

ARC Alpha-17 × F!Reader

✢ 𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 ✢ ↤ Prev | Next ↦

✧ Prompt: #10) Red eyes

✧ Summary: You've planned with your husband for no baby yet, but Alpha comes home from work with one.

✧ Tags & Warnings: modern au, accidental unexpected child acquisition, said child is our most favorite clone, leaving babies to strangers (pls don't do that), married couple unready for a baby, established marriage, domestic fluff

✧ Word Count: 2.1k

✧ A/N: I'm sorry you have a comedy show title kinda thing for a fic title because atm I ran out of title ideas. It does have a touch of happiness tho, as this fic goes ✨ so this is my first A17 fic and tenth entry for Sicktember 2025! Enjoy this domestic one vode 💛🥰

Main Masterlist | Read on AO3 | dividers by me

“Ma'am, please, you want me to call the emergency services for you—”

“No! Please don't.” The woman frantically reaches out to him, as if to prevent his hand from reaching into his pocket for his phone. Alpha hasn't moved any of his limbs and inch. “Just—just take him. Take a look at him. A good look.” Fog comes out of her mouth at her panted breathing. She's in so much pain, he can see so much in her frantic and pleading eyes. “Please.”

Alpha hisses a breath, and finally dares himself a look at the baby in his arms, bundled in thick soft blankets. The woman had thrust it into his arms without any warning, nor he with any prior knowledge of holding a baby properly. But the little thing coos at him, a tuft of blond hair peeking out of his hood and one scrawny hand out of the blanket.

He doesn't know what to do with this. First thing and only thing on his mind as soon as the baby is in his arms is you you you. He needs your help.

“He's a beautiful, healthy baby boy,” the woman mutters. She's shivering, as if from the autumn night chill. Or perhaps grief or parting. She sniffles. “But he can't live with me. His father isn't a good man. But I can't just walk out of his life.” There's a pause. Alpha watches her closely, and then her eyes shift to something else on his hand. “You're married.”

His wedding band. “Yes I am.” He consciously attempts to clench his hand but remembers that he'd be clutching the baby and hurt the little one. “Wife at home.”

“Good life?” she asks, eyes brimming with tears although her lips smile a little. Somberly.

“Yes.” Alpha refuses to provide any further than that.

Frayed strands of blond hair escape her thick shawl. She’s about to step back and leave them there, if not for the longing that remains in her eyes. Standing just several feet away, she looks at the bundle in his arms. “I named him Rex.”

“And… Last name?” Alpha thinks it's important.

“No.” She shakes her head. “Not my husband's. He can't have that disgrace. He's yours entirely.”

She's shivering again, only this time it's not from the chill. Her arms caging her person as if shielding herself from either simply the parting grief or about to rip the baby away from him and go home thinking it's the worst decision ever to exist. If the latter happens, for the first time in his life Alpha would be unsure if it's safe that way.

“I don't want him to live inside a foster system,” she mutters, sniffling again. A loud sigh escapes her dry lips as he just stands there, and then she drops a diaper bag—it’s as big as his gym bag. “Take him home with you. I packed everything, and I mean everything—I took every baby thing I've got from my home because my husband loves to break them and—and that I won't have my boy with me anymore.” She swallows audibly, and hugs herself again. Refusing to touch her child she birthed that if she does she'd never let go. “He's yours now. And your wife's.”

The weight settles inside him now that she mentions you. “We've never had a child before—”

“Then he's a gift from God,” she cuts him off. “I put bottles in the bag. Thank you, sir. Good night.”

Not even a goodbye for her child.

Who is now his.

And with that the lady disappears into the night, small steps and body vibrating with grieved sobs she rounds the corner to never be seen again. The loneliness strives as Alpha just stands there in the middle of the pavement, the hour already late and the streets scarce of any vehicle or people. Work demands him to grind into late shifts. Cold bites into him, and the baby in his arms shifts. Rex isn't sleeping. The boy's been too calm to the point that Alpha grows concerned. Maybe the kid didn't feel the love he deserves at his previous home.

He knows he should call the police and child protection services.

But that night, he drives home. One hand on the wheel, and one arm clutching the baby close to his body. He turns up the heat inside his car, but he figures that natural body heat would be preferred.

He hasn't called you yet. Stupid of him, but you could be sleeping. The entire out of the blue arrangement is befuddling his thoughts and blunting his good instincts already. A child. A baby, at that. Possibly two months old at most. Still so tiny and vulnerable. Along the drive, he risks a long glance to make sure that he supports Rex's neck and back of head.

He isn't ready. You aren't ready. Both of you have had the discussion already.

The driveway of your home comes into view, and he parks the car ever so carefully. It takes twice the usual duration. For a moment, Alpha sits there in silence, the diaper bag in the passenger seat and the baby in his arms, and the weight of the situation to explain to you eventually. He just accepts someone's baby—someone who doesn't want the little one anymore when he knows neither you or him are ready for it yet.

His feet drag heavily to the front porch. Diaper bag and his laptop bag slung on each shoulders, Alpha's hand dives into his pocket for his own duplicate of house key. The foyer lights are off. He assumes you've slept already, but he needs to wake you even if he doesn't like it at all. He hates to disturb your rest, first and foremost.

But there you are, situated and comfy on the couch, a book in hand and a steaming cup of coffee on the table, next to your idle laptop. You look up at him smiling, despite your red eyes, nearly bloodshot, from looking at the screen too long.

“Hey, you're home—what…”

You eye at the bundled baby in his arms. Yeah.

Alpha crosses the living room, drops his bags carefully onto the couch—where you usually help him but you seem to be frozen in shock—and settles next to you with a soft groan of a long day at work and accidental baby acquisition, his trousers-clad leg brushing against your bare one and his body heat permeating from his person.

Your fingers pry away the edge of the blanket. Alpha hears you gasp softly at the clear view of the baby. He still hasn't cried, which is a miracle. He watches your expression soften, and your finger stroking Rex's soft baby cheek. “I don't… get it.”

“Neither do I, love,” Alpha sighs, sinking further into the couch and letting the baby lean onto his body instead of fully supporting him by arms. You rest your head on his shoulder, still softly stroking the baby's cheek. “But here we are. I just… took him in. Agreed to it. Didn't know what to say.”

Somehow, you're not angry. Yet. You're silent, still processing it. It's not like picking up cat strays off the streets. This is a human baby where mental preparation is needed, and both of you didn't have the time for that. Crib, toys, food when he grows older, altered financial situation, teachings and schools. Everything's dropped right into your hands. Quite literally.

“Let me hold him,” you murmur, and both of you sit up so he can pass the baby onto your arms. You maneuver the bundle almost flawlessly, fumbling just a little, but you manage. You've had baby nephews and nieces before, so you're familiar. Alpha isn't. At all.

“This is Rex.” He watches you rock him gently. “His momma named him.”

“Rex. Definitely a Leo baby.” Your lips slowly bloom into a soft smile. Alpha's breath hitches at the sight. You and the baby in your arms. How could he not want this beautiful view sooner? “Hello, baby,” you softly say, almost whispering, but suddenly Rex lets out an uncomfortable noise. And soon enough, his wails fill the room. “Oh, there he goes.”

“Maybe he's hungry.” Alpha jumps up and takes wide strides toward the diaper bag. “There's bottles in here.”

You’ve stood up, attempting to calm Rex down by shushing and rocking him more. “Is it cold?” you ask.

“Yeah. They're inside this cooler bag.”

“Take one and run it under hot water in the sink just until lukewarm to the touch.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

He moves swiftly. The wails are scaring him, in all honesty. Because what if Rex is not hungry? Maybe a change of diaper? What if he's sick? What if he's sick because he was out in the chill too long before he got inside the car? Babies Rex's age are still quite vulnerable.

He breathes deeply. The bottled milk is already warming under the hot water. It's worth a try first.

“Thank you,” you utter in relief once he pushes the lukewarm bottle into your palm. You squeeze a few drops into your hand to test the temperature before feeding it to Rex. His wails cease, leaving only coos and whimpers as he sucks, you holding the bottle upright. “Oh, he's calming down. He is hungry.” Alpha is peering behind your shoulder, so you turn easily to give him a peck on the cheek. “Good instincts.”

