#Also I drew the cursed stone as a tiger eye stone because I love them and it feels like something a person would be very likely to pick up

[runefactorynonsense]

Cozytober - Day 16 - Book

...I'm scared of that book.

[tarotdeckshuffle]

I really like the paintball idea/ask... Could you create a Nyx x reader fix out of it? Like s/o and Nyx are a team and they show absolutely no fucking mercy? No-holds-barred!!! ψ(｀∇´)ψ

If you’re wondering what ask they’re talking about, you can find it here.

I have gone paintballing exactly one time in my life lol, but I’ll try!

After some of the angsty Nyx written here recently, let’s have some fun Nyx!

Taglist: @idiotflowerex, @laststory1013, @sayaoqueen, @jophinabean, @mysme-already

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Pride and Paintball

“Do you ever see someone and wonder what’s going on in their head?” Nyx asked through a mouth full of sandwich. He sat next to you on the edge of a building. 

“Nope,” you answered, pinpointing your target in the sight. “But I do know what’s about to go on the outside of their head.” 

TWACK!

Tredd’s helmet and the hair that stuck out of it, were painted orange. You heard intermittent cursing on the wind from below as he left his hiding place with his hands raised. 

“Nice!” Nyx commented, inhaling the last of his lunch. You stood, basking in your short victory and smiling over at your teammate. It felt extra rewarding because you hit the asshole in his stupidly dyed hair. He’d see the orange mark and soon know who did it. You only wished you could witness that moment. 

The sniper rifle held before you looked like the honor child of steampunk and gothic cannons, but one that decided to be a pacifist. Sure, the thing only shot paintballs, but it did so incredibly well. 

“Now let’s leave before my hair is dyed, too.”Nyx flipped on his helmet and grabbed you before warping off. 

It was the Glaives yearly training exercise: a no holds barred paintball fight across the entirety of Insomnia. Only one team could win. 

The competition had been going on for years. It was meant to test the soldiers’ stealth, ruthlessness, stamina, and resourcefulness. It did. But it was also immensely fun. 

The rules were supposed to be simple:Teams were formed of two to three members. The competition could be run over all of Insomnia until only one team was left standing. You were out if you got hit or you hit a bystander. 

Over the years, the Glaives had made it into a more elaborate competition, creating new weapons and rewards for whoever won. 

One innovation was that each team was assigned a color of paintball. The idea was that it would be easily determinable who shot a bystander. It turned into a pride marker and a chance for sabotage. 

Now, everyone knew who got them out. But paintballs could be stolen. There were cases of bystanders getting hit by someone using the wrong color paintball and teammates eliminating each other by using different colors. 

But that’s what the Glaives were all about, right? Sabotage and savagery. 

You and Nyx had chosen each other for your team as soon as the event was announced, smiling as Libertus and Crowe had to team up. Libertus complained about the pairing loudest, but you felt worse for Crowe. 

Each team had a unique color of paintballs; yours was fluorescent orange. Both you and Nyx laughed your immature asses off when Tredd got blue paintballs. 

Today was the first day of the exercise. Nyx was throwing shade at the other Glaives by bringing a picnic for lunch. It was in a cute little basket with a tablecloth and everything. You were sort of excited for all of the food, but your dearest had something better in the basket: your new sniper rifle. Sure, there were a few dry sandwiches, too, but your new toy came apart and fit beautifully into the square basket.

The day had been spent warping between rooftops. You took out opponents one by one with from afar, while Nyx either closed in for the “kill” or watched your back. Everything had been easy going so far, but that was about to change.

Now, the two of you were pressed together in the shadows of a gargoyle. Two teams were duking it out on the street below you and you didn’t want to draw their attention. But the wind had other plans. 

A single crimson paintball caught on a gust, altering its course to splatter on your stone guardian. Red paint dripped from its granite teeth. Both you and Nyx looked at each other, shocked at how close disqualification had come. Yelling in the street below drew your attention.

The culprit of the rogue shot was staring up at the two of you, yelling to the other teams and pointing you out. 

“Looks like the jig’s up, Bonnie,” Nyx said in a horrible mafia accent. He smiled wickedly at you as he summoned a paintball gun. 

“Then let’s go out in a blaze, Clyde,” you responded, mirroring his wicked lust for competition. You summoned two paintball pistols, determined to look cool if you went out. 

Nyx threw the short rifle towards the ground. Just before it could collide with the pavement, he warped to it and spun to unload orange fury on the nearest opposing Glaives. Two opponents’ chests looked like a field of poppies had bloomed from their hearts as they fell backwards, soon to be covered in bruises. 

