#SEALs kicking down your door at 4 am for drills

[compacflt]

Speaking of book recommendations, I just finished reading "Annapolis Autumn: Life, Death, And Literature At The U.S. Naval Academy" by Bruce E. Fleming (he was/is a teacher at the Acedemy) and I thought it was interesting. It gives a glimpse at some workings of the academy but also what is like to be a civilian in a military environment specially when one doesn't exactly drink from the same kool aid (hope that's how the expression works, I'm not American)

i will look into it!! But now i get nervous reading about the usna because i don’t wanna know how inaccurate my portrayal of it is. Lmfao. Posting for the rec

[shibarirobot]

Aizawa fic - CH1 - Entrapment

+18 only

Shouta Aizawa x Villain!OC/Reader (?)

I’m going to do my best to keep this fic as ambiguous as possible so anyone can enjoy it. The first few chapters will be tamer to build intruig, but make no mistake this is going to get SPICY. It’s not exactly a reader insert, but I’m going to stay away from describing my lead character, apart from quirk abilities, to make it easy for those that enjoy a reader insert to lose themselves in this fic. 

That being said, this fic is centered around a villain who can manipulate electro magnetic frequencies, that’s pretty broad and I’m no science kid, but I’m fairly certain everything I have them do is plausable with this type of quirk, if you have any suggestions for how it could be used or if I have written something infactual to the ability feel free to message me or leave an anon. However, in a made up world of quirks and hot men, I’m not sure it really matters lol. Suspend your disbelief as they say. 

Anyways, enjoy.

~

Four o’clock rolls by so slowly I can feel myself aging. I look down at my watch for the fifth time in the last three minutes and let out a huff. 3:57. No time to start getting anxious. I push even the word anxiety out of my brain and take another deep breath, closing my eyes. Distancing myself mentally from the hum of drunken bar thoughts. This time trying to calm my slightly lifted heart rate as it now feels like time has sped up exponentially, I realize I have no time to take a smoke or even go to the bathroom. It’s about to happen. I look at my watch again and feel the lump in my throat drop to my stomach as I swallow my insecurities and pull my hand up to my hip, skimming my thigh as I go. I can feel this too, the weapon at my waistband that has been pressing hard against my skin and keeping my back rigid as I try to level my breathing. I make eye contact with a tall man across the room from me, already nursing a beer before 4 pm and for a brief moment the air is still, latent energy pooling around me as I suck in another breath and force myself onto my feet. I magnetize my voice and push it into their brains as the stagnant energy from before comes crashing down in waves around me. 

“Everybody on the floor! NOW!” I say it, but they feel it, they feel their brains being ripped in half by my voice. The splitting headache that I come to find familiar, comforting even, forced upon these self serving bystanders. The pulse behind my eyes reminds me I’m alive, if nothing more than in a physical sense I am still living. Ringing fills the air as I roar into them again, enjoying watching them all grip their temples and wobble as they start to lose their equilibrium. I’m effectively scrambling their brains and replacing what is left with my own force of will. “I… SAID… NOW!!!!” They drop to their knees, some flopping to the side, giving up fighting, they're all sheep. Fucking sheep that just do what they’re told. Fucking sheep that believe in heroes and laws, it’s all bullshit. Even these citizens know it, but they all fall in line anyways. Because it’s power that they obey. And right now, I have it. 

I lock eyes with the man from before and he tries to move to the door, still wobbly on his feet. I smirk a little at his attempt. There’s always one. Always a fool that tries to play hero. He wants to... what? Call for help? Prove he’s not weak? Make up for his otherwise lackluster life? I don't even try to stop him. He barely makes it two feet before the rest of my crew shows up, a power type goon pushing the hero wannabe to the ground in a matter of seconds, the other, deadbolting the door. He never stood a chance and I chuckle to myself, grinning wildly now. I hear a groan from the ground next to my foot and look down, a woman is curled up on her side, one hand grasping desperately at the side of her head, the other gripping the material at her stomach with white knuckles. Her lips are pale and there is a cold sweat dripping down the side of her forehead, tears gathering at the corners of her big doe eyes. She’s honestly quite beautiful and it makes the terror in her eyes that much more satisfying when she looks up at me and whimpers a small, desperate, “Please.”

I stare down at her for a moment and absorb the painting before me. Such raw emotion. True pain. I laugh again, whole heartedly as a chorus of groans erupt from my captive audience, my screeches drilling a hole in their skulls. They don't even know what pain is and they fold at the waist and buckle at the knees, this is just a taste and they can hardly stomach it. While I'm laughing, I wrench my leg back and kick the woman in the stomach. Hard. My boots are steel plated and weighted, 15 pounds each, so I know it hurts. “Stupid bitch! Haha!” She screams, coughs, then hurls. Vomit mixing into her hair. I kick her again then lean down and grab her by the jaw, rubbing hard circles into her cheek as I yank her forward by the neck. Her eyes had been closed, but they snapped open when I did that, the vomit in her hair making it stick to her face. “You look so pretty when you beg, shame it will get you nothing here.” Dropping her head back to the hard, tile floor as I rise, looking down on her in disgust. I spit on her cheek from above and survey the room, all eyes are on me. She starts crying and I kick her one last time for good measure, for her distraction. “Whore.” It falls from my lips and I almost feel bad, but then I don't. I don't feel bad for these people, she would have thought the same thing about me and smiled to my face, not knowing who I am, what I’m capable of. She would have been comfortable in doing so to know her thoughts were private. They wouldn’t have been. I would have heard her, as I’ve heard countless others. I shake my anger away in the moment, getting  back to business, now is not the time to let my emotions get the better of me. 

Everyone was hearing me before, but now that I’m focused my voice is poignant, rumbling in the back of everyone’s minds like distant thunder. Like the booming voice of god. In this moment, I might as well be god. “Enough theatrics. If anyone moves I will LIQUIFY your brains, got it?!” There’s a prickle of anxious realization in the room as they all come to terms with the fact that I can do it and have a clear disregard for any of their well being. “Good. Now be darling little hostages and lay there in agony while the big mean bad guys rob the place, ‘kay?” My voice had lost the murderous quality it once had as I start to talk to them how an owner would to a new puppy. Lovingly, but condescending. 

I now look back to my crew, all people I barely knew, hired hands to make my plan run smoothly, expendable, but crucial. I see they have sealed all exits and my muscle men are manning the door. Well, muscle people I should say. One is a hefty looking mutherfucker with steel brackets around his wrists and ankles. His muscles swell and retract like they're breathing, as if his muscle was an entirely different entity from his body. It’s mesmerizing and somewhat disturbing to watch. The other is a short, toned woman with a spiked, pink mohawk and a killer smile. Her teeth are sharp and platinum and she grins, chomping her jaw to herself. It makes a distinguishable ‘Clang Clang’ when her teeth lock into place with each other. 

Knowing they have the hostage situation handled, I make my way to the back of the bar. There is a door in the corner and I reach for the handle as I approach, but a wave of hesitation hits me as I do, something tells me to move away from the door. With a quick dodge, I leap backwards as the door explodes, a fist appearing at the center of the explosion. A hero. Dammit. I was hoping to get this over with before we had a chance for interference. I ‘tsk’ my tongue and toss a scowl over my shoulder. What’s the point of a hired lookout if they don’t even tell you when the ops are coming? When I look behind me I see my lookout, the only person I hired on a quirk specific level, toppled over with a dart in their neck. Fuck. They were supposed to see around corners in the getaway. My eyes scramble around the room to see where it came from but there’s no one, just a small crack in the window where I assume the dart broke through. Someone on the roof.

