“Rematch”
Pls excuse my shoddy editing skills as I attempted to shove these all together.
[ID: Three composite pencil-drawn comic panels.
Panel One: The first image shows Su from the shoulders up, in her Zaofu outfit with two swords sheathed behind her shoulders. She’s wearing a dismissive expression and the caption reads ‘Oh, don’t let Lin convince you she’s perfect; when we were kids.....” The second image is a similar angle of Lin, who wears an annoyed expression beside the caption “At least they didn’t have to send me away.” The third image shows Su turning over her shoulder with a frown, captioned “I’m sorry, what was that?” The fourth image shows both of their faces in profile, shouting at each other. The dialogue is vague. Lin: I’m just saying... Su: ....whose fault.... Lin: ....take responsibility.... Su: ....I have a life.... The final set of images shows the hilts of each of their swords; Su’s with detailed, swirling handguards, Lin’s simple with the earth kingdom insignia and a tassel. Both of their hands are reaching for the hilts. Lin’s dialogue continues with “....SPOILED BRAT....” and Su’s continues with “....JUST LIKE MOM!”
Panel Two: The first image shows both Lin and Su in profile from the waist up. Su’s two swords are crossed against Lin’s single dao in a lock. Both women are snarling. The second image is again from the waist up; Lin is on the left, bending backward, her hair flying out behind her as Su sweeps both of her swords directly over Lin’s head. Su is shown from the rear. The third is a set of three images showing Lin bending a jagged rock from the ground to launch herself backward, doing a back flip, and landing in a run with her dao raised and a determined expression. The fourth set of images shows three full-body sketches of Su- in the first, she is surprised as rocks come flying at her from the foreground. In the second, she is in mid-spin standing to dodge the rocks. In the third, she is running forward, the rocks now behind her, with an angry expression.
Panel Three: The first image is a full body sketch of Lin, charging forward with a snarl on her face. Her sword is in her right hand, and her left is extended to send one of her metal cables ahead of her. The second and third images are each of Suyin’s ankle- in the first, a metal cable wraps loosely around her ankle, and in the second, the cable has tightened to pull Su’s foot out from beneath her. The fourth image is a full body sketch of both women- Su is shown from behind, staggering backward. Her right arm is raised, but her sword has flown out of it. Lin stands in front of her, left arm and dao raised in a sweeping motion that appears to have caused Su to lose her grip on the sword. The fifth image is a full body sketch in profile, showing Su on her knees, one hand behind her dropping her remaining sword, with a shocked expression on her face. Lin is in front of her in a lunge, still glaring, with her sword beneath Su’s chin. The next image shows Su from the shoulders up- her hair is disheveled, her eyes are wide and her mouth is open in shock. She is sweating. The following two images are both of Lin. The first is of her head and shoulders, where she wears a glare. She does not look tired after the fight. The second is a full body sketch. She is wearing a cold expression as she sheaths her sword, one shoulder turned toward the viewer. Her dialogue reads ‘I am not Mom.’
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Alone, finally, for Kurt and Nadia?
I’ve tried to keep anything potentially spoilery vague because I know you haven’t played the game yet (you should 😉) but this takes place later in the game after Kurt and Nadia are finally in an actual relationship!
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Nadia kicked the door to her bedroom shut with a relieved sigh. Home, at last. A chance to spend a few hours blissfully, blessedly alone, finally. Weeks of travel and constant meetings and negotiations had run her ragged. She set about removing her bags, weapons, armor, hat, boots, and coat as she made her way across the room, collapsing to her bed in nothing but a shirt and breeches.
It really was a very comfortable bed. She didn’t think anyone would blame her if she stayed just like this for a few hours. Someone would fetch her for dinner, probably, or if any emergencies popped up. They would be fine without her.
A quiet knock sounded at her door. She stifled a groan and instead called out, “Who is it?”
“It’s me,” Kurt replied, voice muffled by the thick wood door but still instantly recognizable to her. “Can I come in?”
“Of course.”
Unlike her, he was still fully dressed. He hadn’t even set his weapons down yet, standing in her doorway like a beautiful, one-man army.
He shut the door carefully behind him, then walked over to the side of the bed, staring down at her with amusement. “Are you busy, my lady?”
She shrugged as best she could while laying down. “Just hoping to enjoy a few minutes alone before the next disaster arrives.”
A subtle look of resignation crossed his face before his features smoothed out to a neutral expression that gave away nothing of the emotions behind it. “I should leave you to it, then.” He took a step back before she had a chance to reply, already on his way back to the door.
“No!” Nadia bolted upright and caught him by the wrist before he could get far. When he turned to face her again, she let go, sliding her hand down to twine her fingers with his. “My dearest Kurt, you are never an imposition. You are always welcome here.” She slid off the bed to move closer to him; he watched her approach with the same gentle awe that she watched the sunrise. “I just mean I want a little time where I can be… me. But if that means some time where we can be us, even better.”