You were far more exact with your targets. You threw one pistol into the air far to your left and above the opposing teams, warping to it as it still hung midair. A single shot from above is all that it took to exact orange justice upon the unsuspecting Glaive below. They bent over as the paint bloomed on their helmet. 

Your second pistol flew from your hand and to the right as you warped in the opposite direction, regaining height and changing position. A new target’s time was limited, they just didn’t know it yet. They were raising a gun at you but your vengeance was swift. Their gloves were stained orange as you disarmed and disqualified them. 

Soon after landing, you and Nyx stood back to back, prepared to defend your love and prowess from the remaining two Glaives. 

“C’mon, Hero! Why haven’t you taken them out yet?” You were only half jesting with Nyx. 

“Cause I’m out…” he stated bluntly, holding up the empty auger of his gun. 

You sighed in exasperation. The Glaives smiled at each other as they closed in on you, new allies against the reigning champs. 

“Then get good, scrubs!” You yelled, throwing one pistol high and behind you. 

Nyx caught it and you simultaneously spun, using the advancing Glaives as a canvas for the paint. It was a complete “slaughter” in the street.

Silence fell as only you and Nyx remained standing…

Before laughter and applause came from the “fallen” Glaives. You were congratulated on a blitz attack with claps on the back and good natured jokes before they made their way back to base. 

“Really?! ‘Get good, scrubs?! You thought that was cool?” Nyx poked at you, laughing heartily as he started to reload his rifle. 

“You’re included in that, mister.” You pointed your pistol at him for emphasis. “Learn to aim!” 

The rest of the afternoon passed with little more action.

The day was drawing to an end. Two teams had come out on top, eating through the other teams with ease. Insomnia had become a jungle, one with only four tigers. 

You and Nyx had no idea who the other team was. They had kept their helmets on and stayed silent the whole day. It appeared that they hadn’t fired a single shot! No one knew what color their paintballs were or how they had been hiding so well all day.

A full moon lit the skyline as the rest of Insomnia slept. Nyx stood with one foot on the edge of an old apartment building as you sat by the water tower, cleaning your sniper rifle. 

He looked down into the city. “I don’t know, Libertus wouldn’t be able to keep his mouth shut if he was still in the game…” You zoned out as he talked through who he thought was the other remaining team. 

You continued to wipe the paint off of the barrel of your gun as a strong wind brushed your hair. It felt pleasantly warm in the cold night, making the leaves on the roof dance in the swirls like tiny tornadoes.

…Tornadoes.

Your eyes grew wide with terror as you realized why. 

“NYX! GET DOWN!” You chucked your rifle towards him, warping to it to tackle him off of the roof as a shower of pink paintballs fell from the sky onto where he had just been standing. 

You were on top of your love as you fell through the air. You looked at each other, nodding as you understood the plan without a word passing between your lips. In an instant, you had both warped in different directions, disappearing into the night. 

From the shadows of a church spire, you watched your past hideout. Two Glaives appeared, one slender and the other larger. They looked around, stupefied as to where you had gone. The slender one hit the shoulder of the larger one, seemingly in frustration. The larger of the two shrugged and was waived off. It had to be Crowe and Libertus. 

You thought threw their plan. It was amazing! No one had known what color their paintballs were because they hadn’t been using them! Crowe had been using magic to divert the path of everyone else’s paintballs! It was her magic you saw on the roof! She must have used it to delay and divert Libertus’s shots to land directly on you!

And you were now going head to head with this genius. 

With no idea where your boyfriend was.

And very few paintballs left.

Great.

The sun was beginning to rise and you still hadn’t formed a plan. You wandered from shadow to shadow, running from your friends, half hoping you’d find Nyx. But you were a Glaive and so were they. You were all too good to be found. 

It was only a matter of time before Nyx did something dramatic to try to find you, likely drawing everyone out in the process. He’d be taken out, by Crowe, in a matter of moments. If you tried to find them, you’d likely be successful. Then it’d be two on one and they (Crowe) would have you down in an instant. 

You paced, trying to figure out what to do next. You were going through all of the Glaive training you had ever had, hoping to find a plan no one else would think of, when it struck you: The solution was to not be a Glaive for a moment. 

There was a large, open park just outside of the Citadel. It was meant as a strategic defense for the castle, allowing it to tower over any intruders. For you, it meant snipers couldn’t snipe. 