Alpha hums, setting aside his creeping concerns to the side for now and wraps his arms around your waist from behind. “His momma said he can't live at their home anymore. Violent dad or something. She didn't say, but it was implied.”

You don't say anything, instead focusing on how Rex is eagerly drinking. Your body slowly relaxes into your husband's embrace. “This is big, Alpha,” you finally mutter.

“I know.” Eyes shut, he places a lingering kiss on your jaw. You can feel his breath on your skin, the rhythm and how his chest rises and falls against your back calming you down. “But we can tackle it together. We should.”

You hum in agreement. He can still sense the uncertainty within you. The unpreparedness. Your discussion about not wanting to have a child yet is already thrown out of the window the moment Alpha accepted Rex in his arms. But now; discovering Rex's undeserving life at his previous home, how could you reject him even after your husband has brought him to yours? Yours is certainly much peaceful and full of love. Your love for Alpha doesn't waver, and vice versa.

“You're usually in bed by this hour,” your husband says lowly, his lips moving against your shoulder.

You sigh. “I know.”

“So why are you still up?”

“Reports, had a headache looking at stats so I took a break to read something else. Waiting for you,” you list, sinking into his embrace further when his arms tighten around your waist.

“You have coffee, too.”

“Mhm.”

“I'd be home not that long.” There's a break in his playful tone, but he buries his face into your neck again. “I'm sorry. Sounds like it's your fault, which isn't.”

“No, no need for that. I get it. You didn't know what to do.” You wish you could turn your head to place a reassuring kiss on his lips at that moment. “Which is very unusual of you, but hey, whaddya know? You don't get babies dropped into your hands every day.”

His chest rumbles with quiet laughter, aware and knowing that Rex has fallen asleep in your arms.

“10/10 baby hold,” you continue, grinning. “Didn't know you had that in you, love. You're an amazing daddy already.”

Alpha stiffens. He loosens his grip around you to look for the genuineness in your eyes, and there it is. Your smile makes your cheeks glow, and it's like he's falling in love with you all over again.

“Didn't know I needed to hear that.” His voice is husky as he utters it to you, his concentration splits in half between claiming your lips almost hungrily. “Maybe we should make one ourselves.”

You whine. “Please, not tonight. You're stressing me out already. Our hands are full for, like, a couple years forward.” You raise your arms pointedly. “We’re having this little one for now.”

Alpha chuckles deeply, giving you one last kiss before going to cross the next thing on his to-do list, which is shower. “Fine by me,” he grins, “Can still watch you transform into a great mom.”

Thanks for reading! Taglist is moved to event masterlist.

A/N: You can request for x reader in my askbox! If you're interested in my clone x reader oneshots you can sign up as well to be tagged of future works. (Link provided ⬆️)

[wanderinginksplot-writes]

Gar Cyare Chapter Twenty-Seven

Ongoing Alpha-17 x fem!reader fic

Word Count: 3,900

Warnings: Discipline, unfair blame, Kaminoan nonsense, work stress, goodbyes, references to past major character death.

Previous | Next | Masterlist

---

Bajur (The Raising and Nurturing of Children)

You scanned over the transmission a final time before you used the secure comlink to send it. 

By this point, you were fairly sure that you had the whole thing memorized down to the punctuation, but who could say? You might find a typo or a poorly-worded sentence this time through. And if you didn’t check, you would send it with the typo or poorly-worded sentence and then where would you be?

Realistically, still in a good place, but you wanted to do everything you could to make sure that it was perfect.

You had been going back and forth with Sentient Rights for weeks now. That had been all the time you could beg from Jaiss and the Senate. The final draft of the report was due that day. In just a few hours, in fact. You wanted to have this transmission sent off before that. 

The final draft of the report would be sent from the Kaminoans’s secure comms system. It would bounce between transmission stations, using warships as additional transmission points whenever possible. In a matter of hours, if not minutes, Jaiss would receive the report and give it a final proofreading and formatting check before sending it to the Senate for study and eventual inclusion in the archives of the war. 

Granted, thanks to Ordo and Mereel, you could send private transmissions through the same channels, so your final bid for a Kamino-based position with Sentient Rights should arrive long before the larger report file. 

They had been kind so far, and the offers they made had been promising. You were nervous, but only because of the idea of such a large change. And, of course, that they hadn’t offered an official contract yet. But Nora Czajak had assured you that was incoming. Since she had worked with SR in the past and considered herself to be your personal legal counsel, she had agreed to look over the contract before you signed it, and was putting additional pressure on the group to make you an offer soon. 

With the report sent in, timing felt more important than ever. Jaiss said it would take her the better part of a week to proofread, then a few more days to format the report. You wouldn’t officially be pulled off of Kamino until after the Senate had read it and decided if they wanted more information, but still. The time you had left on Kamino as a Republic administrator was shrinking rapidly. 

It felt a bit like flinging yourself from a cliff, you thought, allowing your mind to wander as you finally send the transmission to Sentient Rights. All you could do was hope that someone would catch you before gravity smashed you to bits.

—

“What happened?” Alpha demanded, walking into Tavi Ke’s office. 

Tavi Ke turned to look at him. He looked unimpressed even by Kaminoan standards, head swaying back and forth disapprovingly as he towered over the four cadets standing in front of him. 

“These four clones were fighting with standard troopers,” Tavi Ke announced, something like irritation hiding in his polite tone. “The incident occurred in the training area.” 

Alpha shot them a glare. Hunter ducked his head, Tech stared at the floor, Crosshair looked away, and Wrecker rubbed at the back of his neck. 

“And what are you going to do with them?” Alpha asked. 

“They will be punished, naturally,” Tavi Ke told him. “I am not certain what concern it is of yours, Captain. They are not training to be ARC troopers.”

“Not yet,” Crosshair muttered mutinously. Alpha frowned at him so fiercely that Cross broke eye contact again. 

“I have worked with this group in the past.” Alpha crossed his arms over his chest. “With the understanding that they wouldn’t pick fights with the standard clone troopers.”

“We did not start the fight,” Tech explained. 

“Several observers state otherwise,” Tavi Ke interrupted. “And their injuries bear out the truth of their claims. You will be sent to work with the maintenance teams. Not precisely what we had in mind for your enhanced genes, but if you refuse to follow proper procedures in the training areas, you must be removed from them entirely.” 

A warning chill ran up Alpha’s spine. The Kaminoans often sent unruly cadets to work in support positions for a period of time. It reinforced to the cadets that they wanted to be with their brothers on the front lines of the war. The Fett gene had been twisted enough that no vod would voluntarily let his brothers take on the risks alone. 

But the long-necks didn’t like the Bad Batch. There was too much risk of them deciding to keep the boys in the maintenance department. And if they did, it wouldn’t be long before some kaminii or another took offense at the idea of their specially-created clones serving in such an ignominious position. When Kaminoans were offended or embarrassed, they tended to remove whatever had caused the offense. 

Alpha had no doubts about how they would remove the Bad Batch. 

Carefully hiding the entirety of that thought process, Alpha gave a considering hum. “What if I took on their punishment myself?” 

Tavi Ke shook his head, but there was enough of a hesitation to give Alpha hope. “You have your own duties to fulfill, Captain.” 

“Not at the moment,” Alpha countered. “The next group of ARCs won’t arrive for training for at least another week.” 

Conveniently, that was the truth. There was unrest among the Separatist systems for some reason, and it was impacting the trade routes and hyperspace lanes. It wasn’t particularly safe for trainees to get to Kamino right now, and they were needed in other places in the galaxy besides. 

After a moment of silent consideration, Tavi Ke admitted, “I am not against the idea of you spending your downtime wisely, Captain.”

“Then we agree,” Alpha said, unwilling to question something that was going so clearly - and unexpectedly - in his favor. “We’ll get started immediately. With me, men.” 

Alpha turned smartly on his heel, feeling more than seeing the way the Batch fell in behind him, but Tavi Ke’s voice came from behind him again. “What exactly do you intend to do for their punishment?” 

“A mixture of physical exertion, mental effort, and reinforcement of the rules of Kamino.” The answer rolled from Alpha’s tongue effortlessly. It was, after all, exactly how he punished ARCs-in-training who broke the rules too egregiously for Alpha to look the other way. “Trust me, it will be unpleasant for all involved. They might even learn something.”