Frustration overtakes me and I scream up at the ceiling. What’s the point of planning if I have to do everything myself anyways? The scream ruptures into everyone’s thoughts. The civilians. The heroes. The other villains. They all feel my wrath. I stand and kick the hero that had just blasted through the door and my plans in one fell swoop. I've seen him on tv, he’s getting pretty famous, some new chump that can balloon his fists. He really thought a physical quirk could beat me? He grunts then goes slack, some hero. The ones that never get hit can never handle it when they eventually do. I step past his body and again past the debris of the door. There’s a small room back here with metal shelves on each wall and one in the middle forming three neat rows, pilled with bricks of gold, artifacts and a computer on a table in the back. There’s another hole in the wall across from the door, seems as if this loser busted through both walls just for a shitty sneak attack. Easy escape though. Rolling my eyes, I march past the gold and the shinies and dig a flash drive out of my pocket, shoving it into the USB port, it immediately starts glowing red. I kick the chair to the side and lean down, tapping the keys furiously as I transfer file after file to my drive and delete them from the computer's hard drive. When I’m done, I pull the drive from the port, not worrying about ejecting the drive. It will just have to deal. I straighten my jacket and brush the hair out of my face, leisurely strolling back to the hole in the wall. 

Something glints in the corner of my eye and my focus is shifted to a beautiful diamond necklace that has to be worth more money than I have ever seen in my entire life. I’m about to take another step when the urge to possess this object takes me over so abrasively I can't even think about ignoring it. My hand darts out to the necklace, making quick work of securing it around my neck. I slip a gold brick into my pocket as well, reveling in the thrill of theft. Unplanned theft that is. 

Now that I’m satisfied with myself, I continue my trek to the hole across where the door used to be, leading to the alley, ready to make my one person escape only to be confronted face to face with glowing red eyes, barred behind shuttered goggles. 

Thank you for reading my first chapter! I hope you have enjoyed it!

Maybe leave a like...? Just a thought XD

I will be updating this and adding it to AO3 as soon as I get an account (I’m on the waiting list). There will be a link availiable to my new AO3 and other content as soon as I have that ready. Thanks again! 

CH2

[avalindin]

It was a bounty hunter, I swear...

Tom Hiddleston fic

Ch. 9: Scream my lungs out

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Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 

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Kali couldn’t cry. Her eyes already stung from the hospital the day and a half before. She’d made a promise. Soon she would be at it again but when she would close her eyes, she would have the memories of being friends with Mina to keep her moving forward.

“Obi?”

Kali tried not to force a smile as her mother set her hand on her shoulder.

“Sorry, mom. Just tired.”

“I know, baby. Gonna get a nap while we set up our things?”

“I’m not sure how deep a sleep I may be in.”

“I’ll send in Demi instead. Manny just got home from Ibiza. She could sneak in if you want.”

A small huff of laughter was heard for a second, but Peggy saw the fast blur of her baby girl rush from the car and around the side of the house. She brushed the gray hair over her ear and tried not to look in the rearview mirror. Instead, she looked over her shoulder with a heavy and hurting heart to the crinkled mailing envelope that Mina was too weak to close just days before. Kali wouldn’t be ready for it, but she also made a promise.

Kali made sure the door was closed as she kicked off her flats and tumbled to her old mattress. Her fatigue guided her eyes to shut on their own. She reached under her bed for the small worn Yoda doll that had been hers for so many years. Her nose pressed into the top of the fake green wrinkles. She remembered before her, the doll wasn’t just Donovan’s, it was also Mina’s, gifted to him as a result of a puppy love crush.

“Hey!”

Kali dreamt of the first time that she saw Mina.

She had been so mesmerized at the boys’ VHS collection on the large screen in front of her, that she didn’t see the loud child dressed in bold colors. The silence of the new girl’s sandals had stopped once she quit chasing Donovan around the house and focused her attention on Kali. She wasn’t ready for the new child to rush to Kali’s side and size her up and down.

She got back up to her feet and held out her hand to Kali.

“I’m Mina.”

She slowly took Mina’s hand and her help to get to her feet.

“Kali,” she mumbled into the doll.

“You don’t talk much,” she exclaimed, almost scaring Kali, “Just stick with me and we can fix that.”

“Glad you did,” sighed Kali.

Sleep slowly took her before she could feel her held back tears roll to the pillows.

-

He bit the edge of his nail as the wheels rolled on. He hadn’t been in Texas since the last time he’d ran from Kali. There was a bit of him that wanted to see her again but with how he left things with her, the only thing he wanted to do was pay his respects and leave. There was some struggle to whether they were his respects to pay or not. He’d meet Mina only twice. Once in San Diego during their stay at the Con and once when Tom made a surprise pit stop in Austin to whisk Kali away for a romantic weekend, right before everything went to shit.

“Oh...”

Tom smiled and had hurried to press his finger to his lips. He even leaned against the doorway.

“Your fine ass can be my delivery boy anytime you want.”

“Mina! Don’t fuck this one either! We can’t keep finding...”

Kali had stopped in front of Tom, waiting just for her.

“Welp,” shrugged Nina as she stepped back from the door, “You know the drill.”

She gave Kali a mighty shove into the hallway and slammed the door behind them. He smiled to her boldness and wished he could have known her better.

His long fingers wrapped around the flowers as his car pulled up to the steps of the church. It wasn’t until he got out of the car when he saw a few people descend the church steps to their cars. Some looked his way, but none gave him any bother.

“Excuse me,” he softly butted to the closest people, “Is it still going on?”

“No. We decided to cut it early. Her ashes are going to the after-wake and then home with us. Hope you brought food.”

His heart broke as he looked into the ordinary eyes of Mina’s parents. He lifted his hand with the flowers towards them.

“I am so sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine what you are going through.”

“You knew Mina?”

“Only through Kali.”

Both looked at Tom and turned to leave void the flowers.

“Thank you but we know who you are.”

He was left on the steps with no cab in sight and not a clue of what to do next.

“Shit.”

-

His hand shook as he prayed for the strength to not lose his mind. He straightened his BDUs and slowly made his way up the cracked pathway. If the door hadn’t already been propped open, he wouldn’t have been able to go inside. Once his boots passed the threshold, he pulled the cover from his shaved head and set out to find his mother. Peggy pulled a tray of food from the oven and set them to cool on the counter. Her smile shown on the younger woman with warm olive skin and newly platinum blonde hair pulled up over her aid.

“Girls, just give these ten minutes to settle then dig in. Manny, fish, don’t hurt yourself.”

“Yes, Mama Tigger!”

“What about the guys?”

Peggy turned with enough force to twirl her dress in excitement.

“My Baby!”

She opened her arms to Donovan. He’d still grown a bit since the last time he’d been home.

“Hi, momma. Where’s everyone else?”

“Demi had to work but he’s on his way home. Kali is sleeping the funeral off.”

“In her room? Is she holding up?”

“Yeah, go out the back and use the side door.”

He kissed her brow and left with a few snacks in his hand to devour. He was careful to not step on his mother’s flowers as he stopped at the door of his nana’s old room. He still wasn’t used to it all. The knob turned with ease and his large hand pushed the door in. He saw his sister stir, making his hurry to stop the blaring sunlight from disturbing her room.

Kali could hear the door behind her. The quiet sounds of the grieving party outside her first door made her want to shove earbuds in her ears.

“Fuck,” she sighed as she clutched her Yoda closer.

“Terrible language, Ma’am. Now where the fuck did you learn that?”

She quickly turned and smiled as she rushed form her bed and into her brother’s arms. Donovan tried everything in his power to not cry but she was faster to wipe them away.

“I don’t… When did you get back?!”

“Today but I have to go back day after tomorrow. So, you got Nana’s old room, huh?”

“Uh, yeah,” she shrugged as she returned to the side of her bed, “It’s not much but...”

“I know.”

What was in the past was in the past and she liked it that way.

“So, did you get my package?”

“What package?”

“I mailed it to mom after last week. I thought she would have given it to you before I got here. There.”