In full Glaive garb, you bought yourself a doughnut and coffee and plopped down on a bench in the middle of the open field. Passersby took pictures of a “real Glaive”. You took your time to enjoy your breakfast while you waited for Libertus and Crowe. 

It didn’t take long. Libertus approached from in front of you. His mask was off and he was empty  handed. You licked the frosting off of your fingers as he reached you. 

“Alright, I give. What do you want?” His hand was on his hip as he surveyed you. 

“Fight me,” you replied matter of factually. 

Libertus blinked in surprise at you for a moment. 

“What?” 

“Fight me.” You sat on the bench still, looking up at Libertus like a young child. 

“I know what you said, but…what?” He was royally confused now. You were making the Glaive short circuit. 

You stood to face him. “This is a trap.” 

His eyes narrowed. “I’m counting on that.” 

“Good.” 

“So, where’s Nyx?” The corner of Libertus’s lip curled into a smile. He thought he had you. 

“Hiding. And I know where. But I’m not going to tell you, but I definitely know where he is.” Sure, you were bluffing, but did Libertus believe that you were bluffing? 

“Riiight…You’re bluffing.” His eyes narrowed at you, trying to figure you out. 

“Am I? Or am I pretending that I’m bluffing? Bluffing about bluffing, if you will.” 

“I don’t think so…”Still eyeing you suspiciously, he moved, ready to summon his weapon against you. 

“Typical, you’re ready to fight because you can’t keep up with banter.” You acted exasperated, but your eyes darted around. Crowe was nowhere to be seen. 

Libertus didn’t buy into your stall tactics. He summoned a fully loaded paintball rifle with a war cry. You simultaneously began to summon your weapon, but you knew you were behind him. He was raising the rifle and closing in on the trigger in what felt like slow motion. 

When the side of his face erupted in orange. You must still have been in a time bubble, as you watched his face contort as the hard paintballs collided with the skin of his cheeks and hair. 

Nyx had been watching you from a distant vantage point when he saw Libertus approach. Fearing for you, or demanding to be the hero (who could tell) he had begun to stealthy move towards you, warping at the last possible moment to take out Libertus.

“I can be your hero baby…” Nyx was singing he moved towards you, moving his hips to his own beat and smiling. He got to you, putting his face less than an inch from yours. “Made you love me!” He winked. 

You could feel his breath on your lips as you retorted, “I was counting on it.” 

A glint caught your eyes. It was now!

You fully summoned your weapon: the sniper rifle. 

Using your free hand, you grabbed Nyx’s shoulder and spun him around. He was caught by surprise, having expected a kiss, and looked like a deer in the headlights. The image was made whole by a very angry Crowe striding towards you, firing off round after round while watching you down the sights. 

Using Nyx as a human shield, you knelt and aimed your rifled past his hip. You let a round fly, only to have it stopped by what appeared to be a wall of wind before Crowe. The paintball was swirled in a circle around her before being flung away. 

But there had to be an opening. There always was. 

You took aim with another paintball, letting it fly. It took what felt like an eternity, but it connected…With the barrel of Crowe’s rifle. 

“Does that even count?” You heard Nyx sputter above you. 

But it didn’t matter. As Crowe tried to fire, again, her gun jammed. The barrel had too much paint in it. 

She paused just long enough, letting her eyes slip from you to her gun. That was what you had hoped for. 

You threw the sniper rifle. She dodged it, expecting you to warp to it. But this time you ran. You ran straight into her and smashed a handkerchief full of paintballs on her arm. 

Her arm had a great orange blob on it, while you were spotless. 

You had won.

For a moment, the world was quiet as realization set into everyone around. 

“Damn! Nice job!” Libertus boomed, already laughing at the situation. A black eye was forming on his face.

You turned to see Nyx absolutely covered  in pink paint. The amount on his face made him look like a circus clown. 

Crowe laughed and congratulated you, promising to buy you a drink for that later.

“You used me!” Nyx shouted accusingly. You simply smiled and wiped pink paint from his lips. 

“I love you, honey,” you cooed, closing in for a kiss. 

“Don’t you honey, me! I’m…” but the rest of his protest was muffled by your lips. 

~Epilogue~

Your victory earned the respect of all of the Glaives. Officially, you and Nyx won a week of paid vacation. Unofficially, you won the pot of money everyone had contributed to.

Your hero was still mad at you. You had relied on him to come save you, then used him. You promised to make it up to him by letting him use you on your upcoming vacation. ;)