“That would be impressive,” Tavi Ke agreed. If Alpha didn’t know better, he would think he detected a hint of irony in the Kaminoan’s smooth tone. “Very well. You are all dismissed.” 

Alpha didn’t wait to hear anything else, marching as rapidly as possible from the room and trusting that the Bad Batch would follow. 

Fortunately, the cadets knew better than to speak while they were still in earshot of anyone else. When they were safely in private, though, they all relaxed out of the at-attention postures they had taken on during the trip up to that point. 

“Thanks, Captain,” Hunter said, wearing a small smile. “I wasn’t sure how we were going to get out of that one.” 

“We would not have,” Tech supplied. “Tavi Ke made it quite clear that his previous warning would be our last.”

“And what makes you think you got out of anything?” Alpha asked, watching the wary looks sparked by his casual question.

“So you are going to punish us for fighting with regs.” Crosshair folded his arms, looking as displeased as Alpha felt. “Should have known you weren’t really on our side.” 

“The captain is always on our side,” Wrecker disagreed. “What’s going on, Cap?” 

“What’s going on,” Alpha emphasized, “is that all of you picked a fight with a group of standard troopers in a place where everyone in Kamino could see it.” 

“We did not start the fight!” Tech insisted. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Alpha said flatly. “You boys have always had good heads on your shoulders, but you apparently forgot that the Kaminoans don’t like you.” 

“You don’t need to remind us,” Wrecker muttered.

Crosshair’s glare turned absolutely venomous. “And we don’t need a speech.” 

“Apparently, I do need to remind you,” Alpha told Wrecker, turning his attention to Crosshair before he added, “And this speech is going to be the most pleasant part of your day, so you better enjoy it.” 

When there were no further protests, Alpha took a deep breath and put on his most impassive expression. “The Kaminoans don’t like you. They consider your existence a failed experiment. They are looking for any reason to send you somewhere dark and quiet where they don’t have to see you and - more importantly - where the rest of the galaxy will never see what you can do. You cannot give them an excuse to do that.”

He let his tone and face soften. “I know you didn’t start the fight with the other cadets. I know they look for reasons to bother you. I know you’re only responding to what they do. But it doesn’t matter. You’re always going to have to work a little harder to be on equal footing with them. You can’t just be as good as standard troopers - you have to be better.”

“We will be,” Hunter insisted, lifting his chin stubbornly. “We are.”

“Good,” Alpha agreed with a firm nod. “Because I’m going to put you through your paces this afternoon and a standard cadet would never be able to keep up.” 

“This afternoon?” Tech repeated. “Not immediately?” 

As Wrecker elbowed Tech, muttering something uncomplimentary, Alpha shook his head. “We will begin this afternoon. Right now, I have a lunch date, and you’re all going to join me.”

—

You had managed to beat Alpha to the cafeteria. You weren’t exactly surprised by that. 

You had been staring anxiously at your comlink for hours. You hadn’t gotten any response from Jaiss or Sentient Rights and it was making you nervous. It was the early hours of the morning on Coruscant, so you hadn’t really expected a response, but it would have been nice to get something more than the acknowledgement that the first files of the report had been successfully transmitted.

Fortunately, Alpha’s arrival pulled you out of the spiral you were working yourself into. You smiled up at him when he settled beside you at the table, then smiled wider when you saw the four young cadets who accompanied him. 

“Hey, guys!” you greeted happily. “How are you? I haven’t seen you in a while.”

Alpha gave a loud scoff and the cadets all ducked their heads sheepishly. Instead of answering you, they began eating as you watched in concern. 

You managed to let the silence lie for all of thirty seconds before you couldn’t stand it anymore. Carefully pitching your voice to be inaudible to everyone else, you asked Alpha, “Am I allowed to ask what’s going on?” 

“Ask whatever you like,” Alpha agreed easily, jabbing a fork toward the kids. “They can explain it to you.” 

The cadets exchanged sidelong glances while you waited with increasing nervousness. At last, Hunter - who had truly grown into his implied role of leader in the past few months - spoke up. 

“We were in the training area,” he began. “Even if they don’t want to send us out on missions, the Kaminoans like us to train with the standard cadets. One of them decided that he didn’t like the look of us and took a swing.” 

“At me, to be precise,” Tech interjected. 

Hunter nodded. “At Tech. We couldn’t let them get away with that, so we stepped in.” 

“Stepped in?” You frowned at him. “What did you do?” 

“I held everyone else back!” Wrecker volunteered immediately. “When the other regs tried to back him up. Cross helped.”

“The training area has all kinds of things lying around,” Crosshair said, taking an immense interest in his lunch tray. “Easy to throw. And I’ve never had trouble hitting a moving target.”

Hunter nodded. “And I pulled the cadet away before Tech and I incapacitated him.” 

You glanced at Hunter in alarm, but Tech explained before you could asked for specifics. “Hunter hit him in the jaw. When he tried to retaliate, I administered a mild electric shock.” 

“You-? Um, wow. Sounds like you really… uh. Really took care of things,” you stammered weakly. 

Alpha snorted. “Took care of things well enough that the kaminii tried to put them on permanent maintenance duty.” 

“Permanent-? That’s ridiculous!” you snapped. “They were defending themselves from an attack by another cadet! The Kaminoans should be punishing the other boy or all of them for fighting, but certainly not just the victims.” 

“They shouldn’t have fought,” Alpha argued. “Especially not when there were so many enemies around them. It was a stupid way to handle things.” 

‘Enemies’ seemed like too strong a term for bullying-prone cadets, but you were busy being shocked and irritated that Alpha was siding with the Kaminoans. “They’re children!” 

“They’re not children, they’re clones,” Alpha said harshly. “Besides, they’re hardly young anymore. For clones, all of them are nearly through their teen development.” 

That shocked you enough to serve as a distraction. You had noted several times that the kids were growing up faster than you could believe, but it always managed to take you by surprise. You hadn’t seen them for a while, so the changes were all the more noticeable. Hunter’s voice had dropped nearly a full octave since you had met him. Wrecker was taller than you by a long shot, and threatening to overtake Alpha’s towering height. There was an unfamiliar shadow across Tech’s jaw and upper lip. Crosshair’s shoulders were growing broad enough to soften the beanpole look he had worn since you knew him.

“They’re practically grown, but they’re making mistakes like they’re still kids,” Alpha continued, waving his fork agitatedly. “They have to learn to be smarter or they’re never going to make it.” 

You opened your mouth to continue the debate, but closed it again without saying anything. Throughout the entire conversation, none of the kids had said anything in argument or in their own defense. You knew they admired Alpha to the point of idolization, but surely they would have spoken up if they didn’t want to learn any of the various things he was threatening to teach them. 

And so you sat back, finished your lunch, and resolved to let the situation work itself out however it needed to.

—

When they had safely reached the commando training area, Alpha turned back to face the kids. There were no commando groups training just then, and the silence was thick as he waited for one of them to ask the first question.

He wasn’t even slightly surprised when Tech was the first to grow curious. 

“Why are we here?” he asked, adjusting his goggles slightly. “I would think our privacy would be more guaranteed in the ARC trooper training area.” 

“True, but you’ve spent plenty of time in the ARC training area,” Alpha agreed dryly. “I figure you saw it enough with the original group of trainees."

“So you’re just trying to throw us off our game,” Crosshair summarized.

“No,” Alpha disagreed. Irritation still prickled uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach, but he pushed it aside far enough to speak with the cadets like the full-grown troopers they were rapidly becoming. “It’s time that we had a real conversation about tactics. You’re all old enough for it by now.” 

Each of the kids seemed intrigued by that, drawing slightly closer as if to make sure they would hear whatever Alpha decided to say to them. 

“I think it would work out best for all of you if you worked more like commandos than ARCs.”

Wrecker frowned. “You hate commandos.” 

“Yes, they’re all ori'buyce, kih'kovid,” Alpha agreed, noting the smirks that spread across the Batch’s faces. Between the ARCs and Alpha, the kids had been around often enough to pick up on the Mando’a that was spoken around them. ‘All helmet, no head’ was a fairly simple one, but expressive enough to suit Alpha’s purposes. 