He pulled something from the floor. He handed her a thick mailing envelope from the pile of mail that she never opened. She could feel the enamel in her back teeth clench when she saw Mina’s writing on the front.

“Fucking ass had me mail this without looking. Of course, she would make me work for her last words.”

Donovan took a seat next to his baby sister. Kali forced herself to exhale and reach for the seal. She ripped it open and pulled out a golden box along with a weak piece of paper.

“This was for the first one but yours will always be one with the Force, just like you.”

Donovan took the paper from Kali and gave a soft chuckle.

“You’d think her last words would be a little more wise-ass.”

“She always writes on the back.”

“How… Kal, I can’t read this out loud.”

“Got milk? Stupid cow.”

Donovan could feel his heart break as he saw Kali smile at the paper.

“What is it?”

Kali went back to the small golden box. Her fingers went for the small screw in the back. It turned until she couldn’t anymore. She wasn’t ready for the gentle lullaby notes of the Imperial March, so soft and mesmerizing as the turning dented wheel plucked against the small metal forks hidden inside. They were both quiet until Donavon cleared his throat.

“You need to take it back.”

“I know.”

Kali reached under her pillow for the small black box and slid it into her brother’s large palm. He flipped the ring box in his fingers and sighed.

“I really was going to marry her.”

“I know.”

“I would have been okay with an open marriage.”

“I don’t think you would have.”

“I would have done anything to make her happy.”

“You always did but she knew that ring was never for her.”

“Thanks, Nicholas Sparks.”

“You’re welcome, Muggle. We should get out there.”

Kali didn’t realize how hard she was staring at the until the flood of sunlight made her wince.

“Need a hand?”

“I’ll be fine. Can I get a minute?”

“Sure. See ya ‘round.”

Kali waited until the shuffle of his combat boots were around the bend. Her thumb pushed open the music box, but it wasn’t Mina’s gift. She gently pulled open the top of the inside for the piece of paper she guessed was waiting for her.

Her hands were shaking badly as she tried not to rip the last bit of confidence Mina always gave her.

Hey, bitch.

Sorry for the change in calligraphy but I need to do this quick before the other bitch comes back. First, I fucking love you. I was meant to be a part of your family no matter what. Kiss everyone for me, expect Donny. I’ll have something special for him when I see him again.  

Fuck my parents. If they have too, they’ll hurt you one more time. You were always so strong, little mouse but shit’s going south, and I may as well give you bad advice while I’m still here.  

This is about you know who. Wink, wink.

It will hurt but forgive him. We’re all scared. I was too. We do fuck up things when we’re scared, even if you never see that fine ass again.  

I’ll be waiting for you. Bring alcohol.

There was no reason to read it a second time. She folded it back to perfection and hid it back in the music box. When she got a moment, she would make sure she framed it in her memory. Kali got to her feet and straightened herself the best way she knew how. It was on her now to keep herself going with Mina still in her heart. She pushed her feet into her flats and out the side door.

“Might as well get this done with,” she shrugged.

Everything was quiet but heightened. The shuffle of feet, mainly towards the chairs where Mina’s parents were seated. They hadn’t always seen things eye to eye with the way she was brought up. While Kali was raised by a loving Peggy, Mina’s upbringing was a bit on the conservative side. They weren’t bad people, but they could have morally been better in supporting their only child’s decisions. Mostly, they blamed Kali or rather Peggy for their daughter’s downward spiral to Hell. Kali always laughed when those words came out of Mina’s mouth. She did what she could to move about the party and serve the guests without making absolute contact until Manny snatched the tray from her hands.

“Cock up, woman,” she signed, “Go on.”

It hurt her to move herself forward and stop in front of them. Really, she hadn’t thought of what would happen at this point. A slap across the face, a righteous rant about the unholiness that had become their daughter, or any number of things that had always gone through her head. The only thing she regretted was having a stomach full of delicious food as her nerves tried to poke her in the side.

“Things are starting to quiet down if you want to leave.”

Something simple where everyone would win. All would grieve in their own ways and Kali would make sure nothing smartass slipped out until they were gone for good. Mina’s mother was the first to react, just not in the way she expected. First, there was a smile. Then, she slowly got to her feet, smoothed out her skirt, and wrapped her arms around Kali. She was frozen in that moment, cautious in case of anything unexpected. Manny was within distance and ready for a fight. She gave a small enough hug back for it to count but her feelings for Mina’s mother made her feel worse.

Peggy stepped away from the kitchen for a moment. The pain in her chest for Mina grew worse. She sat on the back porch steps. Her aging fingers pulled the cigarette from her apron. It had been a long while since she’d given them up and now, she just wanted to get through the day. She put the nasty thing between her lips.

“What am I going to do Momma?”

Her mother had died the month before in her sleep. Kali miscarried early the month before that. She lit the end and inhaled the bitter smoke, feeling something else amiss. Each pull calmed her a little bit until she could hear raising voices from the house. She dropped the butt on the start of the driveway and hurried herself around the side of the house. She reached for Kali’s side bedroom door until a tall bit of movement got her attention. She craned her neck to the person she hoped to Hell she would never see.

“Son of a bitch.”

She locked eyes with Tom.

“Shit,” he whispered under his breath.

Kali ignored the voices from the kitchen.

“Our girl meant the world to us and her journey, God’s plan for her needed you in her path.”

Still cautious. She wasn’t sure if Mina’s parents would make a scene.

“I… don’t know how to answer that.”

Most everyone was preparing to go home with a few drunk stragglers waiting on Ubers and what family was left eating in the kitchen. Her skin felt like it was shrinking as her mother pulled away. Something was coming since Mina’s father was silent as he always was in her presence.

“We have something for you. One last bit of Mina.”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver chained necklace with a small black heart hanging down.

“Thank you.”

“I know it’s a bit much, but we put some of her ashes in there for you to have. You were a sister to her.”

“What?”

She kept as much surprise in as she could bear. Past that, she was more than happy to put aside her slight distain for them, for Mina’s sake.

“Now you’ll always a bit of her to taint.”

“Motherfucker.”

As soon as she closed her mouth, the bits of the house that were in an ear shot went silent as Mina’s father got to his feet, sporting the bible Mina would detest.

“God took her away because of you.”

It was good while it lasted.

“Get out. Just go. You have a right to grieve but just go pray rude behind my back like a normal person.”

Her hand clutched the chain tighter. It began to hurt. Voices quickly rose, including her own. Soon the words blended together, and faces grew red. Kali tucked the neckline into her dress so that it wouldn’t fly around the room at the rate her hand angrily tried to permanently show them the way out of her mother’s house.

When Mina’s mother refused to take another step, Kali tried to turn her to the exit. This caused her father to pull her hand away. Donovan and Manny took notice. Manny was out of the kitchen at once and set her sights on Mina’s father, wanting very badly to break his wrist on the way out the door. Donovan was able to pull her back a fraction and heavily insistent that they leave.

“Of course, we would expect this from you,” cried the mother.

“Would you like me to let my sister on her feet to you, because, believe me, I will.”

Demi stepped through the door with his scrubs still on, looking into what he had missed. Manny was tucked under Donovan’s arm, ready to fuck anyone up in a moment’s notice. Kali had tears streaming down her face.

“Just get out or I will fucking kill you myself!”

They turned on their heel without another breath. Their backs were to the car, slowly testing Kali’s building rage. Her hand grabbed Manny’s old field hockey stick.

“What the Hell are you waiting for?! For Mina to come back?”

She was out the door with Demi trying to hold her rage back without getting clocked with the wood.

“Please just go,” he begged.

“Mina was my fucking family! You couldn’t just love her as she was!”

There was a moment where Demi didn’t step with Kali and she paced towards them. Mina’s parents ran for the safety of their car. Peggy turned from Tom’s stare to the pure grieving hell the had become her daughter. The engine roared and the tires furiously sent the car back out of the driveway. Tom saw as Kali ran past him.