Kurt relaxed by inches as the truth of her words sank in. His free hand rested on her waist, lightly at first before wrapping around her to close the distance between them. “Good. I had hoped that we might spend some time together, while we can. Just the two of us. But you have so many people demanding your attention, and I don’t want you to ever feel like I’m one of them.”
She lifted a hand to his face, cupping his cheek. He turned his head to kiss her palm before leaning into her touch. “I could spend every minute of every day in your company and never tire of it.” In truth, she did spend nearly every minute with him already, and even so she missed him on the rare occasion they were apart. She would be embarrassed about it if he wasn’t so obviously pleased by the admission.
“My sweet Excellency…” His lips found hers and he pulled her in, kissing her deep but slow, unhurried. This, more than anything else, felt truly like coming home, and Nadia melted into him, letting him take his time. If she could do nothing for the next few days but kiss him like this, she would be happy.
Well, except for one minor obstacle.
She pulled away just enough to allow her to talk, her lips brushing his with every word. “Help me take this off.” She fumbled with the straps of his gorget, trying to unbuckle it without looking. “I wish to reacquaint myself with the man underneath.”
They probably could have removed his arms and armor much faster, but kept getting distracted by each other. Every time a piece of armor clattered to the floor, Nadia’s hands found their way to the space it had just occupied. Every time she leaned close to untie a strap or loosen a buckle, Kurt’s lips found hers again, each kiss a little hungrier than the last.
Finally the last piece fell away, followed by the padded doublet underneath and - to Nadia’s delight - the shirt beneath it as well. She reached for him eagerly, relishing the feel of warm skin instead of cold steel and the way firm muscle twitched and bunched under her touch as he guided her backwards toward the bed.
As soon as she fell back onto the mattress, he climbed after, settling over her carefully as if scared of crushing her under his weight. She dragged him down to her anyway, unconcerned about anything except having him closer.
A loud, nearly frantic knock sounded at the door, and it swung open before either of them could react. “Hello, darling cous--”
On instinct, Kurt lunged for the knife Nadia kept strapped to the bedpost, but stopped short when he recognized the voice, instead burying his face in her shoulder with a frustrated groan.
For her part, Nadia kept her arms around him, making no effort to hide what they’d been doing or make the situation more comfortable for Constantin. “Can you come back later, dear cousin? We were rather in the middle of something.”
“Nadi, what is this?” His head appeared in her line of sight, wearing the wicked grin of a brother who just caught his little sister in a compromising situation. It twisted the dark scars on his face into something unfamiliar, for a moment rendering him nearly unrecognizable. “Is that Kurt?”
Kurt sighed and pressed a kiss to Nadia’s temple before pulling back to sit on the edge of the bed. He met Constantin’s eyes in something like a challenge and something like bracing himself for a hit. “I’m afraid so, Your Highness.”
“Fantastic!” He slapped a hand onto Kurt’s shoulder, catching him off guard enough to knock him a little off balance. “I couldn’t imagine a better man for my Nadi.”
“Why are you even here, Constantin?” Nadia dragged herself into a seated position reluctantly, unsettled by having her cousin looming over her in such a way. “Don’t you have work to do?”
“Don’t you?”
“Not until tomorrow,” she said patiently. “And you didn’t answer my question.”
He flopped down on the bed next to Nadia, shrugging dolefully. “I was bored. So I left.”
“Alone?” Kurt asked sharply, frowning at the prince.
Constantin waved away his concern. “No, I brought a guard. Bernard or Bertrand or something like that.” He tapped his lower lip in thought for a moment, then sat suddenly straighter, snapping his fingers triumphantly. “Brandt! He’s downstairs trying to make conversation with Father Petrus, but I wanted to come surprise you.”
“Well, you certainly did that,” Nadia laughed. "Good thing you showed up when you did. Five minutes later and we'd be having a very different conversation."
His icy eyes went wide, as if he’d finally realized what he’d walked in on, and stood up to back toward the door. “I should--I’m going to go. Now. And let you get back to…” He paused, then crossed the room again to pull Nadia into a tight hug. “Come see me, when you have time. It seems we have a lot to catch up on.”
“We do." She hugged him back just as tightly until he pulled away first. "I’ll see you later.”
Thankfully, he left quickly after that.
Kurt closed and locked the door after Constantin was gone, chuckling to himself. “Well, it’s nice to know that some things never change. I’m surprised he didn’t come in through the window instead. A few years ago, he would have.”
“True.” Nadia frowned in thought. Even a few months ago, Constantin would have likely come in the window. He only stopped when he got sick, but that was just one of many things that had changed since… well, since he had. It made her nervous, in a way she couldn’t yet articulate.
With effort, she shook the thought away and turned her attention back to her handsome and still very shirtless bodyguard. She held a hand out to him in invitation. “Come here, beloved.” Kurt shivered visibly at the endearment, but didn’t hesitate to do as she asked, taking her hand and letting her pull him to the bed. “Now where were we?”
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