“But they’re effective,” he continued, bringing the mood back down to seriousness. “You all think like ARCs right now. You can work alone and that’s an important skill, good to have. It could very well save your life someday. But you don’t have to work alone. You have each other, and you should use that. Each of you are strong and capable on your own, but you work best as a team.” 

“What are you saying, Captain?” Hunter asked. “We should stop practicing the skills you taught us?” 

“No,” Alpha denied after giving Hunter the look his inane question deserved. “But you need to pick up some new skills to complement the ones you learned back then. You should spend more time working on logistics. Figure out what battle strategies play to your strengths as a group.” 

He surveyed all of them in turn, noting with satisfaction that their postures were straight and strong, their gazes sharp and intelligent. They were turning out well, kark what the Kaminoans thought. 

“While the kaminii think I’m making you run drills, we’re going to be doing harder work than that,” he explained. “I’ll train you like commandos.” 

“Do you-” Hunter cut himself off to clear his throat awkwardly. “Do you know how to train commandos, sir?” 

“I know how to train you, and that’s what matters.” Alpha crossed his arms over his chest. “Besides, this will be more… collaborative than what you’ve seen so far. I’ll throw every combination of aru’e at you that I can think of. After each new type of attack, we’ll analyze what went wrong and figure out how we could do things better in the future. Sound fair?” 

“Yes, sir!” 

“Then let’s get started.”

—

“Hey, we need to talk.” 

Those words always made you nervous, and this was no exception. The fact that they were coming from Zackra Trem instead of anyone else didn’t make them any easier. 

You weren’t exactly friends with the prickly female Weequay - mostly because you didn’t think she would ever allow anyone to claim something as intimate as friendship with her - but you had definitely grown closer since you and Alpha had started dating. She and Alpha spoke often as trooper trainers on Kamino. Since you were around Alpha more often than not, it put you in near proximity. Besides, she still trained you in self-defense occasionally, always up for a sparring session when you felt like you needed the practice. 

You had never officially told her that you and Alpha were together and you were certain Alpha hadn’t either, but she clearly knew. Some of her comments hadn’t exactly been subtle.

“Sure,” you agreed eventually, motioning her off to one side of the busy hallway. Considering that the cafeteria was serving dinner, it would empty out soon, leaving you with something close to privacy. “Is everything okay?” 

“Why wouldn't it be?” Trem asked, giving you a comically suspicious look. “Just wanted to let you know that I'm getting out of here.” 

You stared at her, uncomprehending. “Out of where, exactly?” 

She gestured vaguely around the room, light glinting off of her armored shoulders. “Here. Kamino. I'm leaving.” 

“What?” Your voice was breathless and it was little wonder; you felt like she had snuck a hit past your guard. “Did something happen? Did someone say something to you? I’ll go have a word with them-” 

You cut yourself off as Trem gave a loud snort. She was half a head taller than you, her leathery skin and bony facial spikes presenting a formidable warning not to mess with her. Even her clothing was woven with scraps of metal and transparisteel, operating as another warning as well as flexible armor.

Your face heated as you met Trem’s amused gaze. “I guess I got carried away. I know you out of anyone here can take care of yourself. Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Trem said, clapping a hand to your shoulder. “It’s always good to know when someone has your back. But no, no one said or did anything. It’s just time to go.” 

You mulled over that for a long moment. The concept was so opposite everything you were trying to do with the report and Sentient Rights that it seemed utterly incomprehensible to you. “How do you know?” 

Trem gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Just a feeling. Gut instinct. You gotta trust it, especially when it’s talking as loud as mine is.”

You tried to imagine that. Your gut instinct was insisting that you belonged on Kamino with Alpha, but you respected Trem’s well-honed instincts to lead her in the right direction. 

“I understand,” you lied. “When do you leave?” 

Trem checked her wrist chrono. “About ten minutes from now.” 

“What? What if I hadn’t run into you?” You shook your head petulantly. “Would you have said goodbye?” 

“Calm down,” she chuckled. “You come this way every day to meet Alpha in the mess. I knew I would find you here. I know how you civvies are about people saying goodbye.”

You sighed, exasperated. Trem could be frustrating, bordering on thoughtless sometimes, but you could already tell how badly you would miss her. 

Apparently, Trem misread the sadness on your face as worry, because she rested her hand on your shoulder again. “Don’t worry, verd’ika. You can handle yourself now. What you can’t do, Alpha can teach you.” 

“What am I teaching her?” Alpha asked, stopping beside you. 

“Whatever I haven’t,” Trem explained vaguely. “I’m headed off-planet.” 

“Permanently?”

Trem gave a short nod. “It’s time to go.”

You watched as Alpha processed that. After a long moment, he nodded back to her and stuck out his hand to shake hers. “Good luck out there, Trem.” 

She grasped his hand. “Thanks, Alpha.”

And then Zackra Trem was walking away. When she turned a corner, you looked at Alpha, unable to help the way one of your brows was raised. 

“What?” Alpha asked, catching sight of your expression. 

You shrugged. “Trem was the closest thing you have to a friend on Kamino. I would have thought you’d be more upset to see her go.” 

“It’s a Mandalorian thing,” Alpha explained, slowly ushering you toward the cafeteria. “People leave when they have to. You just trust that they'll live long enough for you to meet them again. It doesn’t mean you don’t worry about them.” 

“I guess that makes sense,” you agreed reluctantly. You aimed a smile over your shoulder at him. “But if anyone can take care of themself, it’s her.” 

Alpha shook his head, eyes distant. “That doesn’t matter. Anyone can die, no matter how smart or tough or well-trained.”

You turned your face back toward the hallway in front of you, but your mind was a thousand miles away. Echo’s death had been hard on Alpha. You would bet it was why he had been so tough on the cadets earlier. 

As subtly as you could managed, you reached out and snagged Alpha’s hand in yours, towing him forward until he was walking closer beside you. “Then we’ll just trust that she has the knowledge and skills to survive until we see her again.” 

Alpha squeezed your hand, offering a small smile when you looked up at him.

---

Author's Note - Hey guys! Long time, no see! I apologize for how late this chapter is. The posting schedule is going to be a little strange for a while as I get back on track. Not an excuse, but I'm trying to fight my way out of the worst writing block I've ever had. I haven't written consistently in about four months - something that has quite literally never happened to me.

But! This story is my focus any time I can manage to get something done. I'm working a few chapters ahead, so I should be able to get chapters posted regularly at least until the end of the year.

I will continue adding warnings as we go, but we're getting into some tough-but-necessary plot stuff. I'm trying to write enough happy moments to keep it from being a total slog, but this part of the story is wrapping up, so all those strings have to pull tight to make everything make sense. (Unlike the previous sentence, lol!)

Thank you all for your patience and for continuing to be kind and supportive. I appreciate you more than I can say! I'll see you soon with another chapter - spicy this time. If you don't read those, don't worry! The next plot chapter will be out in about a month. <3

[shinimegami]

[fettsvette]

Where Storms Cannot Reach

After being startled awake by an intense panic attack, Jango Fett provides the solace you so desperately need.

Pairing: Jango Fett x Reader

Words: 1.3k

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Description of a panic attack, mentions of post-traumatic stress disorder

-

Can be found on Archive of Our Own here.

Mando'a terminology

haar'chak - damn it

mesh'la - beautiful

cyar'ika - my darling

cyare - beloved

keldabe - a Mandalorian forehead touch, meant affectionately

-

The storms were always there. 

On Kamino, rain wasn't just weather - it was an intrinsic part of the planet's atmosphere, a language all itself. The ocean world never knew true calm. Even when the fierce winds happened to drop, and the sky calmed and settled into shades of bruised grey, you could still hear it. It unendingly tapped against durasteel walkways, drummed over transparisteel domes, hissed down the sides of launch platforms like it was trying to erode all of Tipoca City itself, one molecule at a time.

You'd grown used to it, or so you'd thought. But this time, something had changed. 

You woke in a cold sweat.