Her eyes filled with tears and she wasn’t sure what she saw. She sure as hell heard the Prius that ran over her mother’s mailbox as it fled from the neighborhood. Kali tried to control her breath. She turned back to Tom as he stood completely still. He knew he would be in a world of hurt but he knew it was where he wanted to be. Kali wasn’t sure of what to say but was pulled back from her speechlessness when Manny tackled Tom ruthlessly from his feet.

Tom saw how beautiful Kali still was. He could feel the breath leave him. Then, he could feel all the breath knocked out of him as a woman small than Kali nearly knock him out.

“Manny! No!”

“Jesus Christ,” screamed Tom as he tried to shield his face form her raining fists.

“Donovan! Get her off him now!”

“Fuck that! She fucking bit me!”

Kali grabbed what she could and jerked her sister away until she set her sights on Don.

“What the hell was that for?!”

Peggy was out of breath trying to separate her children. She saw a few people on their street peeking through their curtains and she didn’t need the cops called again on a small disturbance. She did raise fighters. What she didn’t expect was Tom helping to stop the fighting. That and Demi making a dive for Tom.

“Manwhore!”

“Good dammit!”

Peggy stepped back and tried to catch her breath.

“Knock it off,” she gasped.

Something was wrong and it wasn’t from the cigarette. It was too soon.

More guests from the kitchen either watched from the front porch or failed at helping stop the fighting in the front yard. When she got a breath, Kali held up her hand to her sister.

“I said I got this,” she turned her head to Tom, “You need to leave. Now.”

“Mom?”

Manny’s voice had changed quickly to the point on concern. All eyes turned to Peggy on the ground and clutching her chest.

Kali was terrified at the silence.

-

She remembered how Kali looked when she was in the hospital. She was so pale. She could feel herself asleep. Her chest was going to cave in. She knew the feeling.

“I’m so sorry, Midge.”

She could feel the tears streaming down her face. The doctor and the nurses couldn’t know what she had been through. Third birth, third baby to join her husband. She tried to hold herself, but she felt she deserved a few tears. Her fingers wanted to hold more than his tiny hand.

“Can I at least hold him? Please?”

With the nod of his head, the doctor stepped aside and unhooked her baby as quickly and carefully as they could. Once all the medicine and the plastic was free, the last bit of the baby was given to her. She steadied her breath. She had gotten skilled in being able to silently grieve.

“You are just so beautiful,” she whispered.

Her face was a mess, but she didn’t wish to waste a moment. Nothing could be missed in the last breaths her little boy had.

“You would have had so much fun, Jonah. I’m sure of it.”

She wanted to sing, to kiss him, but everything was too much. Her eyes burned into her love. She asked the staff not to tell her how much time went by; she couldn’t accept it. She held him a little while longer, even after he stopped breathing.

“Ms. Dawson.”

“You have to take him from me. Now.”

She understood the importance of her choice. Another baby would have the chance Jonah never would. She fought her voice. Her arms trembled as a nurse stepped forward and lifted the baby from Peggy’s arms. Through her tears, she watched her baby carried away to the next life and out of hers. All she wanted to do was die.

She wanted to stop breathing and let it all go.

“You can see her now.”

Kali and Manny were the first on their feet. Kali stopped for a second and looked back to Tom’s bruised face.

“Go,” he softly smiled, “I’ll watch your things.”

She didn’t wait for him to finish. He stayed where he was and looked to Donovan and Demi. He knew to keep his mouth shut. Donovan had a small, single scratch on his cheek. Demi wasn’t so lucky. His wrist was wrapped in a bandage and brace from trying to pummel Tom.

“Why are you here?”

“Dem. Not now.”

“No. Fuck your moral code of conduct, Army Bitch. I have a right to know.”

“Because I fucked up twice and when Peggy told me that Mina was gone, I thought Kali might want someone in the wake of losing her soulmate. If you want to beat me into the ground, guess what? Get in line, but for right now, can we set this aside until we know that another person in her life is okay?!”

He stopped and made sure he didn’t draw unwanted attention to themselves.

They were silent.

“I can do that,” sighed Demi, “Fucking Dummy.”

“Girls, chill out.”

She hated seeing her kids worried.

“You had a heart attack!”

“And you have school in the morning. I’m fine now.”

She always chose her words carefully. Manny tried not to meet her mother’s eyes.

“Hey!”

Peggy snapped her fingers. Kali knew why. Manny tucked her hair over her ear; the aid was somewhere dropped and hopefully together on the front lawn. She caught Peggy’s hands.

“Go home. Take some food with you and go back to school. If you don’t maintain that GPA, you’ll have to reapply.”

Peggy made sure Manny saw her hands as she signed. Manny shook her head. She stepped forward and hugged her around the tubes in her arms. Peggy held on for as long as she could.

“Hey,” she snapped her fingers again, “What do we do? Tell me. Both of you.”

“Calm your tits. Tits out. Out the door.”

Manny tried not to laugh.

“That’s my girl. Go on. I’m taken care of.”

Peggy let her hand go and watched her most adventurous child stop in front of Kali.

I’m sorry about your ass’s face, she signed.

“Don’t worry,” she signed back, “It’s an improvement.”

Manny vanished around the corner, leaving Kali with their mother.

“So. I’m sorry?”

“Why? What did you do?”

“It’s my fault he’s here.”

“Mom!”

“Wine was involved, and I forgot with all the commotion.”

“Unlike the scene on the front lawn? God damn it all, Margret!”

Kali huffed her breath and moved into the bed with her. Peggy giggled as she tried her best to comfort her little girl.

“I thought you might want a happy face.”

“Fuck you,” she pouted.

Tom’s eyes wandered. He wasn’t really sure what to do with himself. Manny snatched her purse from the seat next him, ignoring he was even there.

Hey, I’m going back to get my stuff. I’ll be back in a week for break. Dibs on the chicken salad.

“Fine. How’s mama?”

She wants to see everyone, her eyes finally burned into Tom, including you, stale tea.

“Fine,” he signed, “I deserved that.”

She stuck up her middle finger and left them behind. Donovan grabbed the cover on the seat next to him.

“Let’s go, Green Bean,” he nodded to Tom, “Mama’s orders.”

Peggy smiled at the small group entering her room.

“My boys,” she smiled.

Kali moved from the bed and into the nearest chair before it was taken. Tom stayed on the other side of the room.

“Where do you fucking think you’re going?”

Demi and Donovan stepped back as Peggy held her arm open to Tom.

“Well, I…”

“Now, young man.”

He wasn’t sure why, but he felt he was the reason she was in the hospital bed to begin with. He balanced himself over the bed and gave Peggy the hug she wanted.

“I’m sorry about this.”

She let go and let Tom slink back to the couch on the farthest wall. Time passed and Peggy hated to let her children go. She tried hard to put on a brave face, even with pain in her chest. Demi left to get his wrist checked out and Donovan left to go clean the house. Only Kali and Tom stayed behind. At one point Tom woke with Kali under his arm. The room was completely dark with the exception of the nurse’s station.

1:30am

He turned off his phone, glad that his story of a sick family member gave him the privacy of finding Kali again. It all felt like a dream. Soon it would all end again.

“You act like she’s going to bite.”

Tom looked to Peggy trying to sit up in the bed. He slipped away from Kali and pressed the right buttons at the start of the bed to make her more comfortable.

“Thank you,” she sighed.

“I’m sorry.”

Peggy pushed on her tortoise shell glasses to see the fade of shame in his face. She patted the side of her bed for him to sit. He obeyed. Peggy could feel the strength in her hand weaken. No matter what happened, she knew she would fine. If only she really meant it.

“If you are sorry, then you need to meant it, Thomas. I’m still furious but life is short Tom. Stop being a pussy and talk with Kali. Get closure. Understand?”

“I understand.”

