Holding Out for a Hero: Part 1
"Fine, I'll do it myself"
After watching the D&D movie yesterday, I have had *brain rot* for Xenk Yendar. And no fic has been posted. I want romance. And you know what they say - If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Probably will be multiple parts if the writing bug bites again.
Please be kind, I haven't published fanfic in years, and never on Tumblr.
After defeating Sofina and saving Neverwinter from the Wizards of Thay, the Thieves did try to lead a normal life.
Honestly.
However, it wasn't a surprise when on more than one occasion, Thay assassins showed up to try and kill them. So often in fact, that they had to constantly travel in order to stay ahead of their hunters, who would reanimate within hours of being killed, no matter how bloody Holga or Doric made the scene. They had made an enemy of Szass Tam after all, and he was not the forgiving sort.
Finding a letter on the corpse of their last assassin (they had taken to "liberating" all of their would-be killers' belongings before they were able to revive, as it really delayed the next time they would meet) showed that the tide of undead assassins would not be slowing any time soon. By order of Szass Tam, they were to be killed in the most painful ways imaginable with a mighty prize to whoever was successful.
So Edgin and the troop once again tracked down the illustrious Xenk Yendar to find a way to put the assassins in the ground, permanently. You couldn't always count on an overfed dragon to do the job for you.
"What do you mean, a cleric? Clerics are healers!"
Xenk turned to face Edgin. "Clerics are the holy warriors of the gods. They can use the light to perform miracles, yes, but they also can harness the gifts they have been given against the undead in ways unparalleled by even the mightiest warrior or wizard."
"For the record," Simon spoke up from behind Edgin, "I also thought they just stayed in their temples healing people. So do we just stay at one until they catch up with us again?"
While it would offer the party safety, as temples are normally built or given hallowed ground and no undead can step foot there, it was decided (mainly by Edgin) that they would have to set a trap if they wanted these assassins gone for good. And they would need a cleric. The only connection they had to a holy order was the Emerald Enclave, who supposedly had dealings in the past with a traveling cleric.
There had been a small faction of the Church of Eternal Winter which had frozen a swath of land in their forest. This cleric had come through and removed the taint of Auril and in return was given a seedling of their largest oak tree and a promise of a place to rest whenever they passed through the area. According to Doric, the cleric was an elf, though she didn't know which god she was in service to. The last time they had passed through was before Doric was born.
Their journey brought them to Loudwater, the city of grottos. In searching and questioning in the section of the city populated by elves, they did not receive a warm welcome. Asking around at the many temples of Lathander and other woodland gods, there were no clerics who traveled or were willing to leave on such a dangerous quest. The party upon exiting was stopped by an orcish man.
"Sounds like Lyra. Why are you looking for her anyway?" He looked the party up and down with suspicion. "She hasn't done anything wrong."
Edgin served his role as face of the party. "No, of course not, it's just that-"
"We heard she can kill our enemies."
"HOLGA!"
After the misunderstanding was cleared, the orc who introduced himself as Zedroar Brittlebone brought them out to the Forestview Gate and into the town of tents and other less permanent structures where the orcs who labored in the fields had lived for a long time.
"Lyra's been here for a while now, keeps saying she'll leave soon but always finds a reason to stay. Says there are stories left to be told but I think she'll just miss us."
As they passed through the camp they could see the relaxed atmosphere of the community that had been built. Ahead on the path, there was a whole crowd of children orcish, human, and a few mixed in of other races and combinations. They were all sitting around on blankets or each other, listening to a woman tell a story.
"And the mighty warrior let out a fierce roar, saying You'll never get her, fiend!" The children squealed with excitement and laughed at her attempt at a deep heroic voice. She was elven, most likely a sun-elf with her golden complexion. At the sight of her, Xenk began slowly backtracking but was caught by Edgin.
"What are you doing?"
"I never should have come here." His eyes never left her.
"What are you talking about? Do you know her?"
Xenk was able to pull his eyes away, and look into Edgin's soul. "If she sees me with you, she will never agree to help."
"Now wait just a minute."
"It is high time for me to return to Mornbyrn's Shield"
"You are afraid of her." Edgin knew he was right, when Xenk stopped struggling to get away.
"i am not afraid," Now Xenk wouldn't look him in the eye, "I just don't wish to reopen old wounds."
"Come on, man. We need both of you if this is going to work. Take it from someone who has had to deal with their past catching up to them almost constantly for the past few years. The only way to get closure, for whatever happened, is to face it head-on." Edgin reached a hand to where Xenk had taken cover behind one of the wooden buildings. "I'm sure she's probably forgotten about it, since you both have been around for a long time."
Approaching the group, their other companions turned to face them.
"Where were you guys?" Holga looked them both up and down suspiciously.
"Good news," Simon smiled, "Lyra agreed to help us, right?"
The elven woman turned around from gathering her things and saying goodbye to some of the children. The casual smile on her face fell as she locked eyes with the paladin.