The sterile air of Tipoca City pressed against your lungs like ice. Your bed was too firm, the blankets too thin and scratchy, and the overhead light strips - set to naturally dim during rest cycles - felt too bright even at their lowest setting. You sat bolt upright, gasping, your throat tight. It felt so much like the fabeled 'Force choke' you'd heard whispers of in off-world cantinas time and time again, the calling card of Dark Jedi. Your chest ached with a type of panic that you couldn't name, like your body had remembered something that your brain hadn't quite caught up to yet. Yet another panic attack had claimed you. The sullen atmosphere of life on Kamino had a way of dredging up long-buried memories. The endless seas, the muted sounds of clone cadets chanting and marching in unison on the lower levels of the dome, the reflections in the stark white, polished floors, warped by intense light and the natural anxiety brought on by the never-ending rain and violent storms. You tried to calm down, to breathe. Every technique that you'd read of on the 'Net came flooding back to you - breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth in timed measurements, massaging pressure points, focusing on objects around you that you could see, touch, smell. But the more you tried to focus on these 'grounding' techniques, the tighter your chest became. You finally swung your legs over the side of your bed in an attempt to stand, but your legs were trembling so badly that you knew that they would not be able to support your weight. The panic was mounting now, waves crashing one after the next not only outside your window, but in your chest and in your mind as well. You felt like you couldn't breathe, couldn't think - 

And then the door to your room opened. Not fast, not urgently. Just the smooth, familiar hiss of the sliding panel, as if on any other day. You barely turned your head in time to see him there in the doorway, quietly observing you - Jango Fett. One of the most feared bounty hunters in the galaxy. He was dressed in a sleeveless tunic and loose trousers, his bare feet soundless as he padded across the floor towards you. His dark curls were slightly tousled, as if he'd awoken quickly from a sound sleep, and his expression was alert, focused solely on you.  "Hey," he said lowly. "I heard you cry out. You alright?" You wanted so badly to nod, wanted to pretend you were fine, for his sake. But your body betrayed you, your shoulders shaking, eyes wide, breathing ragged. Jango could sense your distress immediately, and crossed the room in two strides. "Haar'chak..." he muttered, kneeling in front of you before you could stop him. "Another one of those attacks. Okay... it's alright, mesh'la. Look at me."

You couldn't meet his gaze, not at first, but his voice was steady, anchoring. "Eyes on me," he continued gently. "Come on, cyar'ika. You're safe, it's just me... just Jango."

Your vision blurred at the combination of his soothing tone, and your humiliation at him having to comfort you like a small child who's just awoken from a bad dream. "I... I can't..." Your breath hitched, and Jango cut you off. "Yes, you can. I've got you." He cupped the back of your head with one hand, his large, calloused palm warm against your scalp. His other hand wrapped around your wrist, pressing two fingers lightly against your wildly fluttering pulse. "You're in fight mode right now. Adrenal response. Listen... listen to the rain, cyare. The rain, and the sea. Breathe with them." You blinked hot tears away and tried to follow his example.

Inhale.

The ocean roared beyond the walls of the dome.

Exhale. 

The thundering rain drummed against the windows.

Inhale.

Jango's rough, warm hand steadied your trembling wrist.

Exhale.

His breathing was slow, deliberate, calm like a soldier's before the heat of battle. His eyes never left yours. Your panic didn't disappear all at once, but Jango's presence, the feeling of his skin against yours, his voice like rugged honey, held the chaos of your mind at bay like a deflector shield. And slowly, you felt yourself return to your senses. To your room, to your body, to him. 

"Jango..." you whispered, your voice broken and hoarse. He leaned forward, his forehead pressing lightly to yours in a gentle keldabe, grounding you even further. "You're alright," he said again, and this time, it didn't sound like concerned reassurance, it sounded like the truth. "You brought yourself out of it." Your arms moved without thought, reaching for him - not out of desperation now, but to anchor yourself. And he let you. He didn't go stiff when your arms went around his broad shoulders, didn't hesitate when your face pressed into the crook of his neck. His skin was slightly flushed from sleep, sweat-dampened. He smelled like worn leather and the faint salt of Kamino's air filtration system, and it was a comforting scent that you inhaled greedily. Jango's arms came around you in return, slow and firm. One around your waist, the other over your shoulder blades, his strong, blunt fingers rubbing gentle circles there. "I've had nights like this, you know," he murmured, after a long moment of silence. You blinked against his collarbone. "...You?"

"After Malastare, and Galidraan long before that. You don't forget violence like that, even in my profession. It sticks in your chest like debris, makes it harder to breathe. Even more so after Boba arrived." His arms tightened around you. "You're not weak," he said. "Don't you ever think that." You nodded, just barely. There was no sound now but the storm outside and your mingled breathing. He held you there for what felt like hours; constant, solid, fully present. Eventually Jango shifted back just enough to look at you. His brown eyes studied your face - protective, understanding, and something much deeper. "You need sleep," he said simply, starting to rise from his place on his knees at the edge of your bed.  You swallowed, your pulse still thrumming but no longer completely erratic. "I... I don't think I'll be able to." Jango shrugged his shoulders. "I'll stay." He said it like it was nothing, like he had already decided the moment he had walked into your quarters. He stood to his full height and helped you back under the covers - delicately, carefully. A soldier's precision, and a father's steadiness. He pulled the blanket up over your shoulders, then moved to the other side of the bed and sat against the wall. "You don't have to -" you began, but he cut you off with a wave of his hand. "No, I don't. But I want to."

That settled it.  When you nestled back against your pillows again, you felt him shift beside you. Close enough to touch if you needed to, but not pressing; respectful. And when your hand finally crept across the space between you and brushed against his wrist, he didn't hesitate. Jango's fingers closed around yours, firm and solid. The rain continued on outside like it always had and always would, and eventually, you slept again. This time, without fear.

[07x1x4x1]

Your heart plummets as Simon's words begin to register in your brain, and while he stands there—tall and unmoving like the cold statue he is and always has been—you feel like the rug has been pulled from under you, leaving you grappling for leverage.

"It's never been you," he goes on stiffly, pushing the blade deeper into your chest until it punctures your lungs and you gasp for air at the phantom pain.

"Could've never been you," he adds gruffly, lowering his gaze in what you hope is shame.

"Johnny just... gets me. He understands."

—and you don't.

The unspoken words linger in the air like thunder rumbling in the distance after lightning struck.

Your hand trembles as you clutch your chest, struggling to inhale a shaky breath. You've been trying, trying so hard for him for the past four years. Trying to make it work, to fix him. Help him. Love him.

You do love him.

"I love you, Simon," you rasp and it hurts with how dry your throat has gotten. "If you'd just—"

"I don't love you." His words are so cold, so final that it leaves you in physical pain, "I love him. I'd die for him, and I'm done pretendin' with you."

That's the last blow before your knees go weak, all strength leaving you as you reach for the nearest surface with a broken sob; hands bracing on the kitchen table as your arms quale with the effort to keep yourself up.

In your blurry peripherals, you believe to see him shifting towards you before he stops himself, gloved hands balling into tight fists until the leather creaks obscenely.

Fat, salty tears dribble onto the dark, polished wood like a steady downpour; shoulders shaking as you let go and cry.

However, Simon merely bends to pick up his heavy duffel bag with his meagre belonging crammed into it.

[toska-writes]

Heyy could you maybe write another fives x platonic reader your stories are so good I binge read all of them

Wooo I love when I see you all binge reading on my posts!

“Keep your head up”

Read here on ao3: (✩)

Summary: After being rescued from some seppies Fives try’s to help you accept and love your newly acquired scars

Paring: Fives x GN padawan reader (Yes everyone it is PLATONIC)

Warning: Mentions of scars and injuries. Insecurity’s but Fives will make it all better

Word count: 713- and be so proud because I actually proof read

Notes: Don’t worry this is just a hold me over, an appetizer if you will, for a longer fic I plan to write later. Also there could be a part 2 to this with Alpha-17 maybe if your interested

He watched as the rest of his brothers started to exit the ship for their quick supply run on the rainy planet of Kamino, however Fives hung back with a quick nod from his general.

Rain pounded all around him as Fives waited for a moment before he saw your figure walking towards him, you made your way over to him a limp still present in your strides.

Fives or Rex normally volunteered to wait for you since it’s been a slow recovery since your last encounter with the separatist. With much begging Anakin finally let you come back with them on this mission.

And so far Fives could safely say that senators were dicks.