“Oh, honey,” she wheezed, “Just look after her.”

“I promise.”

Kali woke, seeing Peggy reach up and embrace Tom. It was strange to see her mother so forgiving after all she’d been through. She quietly slipped out of the room. She took a few steps down the hall, letting her mind wander. She had held on to her anger for so long after Tom had left but she thought that maybe if it was for the best. She did love Tom, but the pregnancy had been such a surprise, even with the fight, it was all too soon for them. Kali wanted what she had in the beginning with

Tom, a beautiful raw downward spiral. Things were different now.

Tom looked over to the couch, seeing Kali gone.

“Go,” Peggy whispered, “Don’t leave her alone.”

“Please try and get some rest.”

She only gave a soft smile as she had for years. The second Tom was gone, there was a loud beep on the screen above her head. She quickly removed the monitor from her finger before any nurses took notice. She would be fine. The pain returned and all she had to do was close her eyes and breathe. It wasn’t the best way, but everyone would be fine in time. They’d have to be. Nurses were busy with a rowdy patient across the way and they wouldn’t be back for her vitals in another hour or so.

She closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

She was so tired, and she didn’t want to sleep anymore. Her feet shuffled as she tried to keep her head up. Her mind was unsettled but she knew she was helping. She stopped at the door of the small room. The cries from the crib broke her heart.

“Ms. Dawson?”

“Where’s the family?”

“They left without him.”

“What?”

“They were considering adoption until I came back with the paperwork. That was half an hour ago.”

“My God.”

Peggy rushed into the room as quick as her muscles could allow her. She reached into the crib and held the little baby. It calmed in no time, leaving a smile to Peggy and the nurses face. The baby responded wonderfully to her touch.

“That’s much better now, isn’t it?”

The baby fell asleep quickly, easing her as she was led back to her room with her new guest.

“Will anyone be back for him?”

“Child services is on the way now.”

“If I need to talk to the doctor, I understand but I’d like to take him.”

“Are you sure?”

Peggy sat on her bed. Her heart was filled with sorrow of her loss but slowly filling as the beautiful little boy slept soundly in her arms.

“Maybe all this happens for a reason.”

The nurse eased her hand on Peggy’s shoulder.

“He will be so happy.”

The nurse left them alone and Peggy did what she could to ready herself before the proper people found her. Her heart exploded when she was granted custody.

“Name?”

She signed the last of the papers and meet the deep brown eyes that found her.

“Donovan. After my late husband.”

“Kali?”

Kali rubbed her arms, cold from the hospital air. Tom removed his dress coat and placed it around her arms.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

“I-I didn’t want to shout at 1 in the morning.”

“That’s probably wise. There’s some chairs around the corner.”

“You’ve been here before?”

“I work here janitorially.”

They sat by themselves, next to each other. Kali leaned against Tom as his arm drifted around her. It wouldn’t have been a great idea with eye contact. He fought himself to pull closer, pull her to his lap, to just hold her again. He would have to be fine with just that. She laced her fingers with his. His nose turned into her hair and smelled her. His heart was sore. The silence was needed.

“How did she go?”

He wasn’t given any details.

“She had a lot of headaches the past year. She’d been laid-off from her last job and she didn’t have the proper health insurance. Then there was a major nosebleed two weeks ago. It still seems so far away now. Mom took her to the ER, and she had a big clot in her brain.”

“Aneurysm?”

“It all happened so quickly. Even if she did have the means for having surgery, it wouldn’t have been enough. She was so full of life one day and then she was seizing and coding the next. Then, after two days, she made herself DNR. I couldn’t leave her.”

She sighed. She was so tired from all the tears. Tom kissed her hair. Kali knew what she wanted to say.

“I still love you, Tom. I was mad the after the fight and even worse when you left without saying goodbye, but I think it all was supposed to happen.”

“I know.”

He hated to agree.

“Mina did trust your character even if it did have shit moments. I’m willing to start over if you are but I need more time away from you.”

“I can live with that.”

Kali’s face slowly grew into a smile. Her eyelids slowly closed as she turned her face into Tom’s chest. He slowly reclined back in the uncomfortable chair ready for sleep to take him.

“Code Blue. Unit IMC.”

Tom and Kali both jumped at the sound of the intercom above their heads.

“The fuck?”

Kali rolled from the seat and watched the nurses rush down her mother’s side of the hall.

“No.”

Tom followed and was close behind once her eyes widened around the corner. They set off in a sprint to the rush filing into her mother’s room. Kali was frozen. Her mother disappeared in a sea of nurses racing to revive Peggy. Tom pulled her to the side from wheeling equipment. All she could do was hold Tom’s dress coat in her hands and ring the life from them as she watched her loving mother leave.

“Call it.”

“Time of death. 2:36am.”

-

“You got the list?”

Manny shook her head.

“I’m going to Japan next year. I’ll take a little more.”

Donovan rubbed at his arms through the Under Armor. Strange that he ran the whole way there, but he had a routine he liked to keep as well as the distraction. Kali was strangely relieved that they got a med student that was understanding of their situation.

“Demi.”

He just shook his head.

“I know why we have to do this now, but I just want to take my meds.”

It was a very long week for them.

“It’s okay. We’ll take Manny’s car if you want to go home.”

There was a small chuckle with a smile to follow.

“Maybe I’ll be the big spoon with your boyfriend.”

“There you are.”

Demi left his sister to do what he couldn’t handle anymore. Donovan grabbed the stiff cardboard box with the separated bits of his mother. Peggy had always wanted to travel but she was terrified to fly. Now, as agreed, she would see the world. With the box placed in the truck, everyone made a break for the backseat. Donovan turned for the road, but Kali was quicker.

“Hey, if you are taking the scenic route, can you pick up a few things at the market?”

“Sure thing. List?”

“Yeah. Be sure to get me the receipts when you get home.”

“Got it.”

Kali was able to settle herself in the driver’s seat. Manny was in the back without a word or sign. Silence was understandable. Everything blended so easily. The car stopped in the driveway. With the motor off, Kali could only sit there. Her eyes drifted over the two story home that her mother worked hard to pay off. The lawyer was a family friend and would make the last day of Shiva but thankfully Tom would be gone by then. Soon they would have to talk but there were things that she was and wasn’t feeling. Her eyes wondered to the mailbox that was back in the ground while they were gone earlier that morning. Tom must have been busy since then. She reached behind her.

“Hey,” she swatted at Manny’s bare leg, “We got work to do.”

Manny groaned but she knew. Kali was first in the house and taken completely by surprise. Demi was already on his feet and helping rearrange the family and friends that were already there. His pain meds always made him helpful and uppity. Peggy did have plans put in place. Kali had hoped it would be a few decades before they would happen but here it was.

Music came from the den, mostly 80’s rock and trash. Everyone agreed that was where the booze stayed. The kitchen would be put to use. There was food and a system for dirty dishes. That’s where she found Tom. She didn’t stay long as Manny stomped upstairs with half a bottle of Jack. She snapped to Donovan as he arrived home.

“I got her.”

Kali pushed her brown hair back and was carried with the system of the house. Most of the house had a flow. Only a few people upstairs at a time. Bathrooms stocked at all times. No empty plates in the house. No one had to leave for the week but there had to be breaks. Kali checked her phone the moment she felt some fatigue.

“Go have a lie down.”

Manny signed her.

“Where have you been for the last five hours? I thought you’d be out.”

“I almost got into a fight with Don, but we went for a run. I had a panic attack.”

“What?!”

“I’m a little better now and I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, kid. We just grieve differently.”

“It’s almost midnight. Go to bed, man.”

She didn’t realize how the house had gotten quiet.

“Everyone else down?”

“Demi crashed in Mom’s bed. We got ourselves. Go.”

It wasn’t just her bed she was pushing Kali to. She stopped in the bathroom that was finally silent. She washed up as quick as she could before she cried. It didn’t stop her hands from shaking. Her hand could barely grab the doorknob.