"Xenk"
"Alariel"
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hidden 2
cw: hostage situation, outlaw!rafe getting injured and reluctantly letting pogue!reader clean him up, suggestive & him being sleazy
wc: 2k
hope u enjoy xx
part 1 & part 3
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It’s past midnight and Rafe is driving over the speed-limit. He had said something about handling business and then more or less shoving her into the passenger seat of his truck before she even had the chance to open her mouth in objection.
The island sky is as dusky as the bottom of the ocean as he races through the soundless highway that reminds her of the yellow brick road; never-ending and with no certainty of what’s looming at the finish line.
She sits silently on the passenger seat because even if she was curious as to where exactly they were headed to, she’s well aware that he wouldn’t tell her if she asked.
Her heavy lids fall closed to the calming noise of the wind picking up outside the vehicle and she’s so exhausted she falls asleep within minutes. Therefore, she’s not sure how much time has passed before she’s jostled awake to him turning off the engine in an empty parking lot.
“Don’t even think about opening the door, alright?” A heavy warning lingers in his tone as he’s tucking his gun in the waistband of his pants and grabbing a thick wad of cash from the glove compartment.
She hums her acknowledgment and watches his actions; wandering eyes filled with questions. However, he merely offers her a brief glance and then he’s throwing open the door and disappearing into the eerily serene night; leaving her alone in the dimly lit space with her nervous inhales and exhales the only thing keeping her company.
She tries to peer through the window, squinting in order to see where he’s run off to but the faint glow of the street lamps provides little to no help, making her impatiently tap her nails against the center console as she waits for him to return. She presses her ear to the window but unfortunately no sounds other than the rustling of the leaves in the trees surrounding the area reach her eardrums.
She sighs.
What if something happens?
She knows that he doesn’t need for her to worry over him but she can’t help it. No matter how terrible of a person he is, she doesn’t wish for anything bad to happen to him. After all, she’s not a carefully programmed robot entirely void of human emotions, is she?
The mellow memory of him reluctantly trying to soothe her after her outburst the other day still lingers at the forefront of her mind and turns her initial thoughts regarding him into something softer. After all, she was certain he was going to kill her because she had threatened him with his gun. However, he merely seemed entertained by her stupid bravery, opting to mock her instead of showing a single ounce of actual fear.
And she doesn’t know why, but there’s this peculiar flutter in her tummy whenever her brain decides to mull over the moment of him wrapping his big arms around her shaky body in an almost gentle manner.
She wants to forget about it, ignore it and simply despise him for forcing her to help him, but she can’t. Can’t help the fact that even if she’s utterly terrified of him, there’s also something about him that almost fascinates her; lures her in and makes her want to figure him out and she’s not entirely sure what she’s supposed to think of that.
There’s something enticing about the way he’s such a polar opposite to her; not only is he a Kook but he’s also violent and hostile whereas she doesn’t even have the heart to kill a bug. His demeanor is aggressive and she thought that was all there was but then he goes on and practically hugs her when she’s a trembling mess with salty tears streaking her cheeks.
All of it confuses her to no end; disarranging her cerebrum and making foreign emotions bubble in her chest like molten lava. Or maybe she’s just touch-deprived; starving for whatever attention Rafe is suddenly offering her so generously.
She doesn’t necessarily want to think about any of it right now though; opting to stare out into the gloom of the night and forcing her mind somewhere else entirely when all at once, the driver’s side door slams open and her head snaps towards it; eyes startled and heart jumping in her chest at the instantaneous intrusion.
”Calm down, ‘s just me,” Rafe mutters, sounding out of breath; exhales harsh and chest rising and falling like a madman as he slumps down on the leather seat, eyes flitting over her tense form. “You seriously didn’t move?” He huffs out. “Such a good little puppy, huh?”
At that, she comes to the conclusion that she’s definitely craving a very specific type of attention when her thighs involuntarily press together at his twisted notion of praise.
”You— uh…you okay?” She cautiously asks, ignoring the warmth scattering along the apples of her cheeks.
”I’m fine,” he mumbles before starting the engine and speeding back out onto the road that’s still sound asleep; the pitch black sky beginning to fade into a darkened navy blue with the dim glimmer of the street lamps illuminating their journey.
She then gets a better look at him and notices a few cuts and bruises adorning his tired face. There’s a particularly deep scrape on his cheekbone; crimson transferring to the back of his hand when he mindlessly swipes over it.
”Rafe…you’re bleeding. What happened?” She exclaims, uneasiness coating her tone.
”Don’t worry, okay? Just had some, uh…disagreements. Should honestly see the other guy,” a lazy smirk paints over his face as he lets out a dry chuckle.
”Rafe, those could get infected or something. Do you want me to clean them up for you?”
”It’s just a few scratches, you’re acting as if I’m bleeding out,” he rolls his eyes, turning exasperated.