“You ok sir?” Fives asked as you came to a stop next to him.

You gave a small ‘Mhm’ as you kept your gaze trained to your boots. You’ve been getting a lot of that lately and you just wished thing were like they use to be.

Fives planted a firm hand on your shoulder making you glance up for a moment, he wouldn’t say anything but he could tell something was up.

His gloved hand traced over the raise red skin on your face, the stitches helped stop the bleeding but it still looked irritated and gnarly.

“I mean did you see what that senator was wearing? He couldn’t even talk.” Fives quietly spoke to you. You let out a small laugh and rolled your eyes.

“He did look stupid.” You thought back to a few hours ago.

Fives was taken aback almost with the searing white flurry of rage he felt in that moment when a senator made a comment about his commander. His vod’ika. About their appearance.

He looked over to where Jesse was stationed next to him, one of his hands were held in tight fists while the other hovered just over his blaster.

Rex took a step closer to you. If looks could kill the senator would be long gone from all of the men present. Fives didn’t need the force to sense that everyone was livid and Anakin was ready to explode.

“What if people are scared, what if those cadets don’t like me?” Your small question brought him back to reality.

Fives let out a small laugh of his own as you looked at him with wide eyes. Oh how he wished he could erase all the doubt from your mind.

“First off kriff what they think.” Fives brought your face into his hands being carful not to hurt you. His tone became serious and you listened closely.

“Second of all do you know how much respect you’ll get from all those men in there? You saved some of their brothers by getting those scars and your not a shiny nat-born now. Alpha-17 is going to go crazy because that’s what he wants to see in the brothers he trains.” Fives smiled at you as he wiped a tear.

“And it makes you look like a total badass.” He added

You laughed now wiping your eyes with the sleeve of your robe. The pair started to walk off of the ship and through the hanger.

“You think so?” You still spoke unsure.

“Oh of course, I mean you look way more intimidating now. Kinda like Wolffe.” Fives thought about his older brother and commander for the 104th. A shiver shot down his spine.

“I do don’t I.” You looked up to Fives with a smile on your face, a smile he hasn’t seen since the days before that mission. It felt like lifetime ago.

“Just keep your head up.” Fives lightly tapped the underside of your chin. “Everyone’s going to be blown away. Your one of the most skilled people I know. And if they are hooked up on this,” He gestured. “Then clearly they aren’t looking hard enough at you.”

You and Fives walked side by side into the stark white halls of Kamino. The pride he felt for you was through the roof, the familiar bounce in your step returned as met up with the others.

You knew you had Fives and all the other men to make sure you were all right. A personal posse of hype-men at your deposal, and you were forever grateful.

_____________________________________

@arctrooper69 @thereforepizza @padawancat97 @pb-jellybeans @floffytofu

[generic-genny]

Off Guard; A Captain Maze/F!Reader Fic

18 UNDER THE CUT MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

Rating: E

Warnings: Mention of past abuse, grinding, dry-humping, written in third person using female pronouns for the reader, reader has a vagina

Summary: During the war, Maze would have given a thorough thrashing to anyone who had accused him of softness, but here, in the quiet of the night in his bed at Kyrimorut, he was soft.

Tags: @just-some-girl-92 @haloangel391 @thirsty-void @apathetic-catastrophie

Keep reading

[silverskyeline]

ੈ♡˳ imagine you're wearing logans dog tags as you ride him. 18+

you're rolling your hips on him, riding him just how he wants. his firm, calloused hands grip your hips with purpose, digging into your flesh so hard it will surely leave bruises. he wants to leave bruises, evidence of how much he wants you, needs you. growling like a fucking animal as his cock slides in and out of you with ease, each slap of his hips connecting with yours earning soft moans from your lips and rough grunts from his.

he loves staring into your eyes while he fucks you, watching those pretty eyes of yours roll back into your skull - but not tonight. tonight he can't help but be mesmerised by the way his dog tags around your neck bounce each time he thrusts. the soft jingling of the metal fills his ears, adding to the sounds of skin on skin and ragged gasps.

fuck, they looked so good on you. his rough fingers trail across your lower stomach, snaking their way to the tags. the metal around your neck, a sign that he owned you, watching the metal coined with his name slap against your soft skin rhythmically.

"that's it," he yanks the chain suddenly, causing you to gasp and place your hands on his fuzzy chest to steady yourself, "atta'girl. . ." logan coos, as he pumps up into you, meeting your every movement. by now, he knows your wet hole is just aching to be filled. it started aching the moment you crawled into bed beside him.

every. single. night.

and you're his, you know you're his, you've given yourself completely to him. your hand grips around his on the tags as if solidifying this, silently granting him ownership.

logan grins, feeling his cock twitch inside you.

you looked so pretty with his name around your neck.

[wanderinginksplot-writes]

Gar Cyare Chapter Twenty-Six

Ongoing Alpha-17 x fem!reader fic

Word Count: 3700

Warnings: DARK THEMES, claustrophobia, scientific experimentation, themes of dehumanization, heavy themes of grief and survivor's guilt, and references to major character death, angst

Please mind the warnings on this one! Message me if you need a summary instead.

Previous | Next | Masterlist

---

Agol (Flesh)

It took some effort for you to get a deep breath. You had never considered yourself claustrophobic or afraid of oceans, but there was something discomfiting about knowing that a single weakness in the tube or the vehicle would reduce you and Alpha into a fine mist drifting briefly in the ocean currents.

Fortunately, the vehicle came to a gentle stop before you could think too much about the vast amount of water between you and the surface. The sides of the vehicle fell away and the section of tube in front of you slid open. 

You and Alpha exchanged a glance. Wordlessly, you fell back and let him lead the way out of the car itself. He put his helmet on with one hand as he went, and you were willing to bet that he was using the HUD to gather as much information about the area as possible before he moved far enough for you to step out of the car.

At last, he beckoned for you to join him outside of the tube system. You did, peering around curiously. The lab wasn’t lit the way the tube system had been, and the glow of the vehicle’s control panel did little to penetrate through the gloom. You switched on your borrowed headlamp and shone it around the space. 

It was an entryway of some kind, looking extremely like a durasteel foyer. There was a single door set in the durasteel wall opposite the tube’s entrance. Beside the door was a small panel, presumably allowing visitors to enter. The muted glow of the panel’s buttons was the only light in the space. 

“What was the next clue?” 

Alpha’s voice made you jump, but you managed to sound almost collected as you answered, “In the flesh.” 

He shook his head slightly, seeming frustrated. “Makes no sense.” 

“Well, there were two repetitions of the word ‘down’ before that part,” you reasoned. “One ‘down’ was probably for the elevator. That would mean that the other was talking about the tube system itself. Unless you think there’s another station further down?” 

“There is nothing further down,” Alpha answered absently, tapping at the door panel. “This needs a passcode.”

“And you think the passcode has something to do with the ‘flesh’ clue?” 

He shrugged. “Not sure. I wonder if Jaing has any ideas about what it could be.” 

“Uhh…” You stared down at your comlink, feeling an odd tightness in the pit of your stomach. “We can’t comm him. There’s no connection down here.” 

Alpha turned sharply to glance at you, then peered at the comlink mounted in his vambrace. He must have had the same problem, since his initial prodding at it turned to sharp stabs of his fingertip in only moments. He swore vividly, voice crackling with venom even through the small speakers of his helmet. 

“What do we do?” you asked when he made no other movements. 

“I’ll have to slice the door,” Alpha explained, pulling off the helmet. His brows were drawn into a fearsome frown. “Slicing isn’t my best skill. Do you know how?” 

You tilted your head at him. “It’s illegal for non-government citizens to learn how to slice.” 

“Learning should never be illegal.” 

“Easy to say, but I wasn’t exactly motivated to learn.” You planted your hands on your hips, studying the door panel. “It never seemed like a good way to spend my time.” 

Alpha sighed. “Maybe a det of some kind planted on the door could work…” 

“Alpha!” you chided. “You can’t seriously be considering planting an explosive on the door. We’re thousands of meters underwater. The risk of collapsing this structure is far greater than the chance that it would open the door.” 

“I know, neverd’ika. I was only joking.” He stared at the panel, sighing. “This isn’t gonna be fun.” 