“Kali?”

She sighed in relief as she heard Tom on the other side of the door. She used what strength she had to pull the door open. Tom was ready for anything as Kali stood in the quiet little bathroom.

“Hi.”

_____

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[thelastpilot]

Knighted- Chapter 4

longest one so far, but not too long to enjoy. Bunch of stuff in this one! rather liked it. Let me know what you think! seeing people enjoy it makes it all the more fun to continue!

The main bulk of the castle was very different from its exterior locations, the closer to its heart you went the more lavish and powerful looking it became. Ever since he had arrived Nino had only ever wandered into the main section of the castle in search of the captain to receive orders, and he had felt extremely out of place as he hurried from one hallway to the next. Now though, he could not say the same.

He walked up the regal stone staircase flanked by luxurious tapestries with his head held high, an undeniable swell of pride propelling him forward as the sun climbed higher in the sky outside. It was nearly midday now and he was filled with an overwhelming surge of emotion as he passed one set of guards after the next. Every time he did their heads would turn to watch him march past, a few of them smiling, the bulk of them struggling to hide their disgust. It just pushed him farther.

Nino was dressed, for the first time, in ‘full armor’. Full armor simply meant that he was in completely presentable condition, his armor polished and the royal family’s seal of honor displayed proudly in a flare of deep purple on his shoulder. Such a state was reserved only for assignments in which they were in royal company or to indicate that they were of exceptionally high rank, and the young soldier wore it with pride. Every guard he passed wore their uniformed armor, but only he carried the seal.

Though he had never gone there in person he had obsessively memorized a servant’s description on how to find the royal family’s chambers, taking each turn as he was meant to. He was hyper aware of the sound of his armor as he made his way there, anxious energy threatening the strength of his gate. However, every time he came to doubt himself he would find himself passing by a servant, on his or her way to do what they must, and he would be bolstered by their smiles. They all knew who he was, and he was humbled to have realized that he had become their hero in a way.

Nino’s thoughts churned and fretted as he came to an open sided hallway, the warm air of the end of summer finding him as he turned his face towards it. Through its openings he could see the courtyards that surrounded and dotted the castle grounds, his eyes drawn to the secondary unit’s exercises on the training field far below him. He did not pause to watch, his destination too important, but he did find some strength in how far above it he stood at that moment.

He turned forward with renewed confidence, looking down the hallway towards where he knew the royal rooms to be when suddenly he spotted movement from the door closest to the end and thus, the closest to Nino. To have a room there would make you very important indeed though they were not as highly placed as the family themselves, so Nino mentally prepared himself to bow or salute them appropriately, when suddenly the man exiting his quarters turned to face him and exclaimed in surprise.

“Nino!”

Though he had been drilling it in his mind for months now when and where to be formal and appropriate he reacted on instinct, and before his training could kick in he enthusiastically replied, “Adrien!”

The young nobleman, who he now knew properly to be the prince of the neighboring kingdom Adrien Agreste, held out his arms in greeting, his blindingly bright smile splitting his face as he headed towards him.

“Well look at you!” he blurted out, the young man seeming to also forget himself for a moment. “Now you’re really kitted out!”

“It’s great to see you!” Nino replied, making an attempt to reign in the familiarity but finding it hard with Adrien being so eager himself. When Adrien reached out in a kind gesture to place his hand on his shoulder he returned it unhesitatingly, though he did look around to ensure they were alone on instinct. “I haven’t run into you in forever, at least not at a time where I could talk to you. Where have you been?”

“Home, but I’m glad to be back. My father had summoned me back to make an appearance at a handful of ceremonies and things like that.” Adrien dropped the contact and shrugged dismissively, clearly finding Nino’s position much more intriguing than his own, eyeing the guard in front of him with an ecstatic expression. His gaze froze on his shoulder, taking in the deep purple cloth pinned there by shining metal before his expression lit up. “Are you wearing the seal?” Adrien asked immediately, cutting off Nino’s question and pointing at the cloth. “That’s what that is right? Did you get promoted?! Tell me you got promoted!!”

“Woah, woah!” Nino blurted out, laughing as he held up his hands. “Hold on there no, I’m not any kind of captain, not yet at least. But I did get moved up.” Admittedly it felt a little childish, but he couldn’t help but square his shoulders as he pridefully declared, “Actually, I’m on my way to a special assignment right now. I was asked to be the personal escort to her royal highness as she took the young princesses out for the day.”

“What!? Well done!!”

Nino jerked in surprise when Adrien hugged him, but despite how inappropriate he knew it was to be so openly friendly with a prince, he once again couldn’t contain himself and returned the hug, laughing with the friend he really shouldn’t have. It was impossible to just treat Adrien like a higher up, someone he should bow his head to and only call ‘sir’. It just didn’t feel right, not because he meant him any kind of disrespect, but because Adrien treated him like an equal.

They ended the embrace quickly, and Nino realized that Adrien was aware of their class difference, if only in the way that he checked that no one had seen. Adrien was such a genuine person though that Nino knew it was to protect him, not because Adrien was afraid of being punished himself.

“That’s great news, and it’s completely deserved! I know we haven’t been able to talk much, or at all really I’m sorry about that, but I’ve been keeping track of you. You’ve worked so hard, trust me it brings me no small amount of satisfaction to see all the other stuffy court advisors finally shut up about having a commoner in the guard. You’ve exceeded everyone’s expectations and then some, they’re running out of things to say.”

“That’s my goal,” Nino admitted, laughing a bit. “But still, my effort would mean nothing if I’d never been given the chance. I know I’ve told you this before but I don’t think I can ever say enough how much I owe you for this.”

“You earned it yourself, I honestly had very little to do with it,” Adrien replied instantly, beaming at him. “I’m proud of you, you’re showing everyone what you’re made of and it’s amazing to watch.” Adrien surprised his friend by turning away, gesturing down the hallway with another smile. “As excited as I am to see you I didn’t mean to hold you up, you said you’re going to Alya’s room right? It’s just down there.”

Nino stiffened, his eyes widening a bit. “Oh, crap you’re right,” he cursed, nervously running a hand through his hair again as he checked out the opening in the hallway, keeping an eye on the sun which was now almost directly overhead. “I’m not late yet but its close, I should go. I’m nervous enough about meeting her as it is.”

“Nervous?” Adrien asked, turning back to the guard and deciding to walk with him instead of leaving right away, the pair of them starting down the hall again. “It is an important job I suppose but you don’t need to be nervous of Alya.”

“You know her don’t you?” Nino decided to ask, realizing that Adrien was probably his best bet at getting any kind of advice outside of the guard. “I got so much conflicting information from the other guards, it’s like nobody knows how to deal with her.”

To his surprise Adrien laughed, his voice incredulous as he said “What do you mean deal with her? It’s Alya not the panther.”

“The panther?”

“She’s a person like anybody else,” Adrien continued, seeming to miss Nino’s comment entirely. Adrien shook his head, huffing a little. “She’s a great person, actually, but she’s in a tough position. Trust me I get exactly what she’s dealing with, it’s why I’m here.” Adrien looked over at him, his expression earnest. “Try and imagine just for a second what it would be like to never be treated like a person? To have everybody around you respect your title over your name. I know it sounds… privileged to complain about, I’m not saying other people don’t have profound struggles, I’m just saying that there is a different kind of problem with being royalty.”

Adrien hesitated to continue and looked away, but Nino waited, slowing his step slightly to prolong the conversation. After a moment Adrien spoke again, his tone soft.

“I get that the guard is intimidated by her, she’s kind of an intimidating person, but just try and remember that. We were both careful while we talked because we knew that you would get in trouble if someone saw us. That’s how everyone in her life is, she can’t have friends. That gets to you after a while.” Adrien nodded, aware that they had come to a stop and looking up to see an ornate, heavy wooden door. He knew it was Alya’s.