”I’m being serious, you can’t exactly go to the doctor if those actually end up getting infected, can you?” She argues with a pout.
”Shit, are all Pogues this fucking stubborn or just you? Told you, it’s fine,” he snaps in disdain, knuckles turning white from their grip on the steering wheel.
”It’s not fine, though. Can you just…can you just let me help you? It’ll take like ten minutes and then you don’t have to worry about it anymore,” she rakes a hand through her hair in frustration because in her opinion Rafe is the one being stubborn right now.
”I’m not worrying about it!” His gravelly voice thunders from his chest, making her flinch.
“Well, I am,” her tone is quiet now; slightly regretting bringing the topic up in the first place.
At that, he lets out an irritated sigh and then he’s abruptly pulling over to a parking lot next to some gas station.
She turns to look at him with a surprised expression.
”Don’t have all day. Get the fucking first aid kit from the glove box,” he grumbles out a harsh demand.
”O— okay,” her face begins to light up in victory as she scurries to open the compartment in front of her, rummaging through it and trying to not pay attention to the plastic baggies filled with white powder or the wads of cash her hand comes in contact with.
At last, her tentative fingertips find the small red bag she was looking for. However, when she turns to face him again, he’s not initiating any sort of movement, simply spreading his legs out in front of him in his slouched position and peering down at her expectantly.
She hesitates.
”You’re not gonna…move?”
”If you wanna play nurse so fucking bad then you have no problem sitting on my lap, right? Not gonna reach all the way from there, are ya?” His tone is mocking and she can practically feel the cherry blush crawling up her face.
”Oh, right. Um— yeah. I’ll just…” She blinks and then she’s clumsily climbing over the console and awkwardly lowering down to stumble into his lap. He merely looks at her with a bored expression; annoyance swimming in the lagoons of his eyes as he glares at her, clearly bothered by the fact that he has to waste his precious time on something as trivial as this.
She huffs before timidly opening the first aid kit and trying to settle down on his lap. However, with his long legs sprawled out in the legroom he’s not exactly making it easy for her; being petty and difficult on purpose as she takes out a clean cotton pad and dampens it with some antiseptic spray.
”Can you just…” she trails off before gingerly taking ahold of his jaw and lifting his face in order to examine the injuries better.
He lets her freely maneuver his head as she pleases and despite the sting, not even flinching when she gently dabs over a smaller cut on his jaw. Merely letting his gaze flicker over her features; making her grow nervous under his curious eyes as she tries to concentrate on the vermilion spots on his face and not the way he’s soundlessly observing her.
Or the fact that she’s currently closer to him than she’s ever been before. Can feel the even breaths from his nose tickling the skin of her lower face when she leans down to get a better angle.
“So…you’re a drug dealer or?” She decides to try her luck, not being able to sweep the cocaine in the glove compartment under the rug so carelessly.
“What did I say about questions, Puppy?” He scolds her instead of answering.
“Right, sorry,” her eyes drop down. At least she tried.
She doesn’t say anything more, instead focuses all her attention on cleansing the scrapes and tries not to pay any mind to the fact that as an afterthought, this position is incredibly improper and she’s not entirely sure why she agreed to it so easily.
Upon careful consideration, she thinks she’s entirely too aware of his sturdy muscles underneath her and it’s turning her respiration more labored by each wipe over his face.
“Thinkin’ about going to Guadeloupe next week,” he utters out after several minutes of silence.
”You are?”
”Mhm. My family owns a house there,” his low-pitched tone is calm; almost relaxed.
”But, how are you—” her brows crease in a question.
”I have a private jet,” he states as if it should be obvious; he is a proud Kook, after all.
”Right. Of course you do,” she shakes her head when the corners of his mouth tug up.
”How long are you gonna stay there?” She asks as she lifts her hand to swipe the saturated cotton over the deeper wound on his cheekbone.
”Don’t know, ’til I figure something else out,” he shrugs.
She hums and then shuffles around in his lap some more, trying to wriggle upwards in order to not fall off. However, as she’s shifting into a more comfortable position, he suddenly lets out a low grunt from the back of his throat.
“Shit, Puppy. You really gotta move around so much?” He murmurs, promptly resting warm palms on her hips, halting her movements altogether.
“S— sorry,” her eyes round out when she can suddenly feel a slight bulge in his pants.
”If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re tryna get me hard on purpose, hm?” A breathy chuckle escapes his lips along with amusement glittering in blue gemstones as he inspects her flushed face with intrigue.
”Oh, no— I’m not…was just— trying not to fall,” her words are rushed; thoroughly embarrassed as she blinks repeatedly.
“Just, uh…stay still, yeah? Need me to steady you?” He rasps before strong arms are holding her upright by a firm grip on her waist.
”Thanks,” her voice is a muted whisper and she tries not to seem so affected as she gets a new cotton pad and begins to scrub off some of the dried scarlet from under his bottom lip; not daring to shift an inch after that.
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