Despite Alpha’s dark words, the process of slicing the door wasn’t nearly as painful as he had made it out to be. Of course, you weren’t overly familiar with the process, so maybe it could have taken less time. Either way, in a little under ten minutes, Alpha had managed to slice into the door panel and used it to open the door. 

Alpha had you wait in the entryway once more as he put on his helmet and stepped through the doorway to study his surroundings and the information displaying on his HUD. When he was satisfied that it was safe, Alpha had you wait outside as he closed the door and tested his ability to leave again without reslicing the door panel. There were no issues and he let you inside without further complaint.

When he removed his helmet, Alpha’s expression was oddly blank. That should have been your first clue. 

The room was as dark as the entryway had been. But where the entryway had only the glowing buttons of the door panel to break up the darkness, this one had a series of lit tubes set against the walls. They ranged in size from the length and thickness of one of your fingers, up to ones large enough to have held a Kaminoan. 

Distantly, you registered that there were other things in the room, including shelves of equipment, an expansive desk, and an intricate tapestry of shells knotted into coarsely woven ropes. With the lack of a data terminal in the room, you were certain that there must be at least one datapad tucked away somewhere, but you couldn’t gather the will to search - not yet.

Your attention was held by the tubes and you stepped carefully toward the walls that held them like more wall decorations. All of the tubes glowed a sickly green, though only some of them were occupied. 

Perhaps that was the wrong word - occupied - but it seemed the most appropriate to you as you stared disconcertedly at the tubes. The smallest ones held what you could only assume were clumps of cells - grayish-white tissue floating in whatever clear serum Ko Sai had used. 

As the tubes grew larger, their contents became more disturbing. The tissue in the tubes became recognizable as human embryos, curled into delicate half-circles. But the tubes didn’t stop at fetuses. The largest among them held full-grown clones floating in the clear serum, looking for all the world like troopers in a bacta tank, save for the lack of breathing apparatus.

Past the most familiar-looking of the clones were men unlike ones you had ever met. They were aged, neat placards at the base of the tubes labeling how old they were. The last tube held a clone who had been 43. The wizened features, framed by wispy white hair, were striking in the familiar face of a trooper. 

Something didn’t add up there; the Kaminoans hadn’t been creating clones for 43 years, and even double-aging wouldn’t add up to an elderly clone. It wasn’t impossible that they had created an even faster form of aging before deciding that a half-life was the optimal time for planned obsolescence. 

Still, your gaze wandered back over the tubes in their neat line, like troopers standing at attention. With the exception of the older clones, they could have been anyone on Kamino. You had met ARCs and cadets, even visited the laboratories with their centrifuges and growth jars. These could have been any of the troopers you had met and admired.

At least, they almost could. Unlike normal clone troopers, these adults didn’t have the tattoos, unique haircuts, and various scars of life off of Kamino. These troopers had never really lived. And they never would.

Without conscious thought, you reached back and grabbed convulsively for Alpha’s hand. He caught it easily, lacing his fingers through yours and giving your hand a comforting squeeze. You turned to him, eyebrows drawn into a pained furrow. 

“Alpha, I’m so sorry.” 

Alpha’s gaze held a weight that made your heart pang, but he gave a light shrug. “Don’t be. I didn’t know them.”

You shook your head slowly, holding eye contact all the while. “Don’t, Alpha. Please.” 

He looked away, grief crossing his face for a moment as he looked at the fully-grown trooper. “He could have been a good man, a steady vod. But he never got the chance.”

The quiet loss in his voice echoed in your mind. Up until then, the search had seemed like a marvelous adventure. There was a little danger, of course, and your shoulder still gave the occasional throb in the makeshift sling, but it was ultimately more exciting than frightening. 

This lab and the occupants were different. The seriousness of the situation hit you in a way it hadn’t before. Any bit of excitement or joy or adventure deflated from you as you stared at the familiar features of the unfamiliar trooper. That could have been Alpha. If Ko Sai had thought she could learn anything new by putting Alpha in a tube and studying his lifeless body, she would have done it without a second thought. 

The idea of his scarred features floating in the pale green light made you sick.

With a choked noise, you squeezed Alpha’s hand again. “We need to get out of here.” 

Alpha’s jaw firmed. “Not without those notes. We’ve come this far. And if there’s something useful in what she learned from… them, we need to get it. To honor their sacrifice.”

His nod toward the tubes needed no further explanation, and you agreed with him wholeheartedly. “The last clue is ‘On the flesh’. If we can figure that one out, then we can retrace our steps and get back to Tipoca City.” 

You stared around the hidden lab, filled with the strange sound of the pressured ebb and flow of the ocean floor outside, and realized that you had already done two visual circuits of the room. All you could think about was how badly you wanted to leave that hellish space and get back to the sterile white halls and bright lights of Tipoca City itself. 

“The notes could be stored in the base of one of the tubes,” Alpha suggested, a note of dread filling his voice. “Or there could be another final code, imprinted on the skin of one of the clones.”

“Maybe,” you agreed, trying not to openly gag. The Kaminoans saw clones as less than cognizant beings, but surely even Ko Sai would draw the line at carving or tattooing something on the skin of an experiment. Surely that would disrupt the results of whatever she had been testing down here. 

When he had walked away, you dragged your gaze away from the tubes and thought about the final clue. On the flesh was an odd phrase. ‘In the flesh’ was a common saying, not ‘on the flesh’. It seemed like an odd mistake for a Kaminoan to make. 

“Nothing,” Alpha reported.

An idea started to form and your frown deepened. “We were thinking about the possibility of a double code in this last clue, right? What if we were right?” 

“You think it means something else?” 

“What if it’s an anagram?” you asked, eyes traveling toward the shelves. “Flesh has all the same letters as shelf. And ‘on the shelf’ makes more sense as a location than ‘on the flesh’.” 

Alpha cast a doubtful eye over the shelves in question. “That’s equipment, neverd’ika, not notes.” 

“The notes could be stored in a drive,” you argued. “They don’t necessarily need to be written on flimsi or a book. It’s worth checking out.” 

With a sigh, Alpha agreed and led the way over the shelves. He searched each with ruthless efficiency before turning back to you, already shaking his head. “Not there.” 

You pursed your lips, glancing up at the top of the shelving unit. It was tall, as you would expect for something that had been used by a Kaminoan. Alpha had been able to reach the top shelf, but he couldn’t see on top of the unit itself. 

“What about up there?” you asked, pointing. 

“I doubt it’s up there.” Alpha crossed his arms, refusing to even look where you were pointing. “Besides, how are you sure the code would work the same written in Kaminoan?” 

“It wasn’t written in Kaminoan,” you answered instantly. “All of the clues have been a one-to-one match for the letters between the original cipher and the translations. I remember that much from what I had already figured out before the Nulls left. The Kaminoan alphabet has different combinations of sounds. I don’t know why Ko Sai wrote her clues in Basic, but she did. I still think it’s an anagram.” 

“I know better than to argue with you,” Alpha said, though he had done little else for the past few minutes. “How do you expect me to check? I can’t reach it, and I don’t have a jetpack. Maybe I could drag the desk over, but it’s on the other side of the room. It won’t move easily…”

“Can you pick me up?” 

Alpha stared at you. “You have an injured arm.” 

“Yes, an arm,” you agreed. “Not my legs. If you can lift me, I can look at the top of the shelf. As long as I’m not too heavy.” 

He snorted just as you had expected he would, barely stopping short of rolling his eyes. “You’re not as clever as you think you are, little one.” 

You beamed at him. “I think I’m very clever, actually. Now how do you want to do this-?” 

Before you could fully finish the sentence, Alpha had grabbed your hips and hoisted you into the air. When he paused, your butt was half-resting on his pauldron. Your head was only just too low to see over the edge of the bookshelf, but you could reach over the top with your good arm. 

Your fingers encountered nothing but smooth metallic shelving for a long moment. There was no dust down here, just as there had been none in the tunnel back on the stilt, but your fingertips tingled with the prospect of encountering dirt, dead bugs, or spiderwebs.

Instead, your knuckles brushed against something small and firm. It clattered out of reach when you touched it and you made a little noise of dissatisfaction. 