“So what should I do?” Nino asked seriously, and Adrien looked up at him, the prince smiling slowly.

“This,” he answered earnestly, gesturing to the short space between the two of them. “Just talk. Don’t be reckless, even if she would appreciate your informality the King certainly wouldn’t, as well as anyone else really. It sucks and it’s unfair, but it’s how it is. So don’t be unsafe, just realize the kind of value an honest conversation could have to her. Be kind and professional, and if you ever have a chance alone with her, maybe talk for a while. It’d be more than anyone else has ever done.”

Nino paused, absorbing what he said in silence and nodding slightly. It was disappointing that he had only been able to talk to Adrien for a few minutes, but he was glad he had run into him when he did. It felt kind of serendipitous that Adrien would be there, the princess’s situation reminding him of his own.

Nino wondered silently how many friends Adrien had himself.

The prince clapped him lightly on the shoulder, his hand making a funny sort of hollow sound on the metal of his armor that made them both laugh a little despite serious topics.

“You’ll like her,” Adrien assured him, taking a few steps back from the door. “I should probably let you get to it though.”

“Your room is just down there right?” Nino clarified, gesturing back the way they had come. “It’s a shame I don’t run into you more often.”

Adrien hesitated for a step before a grin broke out on his face. “Yeah, that’s where I stay. Why?”

“Oh you know,” Nino said dismissively, shrugging in a way that made Adrien laugh. “Not to hang out or nothing, that would be informal.”

“Highly inappropriate,” Adrien agreed, using the same kind of sarcastic tone. “Unheard of really.”

“Absolutely unacceptable,” Nino tacked on, “Never would happen. But if it did, hypothetically-,”

“Hypothetically I’d be in there most nights and wouldn’t say a word.”

“Well then hypothetically that sounds great,” Nino finished, grinning now himself. The two of them laughed to themselves, and Nino took the chance to salute loosely with one hand. “See you around ‘sire’.”

“See ya,” Adrien chuckled, finally fully turning to be on his way.

 Nino watched him go, the prince leaving to go do… whatever it was that princes did in the day when vacationing in another kingdom. The thought of defying class tradition even more than he already had made him smile, and he looked forward to finding some time to sneak off and actually get to just get to know the man who had changed his life. They had been lucky to have even traded 6 or so conversations, and every time he did Nino reaffirmed to himself what a good person Adrien really was.

Lonely, but good.

 The guard took a deep breath, focusing again on the intricately carved wooden door in front of him. He was likely expected by this point, but despite Adrien’s advice he was still a little unsure of himself. He couldn’t put it off anymore though… and after a final moment more Nino squared his shoulders and stood tall, knocking on the door with his metal clad fist.

It took two weighty raps against the door for him to be heard, but as soon as his hand started to lower he heard a response. A female voice.

“Come in!”

Nino waited, breathing deeply before taking the door knob in a firm hand and opening it wide.

The young guard stepped through into a space that was clearly furnished by wealthy people, but to someone with simple tastes. Not inelegant certainly, but not gaudily encrusted with diamonds either (as he had low key been expecting). No, the wealth showed most in the quality of its furnishings, in the carvings in the dark wood and the vibrancy of the carpets. It was a very spacious chamber compared to his own, which was a little below average as it was before it was crammed with four beds. This space held only one bed, the very large four poster kind with its carved columns and tasteful canopy catching his eye. The bed was easily the nicest piece in there, but there was also a desk, a side table, a long table and a set of dressers with vibrant carpets dotted across the stone floor. A royal room, should there ever be one.

He absorbed the room quickly, and it wasn’t long at all before his gaze fell towards the large set of balcony doors across from him, currently open and revealing a woman who now turned towards him with her back to the open air outside.

His nerves were already electric but seeing her sent an anxious surge through him, worsening a little when she smiled.

It couldn’t possibly be inappropriate to acknowledge that she was beautiful, it would be impossible to be near her and not immediately be aware of it. She was dark skinned to the point where the white flash of her teeth was stunning, her eyes a strong gemstone like hazel though it wasn’t necessarily the color that he noticed the most. It was what you could see of her in them, describing her more clearly then the richly dark-colored curls of her hair.

She smiled appropriately at him, something polite and practiced but her eyes were withdrawn, steady, and strong. There was not a fire in her eyes, but rather the steel to strike it. This all was not exactly telling of her current demeanor, which seemed polite and rehearsed, but rather an indication of her.

Or perhaps he read too deeply…

But to him she seemed unbreakable.

“Ah, you must be my escort for the day, right?” she asked him, her voice even but her expression a little… hm. He didn’t have the words for it. Put out maybe? She smoothed the front of her elegant dress with one hand, her dark skin complimented by the rich orange of it, he noticed. She looked back up at him, folding her hands loosely in front of her. “Well you’re on time. A little early, actually, my little sisters haven’t arrived yet. Their lessons must have gone long.”

Nino was trying to decide quickly whether or not he was expected to respond when something in her expression shifted, and suddenly he felt as if she was searching him intensely. He tensed a little as she tilted her head to the side, her hair shifting to reveal a rather cute birthmark above one eye.

He really needed to stop getting distracted.

“Wait,” she spoke abruptly, though he had no immediate intention of doing anything. Her eyes cast over his armor and then back to his face, the poor guard starting to fry on the spot when she suddenly said, “I know you.”

“I’m sorry?” he asked aloud, his surprise asking the question first and forcing him to tack on, “your majesty” half a second later.

“Yes, yes I knew you looked familiar!” she said instead of answering, her expression lighting up as she moved forward eagerly, closing the sizable distance between them somewhat. “I saw you yesterday in the training field, you were fighting the Captain weren’t you? Nino, Nino Lahiffe, isn’t it?”

Nino’s eyes widened, and he couldn’t help but have his heart sink just a little. Here he was trying to make a good impression as her personal guard, when the first thing she had ever seen him do was LOSE in a fight. He felt sort of childish but he was kind of… devastated.

“You saw that?” He hesitated for a moment before he chuckled a little awkwardly, “Yes that was me. I didn’t know that you were watching, your majesty.”

“It was an amazing fight; it was hard not to notice it.” She smiled at him more genuinely now, an actual smile instead of a polite one. “I haven’t seen anyone withstand the Captain for that long in… well, nobody EVER lasts really. Alix is pretty intense.”

“She’s terrifying,” Nino agreed a little unprofessionally, but he was delighted to see her smile again. “I’m pleased I survived. But I assure you princess you’re no less safe with me, the Captain is just a frightening exception.”

Alya absorbed what he said for about half a second before she was laughing, Nino grinning instantly at the sound of it. He shifted in place excitedly, grateful that Adrien’s advice was panning out. Just treat her like a person. Teasing and a joke, but professional reassurance, this was good right? But he was being honest when he told her she was perfectly safe with him, he was a little worried that losing would make her think he was less capable. He already had so much to prove, having the princess think he was any less of a fighter was unacceptable to him.

Alya was still giggling as he thought this, straightening up and smiling at him. “Don’t worry, I saw most of it. You had someone as skilled as Alix on the run for quite a bit of that fight, against anyone else I know you would have won. I understand your concern though, losing to a woman half your size must be killer for your confidence.”

Nino chuckled a little, his nerves finally starting to die out as he found the confidence to jokingly reply, “Funnily enough nobody else in the guard seems to fault me for it. It’s almost like all of them have been beaten by her at one point or another.”

Alya chuckled, looking up at him with a new kind of expression. There was a moments silence before she said, “You know, when Dawlyn told me your name yesterday it sounded familiar to me but I couldn’t place why.”

She didn’t continue like he expected her to, the princess instead just watching him curiously. “I can’t imagine why, your majesty,” he replied honestly.

“I thought maybe it was your family, but I realized I’d never heard the Lahiffe name before.”