“There’s something up there,” you explained, straining to reach a little further. “I can’t reach it…”

“Brace yourself,” Alpha warned. “Hold the edge of the top shelf. I’m going to lift you up and keep you steady. You’re going to stand on my shoulder.” 

You were already latching onto the top edge of the shelf even as you said, “I’m not sure that’s the best-” 

The rest of your refusal was lost to a shriek as one of his hands gripped around the back of your knee just above the swell of your calf. His other hand palmed your butt, lifting you into a standing position. Your feet had a surprisingly solid purchase on the curved plastoid of his pauldron, but you kept your balance mostly because Alpha kept both hands firmly around your hip and your leg, respectively. 

When you stopped panicking long enough to pay attention, you found yourself with a new vantage point. Your head was well over the edge of the top shelf and you could see the entire surface clearly. 

There, just beyond where your fingers had swept before, was a small data drive. 

You grabbed it with the fervor of someone attempting to capture a stubborn womp-rat, showing it victoriously to Alpha. “I got it!” 

“Good work, neverd’ika,” he congratulated. “Let’s get you down from there now.” 

Luckily, he didn’t leave you enough time to worry about that process before he lifted you by your hips and lowered you down to the floor. 

Relieved as you were to be standing on solid ground once more, your attention was focused on the data drive. If you were correct, it would be your key to getting out of that horrible place and back to the relative safety of Tipoca City. “I think this is it, Alpha, but I want to check before we leave with it. Did you see a datapad that we can use to look at the data?” 

“No need.” Alpha gingerly took the data drive from you, holding it up to his vambrace. You were opening your mouth, ready to warn him that it needed to be inserted into a port, but a hologram flickered to life. 

You closed your mouth, cocking a brow. Alpha took pity on you and explained, “I have a program built into my vambrace. It’ll read a data drive with contact. I can’t do much more than get a general idea of what’s on it, but it should be enough here.” 

Sure enough, as the hologram image finished loading and displayed with readable file names. Your breath caught in your throat at the validation of your suspicions - the data drive contained a full copy of all of Ko Sai’s files. 

She hadn’t bothered to use her cipher on these notes, but that wasn’t entirely a shock. She had done the same with the original files. You had gotten the distinct impression that she thought her notes were important to the future of the galaxy and had written them in Basic so they could be read and appreciated by as many people as possible. And with how few cloning specialists there were in the galaxy as a whole, Basic was likely the most accessible option for everyone. 

“That’s it,” you breathed. “We did it! We can leave now. But… can it really be this easy?” 

Alpha made a concerning noise, one that sounded suspiciously like he had started to laugh and thought better of it. “Easy? What part of this has been easy, little one? We’ve been at this all day.” 

As if startled by the reminder, your stomach gave an unhappy grumble. 

Alpha actually did laugh at that, resting a hand on your good shoulder. “C’mon. Let’s retrace our steps. We should be able to get back to the mess early enough to grab some dinner before we get you to the medbay.” 

The trip back was long and uneventful, if slightly embarrassing at several key moments. The effort of climbing back up the Kaminoan-sized rungs of the ladder was too much for your injured shoulder, and Alpha slung you over his shoulder again as he climbed one-handed. 

After a hasty stop at Alpha’s quarters for a new body glove, you had dinner in the mess hall - young cadets staring at your makeshift sling as you ate with a new and unlikely-to-be-repeated appreciation for the Tipoca City food. To be fair, that was what came of having only caf all day.

The trooper medic who had replaced Limit was able to diagnose you without a med scanner, though he used one to check his work when Alpha was skeptical. 

Your shoulder was sprained, and only lightly so. The medic gave you some mild pain meds and a real sling with instructions to take the meds when needed and use the sling whenever you were upright for the next two days. If the pain continued, you should come back to see him again. 

When you finally got back to your quarters, Alpha insisted that you shower first. “I want to make sure I’m ready to take you back to the medbay if something happens.” 

“So you’re going to sit around in your armor while you wait?” you teased. 

“Yes,” Alpha agreed, and you shook your head despairingly as you went to the refresher. 

When you were finished and came back into the room, Alpha was setting aside his comlink. “Everything good?” 

“Fine, even if washing my face was a little awkward,” you admitted, then jerked your chin at the comlink. “Everything good with you?” 

“Just messaged the Nulls,” he explained, starting to remove the rest of his armor. “I told them that we have the files and we’ll figure out how to transmit them tomorrow morning.” 

“That’s-” 

You were interrupted by the chiming of a comlink. Both of you turned to stare at the discarded comlink on your desk. Alpha heaved a sigh. “I can’t deal with more Nulls today.” 

Before he made it into the ‘fresher, the comlink rang again. Alpha glanced back at you over his shoulder, “You can answer it if you like. If they give you any trouble, hang up and let me know. I’ll put ‘em in their place after I’m done.” 

Excited as you were about finding the files, you couldn’t stand the idea of another conversation with the Nulls that day, either. You let Alpha’s comlink fall quiet, then ring unanswered one more time before the only sound in the room was the distant water of Alpha’s shower. 

It was quiet long enough that you started to doze sitting up on the bed. You were half-contemplating settling in for the night when your own comlink rang, making you jump. 

When you retrieved it and checked, you didn’t recognize the frequency. After precious seconds of deliberation, you decided to answer it. Who knew how long the Nulls would keep trying if you ignored them? You wanted to get some good sleep that night. 

“Hello?” 

“Hello, ma’am. This is Captain Rex of the 501st legion.”

When Alpha came out of the refresher, confusion crossed his face, followed closely by worry. “Neverd’ika? What’s wrong? Don’t cry, ner karta, please.”

“Captain Rex commed,” you explained haltingly, trying to stifle the tears that had started anew. “I- I’m so sorry, Alpha. It’s Echo. He’s… He was on a mission. He was too close to a ship that exploded and- and he didn't make it.”

Alpha sat heavily on the bed, as if his legs wouldn’t support him anymore. When the tears started to roll down his face, you started crying again, too. All you could do was hold him, squeezing as tightly as you could manage and gently wiping the wetness from his cheeks.

It was all you could do, but it wasn’t enough. One of Alpha’s ARCs was gone, and nothing could take away Alpha’s grief.

---

Author's Note - Sorry, sorry, sorry! I consulted my best friend irl about this chapter, actually. We both decided that it would be better to stick with my original vision and show the dark, horrific side of Ko Sai's laboratory instead of making it lighter-hearted. And then to sneak in that ending... Sorry for the angst!

If you skipped to the end of the chapter and need a recap of this one, feel free to let me know in a comment or a message! I'll make it happen.

Thank you for reading in any case! I would love to hear what you thought about this arc. I'll see you soon!

[thewanderingkaya]

bro i lowkey had a thought while out last night , i saw a guy who looked really muscular im talking about beefy bulky but he was wearing baggy clothing and it kinda accentuate his muscles more??

yk how its like yoy can see the massive chest because its making the shirt flare out. And you can see the large circumference of the forearms, and even under the pyjama pants you can see the quads

now i was imagining and just pondering if alpha was wearing baggy clothing like that.. would it have the same effect? 🤔

idk i just love how muscular alpha 17 is and love the idea that all alphas are just bigger y’know. Makes em feel special and more qualified

My roman empire

[hanasnx]

ᯓ★ MINORS DNI 18+

CAD BANE runs with a tough crowd and he can’t tolerate inadequacy. As his partner, you feel as if you’re under an even stricter scrutiny. You do everything right, and he’ll find something wrong with your execution. His posse knows about his soft spot for you—specifically how he invites himself into your quarters for a late night visit—but they don’t see any obvious favoritism when he publicly humiliates you at every turn. They worry what would happen if his balls were blue, so to speak. What they don’t see, however, is what happens in privacy. “D’aw, precious, s’just a lil’ scratch. Quit yer fussin’.” he tells you, and if it was coming from anyone other than Cad you’d think they’re being dismissive. Instead, his coos are applied while he’s patching you up, the pad of his finger delicately smoothing a bandage over the mark on your upper cheek from the field. He’s surprisingly tender with you, focusing on your wound even though it’s minor while you stare up at him through your lashes. “There ya go. Ol’ pap’s taken care of it.” Playfully the back of your hand bats his chest, and he chuckles deep and reverberating in a rumble like thunder.