Nino felt a slight discomfort crawl across the back of his neck, her words making him feel out of place in his uniform rather abruptly. His armor, which had faded from his notice, suddenly felt heavy again.

“You wouldn’t know it,” he admitted after a second, his tone just a little bit more withdrawn. A little bit more professional. “It is not a noble name, your highness. My enlistment was kind of an… exception.”

Her eyes widened at his answer and her lips parted in a silent gasp. Nino was left in his discomfort for only a moment more, before quite suddenly, her face was split by a grin.

“I knew it was familiar!” she exclaimed excitedly, Nino jumping a little at the sudden volume. She moved forward and all at once the distance between them was cut more than in half, the princess eager now. “I knew I had heard it! Of course I would have, it makes so much sense now! You WOULD be an exceptional fighter; you’d have to be! You’re the one Adrien told me about!”

Nino was leaning away slightly as she leaned forward, startled by her sudden enthusiasm and floundering for what to say, completely thrown off. Her eyes were shining with interest and heat crawled up his back.

“I- I well yes, I’m the- I only just joined the guard.” Nino hesitated again, looking down at her as he asked, “Adrien told you about me?”

“Yes! You saved his life, it was all he was talking about when he first arrived. He wouldn’t stop until my father agreed to see you, he was practically demanding that you have a place in the guard.”

Nino was stiff, incredibly caught off guard by her reaction. He had been expecting her to look down her nose at him but he hadn’t been expecting her to be… well.

Impressed.

Nino stood there awkwardly, realizing he had no idea what to say in response. She was on the verge of asking about a hundred questions at once, leaning towards him with a powerful and earnest kind of eagerness he was unprepared to deal with. Her curiosity, for just a moment, did away with any barriers. And he was left looking into her eyes.

Till there was a knock at the door.

The princess had barely even a second to pull away, Nino all at once standing ramrod straight as they were abruptly intruded upon. The knock came only a split second before the door swung open and he turned in time to see two little girls standing in the doorway before they were sprinting inside, passing him in a sudden blur to get to their sister who they did not notice looked a little bit peeved.

“Alya, today-!”

“We were-“

“Are we leaving yet?”

“And then-!”

Nino shook his head a little as if to try and make sense of the sudden gaggle of words, the two little girls each talking fast enough to make it sound as if there were even more of them. Nino watched as Alya sighed, smiling a little despite her slight irritation as she bent down to greet them.

The two little girls looked extraordinarily alike, as young twins often did, but there were slight differences. They were small enough however that he wouldn’t be confident at all picking which was which if they were not conveniently color coded.

They both looked an awful lot like Alya (though not as much as they did each other, clearly) but instead of wearing their hair down it was bundled up nicely in blue and pink bows. Their dresses were appropriately blue and pink as well, made just as finely and with as much detail as their sisters. He had heard the young princesses were about nine or so, but they looked even younger as they eagerly clung to Alya’s gown.

“Yes we’re leaving right now, you can tell me about it as we go alright? You’re being rude, remember yourselves. We have someone with us.”

Both little girls blinked, looking up at Alya for another full second before their attention drifted to Nino for the first time.

“Etta, Ella, this is Nino,” Alya introduced him, nodding with approval when both girls straightened up and behaved themselves. She smiled at him before telling them, “He is going to be watching out for us in the fields today so make sure you are polite to him.”

“I don’t know you,” one of them spoke up, the one in pink to be precise. He couldn’t be much more precise than that because, unfortunately, Alya had introduced them with their names together, and for the life of him he couldn’t decide whether the one in pink was Ella or Etta. Whoever it was looked back up at Alya, asking her “I thought we knew all the guards?”

“He’s new,” she explained, her smile slipping more so into her real one as she said, “He’s actually very special. Nino wasn’t chosen from the noble families like the other guards were, but earned his place through his talent.” Nino stiffened nervously when she met his eye again, saying calmly but with that real smile “It’s very impressive.”

There was a space of silence where no one said anything, the twins looking at him with wide, curious eyes. But he was once again caught up in Alya, and he found himself replying, “Thank you.”

He forgot to add any sort of title, something he only noticed when the twins traded a glance, but even that failed to unease him as Alya grinned again. He was pleased that, at least somewhat, he had managed to reclaim whatever sort of rapport they had created in the short time they had spoken. But with another look to the young princesses he reminded himself to be careful.

“Your majesties,” he greeted them with a bow, smiling at them as warmly as he could while still remaining professional. They were still just kids, being surrounded by formal adults must get exhausting after a while. “It’s an honor. As her highness said I’ll be watching out for you, but don’t let me get in the way of your day. I’m just here to make sure you’re safe.”

“Thank you sir,” the one in blue said appropriately, the pair of them curtsying. Despite their formality though, they both returned that same warm smile he had given them.

With that he looked back to Alya and waited, and she took it as a queue to move things along.

“Alright then, the horses should be waiting for us but it’s not far. We only have a few things to take with us, so we should be on our way.”

Alya gestured to her side towards the long table in the main space of her room, a bundle of this already waiting. Nino didn’t hesitate to cross towards it, quickly glancing over the basket filled with food and the weighty red blanket before picking it up and turning back towards the girls.

Alya grinned, grabbing her young sisters by the hand as she asked, “Are you sure you’ve got that? I can ask Alix to come help you if you’re struggling you know.”

Etta and Ella gasped a little, giggling but clearly surprised. Nino to his credit also looked surprise, but he was quick to suddenly lower the items, as if abruptly they were far too heavy to carry.

“I’m not sure how I’ll do it there has to be at least three lunches in here, but I’m aiming to impress so I will do my best to scrape by, your highness.”

Nino grinned as the twins laughed at the joke, Alya snickering too as she shook her head. Nino was grinning still as they headed towards the still open door, the girls leaving first with Nino to bring up the rear and close the door behind them.

He may have been carrying their things but he didn’t feel much like a servant as he walked along behind them. The four of them started down the hallway and Nino watched with that same pride he had felt before as the three princesses talked about their days, the younger sisters animatedly detailing yet another interesting lesson they had finished. Every time Alya would look over her shoulder to see him trailing perhaps only five feet behind she would offer him a smile and he would return it, going out of his way to make sure he never missed one even when he had to take the lead to pass them through the outer sections of the castle.

It was simple but he thought it was important, checking on them all over his shoulder and taking the second to return her smile before looking forward again. It didn’t matter if he held their things or fetched their horses, he still felt like the guard he knew he was.

When it came time to it he let Alya board her horse herself, deciding on the fly that he would try and offer her what independence he could. She had walked forward but glanced back at him like she expected him to stop her, and when he didn’t he earned another one of her smiles, and he gave her another one of his.

He couldn’t deny the power he felt as he moved his borrowed, royal steed to the front of their procession, its hooves clamoring loudly on the cobbled stone of the main road leading out of the castle. The warm summer sun reflected off his armor and made the vibrant purple of his seal even brighter, the young guard sitting high on the saddle as he looked back at his charges.

Here he was, his armor on his shoulders, his sword at his hip, and the princesses riding to either side of him expectantly, looking to their escort to lead the way.

There was so much power in nodding silently for the gate to be opened, leading the way through onto the road that led to the city. He could hear the distant horse hooves of the escort team assigned to keep their distance overpowered by the sound of the horses of the people he was charged to protect. Out of everyone he was leading them, and he knew he would take immense satisfaction in watching every guard who spat at him and told him to head home to his farm defer to his lead and be forced to stand by a couple hundred yards away.

He escorted them through the city and swelled with pride every time a commoner would look up at him and then to the princesses that followed, everyone shouting their praise and paying their respects as they waved back and gave them their practiced smiles, kind, but distant.

He knew what he looked like in that moment, flanked by royalty and bearing his seal, so he held his head high.

Because he knew, in that moment,

He looked like a knight.